Best of the Week #89

Last night I went to a Thievery Corporation concert, described as "the Raj’s palace-meets-1920s-Parisian-opium-den-meets-1970s-Jamaican-beach-party." Listen to this song, and/or go all out and Grooveshark them for the day. Fun fact for those of you familiar with DC: Thievery Corporation was started at Eighteenth Street Lounge by one of the owners, Eric Hilton. Hilton also owns or invests in: Marvin, Brixton, Patty Boom Boom, The Gibson, Dragonfly, Local 16, American Ice Company, and U Street Music Hall -- aka all the places I like!

• Says Gibson: “Well, I do program some of the music for the bars, too. If you ever go to Brixton, I’m DJing, if you go to the Gibson, I’m DJing. I make nine-hour playlists that just play. There’s probably 12 of them, and that’s a crazy endeavor. But, I really don’t play “Thievery type” music, it’s usually very eclectic and older music that I like.”

As you may recall, I went skiing at Snowshoe in West Virginia last weekend. SpeedyKate, SudanJenn, and I made a little movie – a “digital short” if you will  – of our experience because, well why not? (The iMovie app guys, seriously worth the $4.99 I spent on it!) So without further ado, here it is:


I've never had a big dog -- these are kind of amazing: “21 Dogs Who Don't Realize How Big They Are.”

Well this is interesting. “Mali and the Afghanistan comparison.”

• The French intervention in Mali this week raises the specter of another first-world power’s rather recent mission to weed out Islamic militants. As France’s jets pummel the desert and its troops face ground battles against al Qaeda-linked rebels, a troubling analogy has presented itself in media reports and analyses: Will Mali become France’s Afghanistan?
• “Al-Qaida never owned Afghanistan,” former United Nations diplomat Robert Fowler told the AP. “They do own northern Mali.”
• Now, with hundreds of French troops advancing from the Malian capital Bamako toward Islamist insurgents, France risks embroiling itself in a protracted conflict in a faraway country.

And more on Mali (too much? I think it's so interesting!): “Behind Mali’s conflict: myths, realities & unknowns.”

• Since the French military intervention in Mali, known as Operation Serval, began last week, the internet has been buzzing with talk about its motives. Is France really only trying to contain a terrorist threat, as it claims? Or do major world powers have other, more sinister interests at stake? At its root, what is the conflict in Mali about?
• This discourse, generated largely by journalists, analysts and activists unfamiliar with Mali, has been far too speculative for my tastes. Let’s consider what we do and don’t know about the causes and effects of international interest in Mali.
• Mineral rights: Mali is among Africa’s top gold producers, exporting between 36 and 60 metric tons annually over the last decade; gold is a key source of revenue for the Malian government.
•  Blowback from US military training
• Neocolonialism: The imminent collapse of the Malian military last week at the hands of Islamist forces in the Mopti region rendered that option moot. “La Françafrique” isn’t dead, but times have changed: by all indications, Operation Serval was a last resort, whereas a few years ago it would have been the default option.
• Mali’s “strategic importance”: A process of reverse reasoning appears to be at work here: If a conflict involving Western military forces is occurring somewhere, that somewhere must, by definition, be “strategic.” But let’s be honest: in and of itself, Mali has no strategic value.
• Islam and Mali: But at least 9 out of 10 Malians are Muslim, they are grateful for the French intervention, and they want no part of the intolerant, totalitarian project reserved for them by the coalition of Islamist groups now controlling Mali’s north.

People dancing as sushi. Literally – it is Norweigan “Human Sushi.” This will make your week.


This is a series of infographics: What does one billion dollars look like?

And while we’re on the subject of incomprehensible numbers, this joke amused me:

• One of [insert world leader’s name of choice]’s advisors was updating him/her on casualty reports from the war. The advisor said, “Mr./Mrs. ____ I have some bad news. There was a firefight in [location] today and 3 Brazilian soldiers died.”
• Mr./Mrs. ____’s face went white. He/she stumbled to his desk and leaned on it for support. Finally, with trembling voice, he/she asked, “How many is a brazillion?” (source)

"25 Handy Words That Simply Don’t Exist In English."

• Age-otori (Japanese): To look worse after a haircut
• Forelsket (Norwegian): The euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love
• Ilunga (Tshiluba, Congo): A person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time
• L’esprit de l’escalier (French): usually translated as “staircase wit,” is the act of thinking of a clever comeback when it is too late to deliver it
• Pena ajena (Mexican Spanish): The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation
• Waldeinsamkeit (German): The feeling of being alone in the woods

Oh this is weird. “Eerie & Unusual Last Meals Of Inmates On Death Row.”

Ok that's all I have for you today. Guess what's happening this weekend??? JESS IS VISITING FROM BOSTON! Yay.

Literary Bite: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life? - Mary Oliver

You've probably seen this book around and about the stores, and you may have already fallen victim to the enthusiastic Omg you should read this! In reading, as in all aspects of life, you’re only a victim if you choose to be -- and I suggest that in the case of reading Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, you should definitely choose to be! (Is that convoluted enough? I’m saying you should read this.)

I borrowed this book from Sister1 when I was at home, three days before my return to DC. It’s a quick read, but post-skiing exhaustion combined with the awesome addictiveness of Nashville meant that I got to SFO with about 20 pages to go. It wasn’t a for-keeps borrow, so I left the book with my sister and headed into the airport hoping to find a copy in one of the bookstores and happily finish it standing up backpack-on before my flight. The first bookstore didn’t have it (panic!!!)…but the convenience/candy store did. #Win!

It was like this, mostly because I cried a lot reading this book.

I don’t know why I liked it so much…the writing was meh ok, the protagonist was generally likable  and the story was occasionally oddly repetitive…but the subject was SO INTERESTING.

It’s about the author’s solo hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (like the Appalachian trail but longer, harder, more beautiful, and fewer people do it), while she comes to terms with the death of her mother and figures out her life. She was 26 when she hiked it (alone!) in 1995, and even though she was woefully unprepared, she made it.

PCT map, and more info on the trail.

The trail starts in Mexico and goes all the way to Canada, but Strayed hiked starting in the Mojave Desert in Southern California. Because 1995 was an epic snow year in California (I actually remember this skiing/flooding-wise), she had to skip a lot of the Sierras and resume the hike further north in California and finish in Washington State.

I don’t really feel the need to “find myself,” but I would love to do the PCT. The book is oddly inspirational in a she-did-it-even-though-she-probably-shouldn’t-have-been-able-to sort of way. And it is refreshingly not cheesy at all, unlike many young peoples’ memoirs.

It’s much more than just a hiking story (because how many times can you say you woke up and walked all day before it gets boooring?), it’s about her family, her relationships, and figuring out how to be alone.

I definitely recommend this book. Read it and then let’s talk about when to go hike the PCT!

Smoked Salmon Frittata with Caramelized Onions and Spinach

When I was 5 years old, my mama decided to get us chickens to supply our family with fresh eggs. She constructed a coop next to the shed in our backyard, and then took my sisters and I to the local feed store to stand on our tippy toes, inspect every chick in the cages, and pick out our new pets.

Mine was a black and white Plymouth Rock, Sister1 had a reddish-brown Rhode Island Red, and Sister2 picked a yellow Buff Orpington. We decided to name them our never-used middle names (hmmm retrospectively is this cute or incredibly narcissistic?) – Eileen, Elizabeth, and Allison.  They were the first pets that were individually ours and it was all very exciting.

HA it was only a matter of time before this picture made it 
to the blog…it is a family classic.  I have the best hair ever.

From then until very recently my family always had chickens, and always named them accordingly (i.e. Plymouth Rocks will always be “Eileen chickens,” etc.). And always having chickens meant that we always had an assortment of fresh eggs.

As far as I’m concerned, eggs are one of the world’s greatest foods. I’m not super into cooking meat, so instead I eat about one egg per day and rarely get tired of them. Boiled, fried, scrambled, omeletted, or frittata’d – the possibilities are endless!

I made this frittata for my family’s Christmas morning breakfast. The ease to deliciousness ratio on this recipe is off the charts! And by that I mean it is super-delicious and also super-easy to make. It’s also super-easy to serve – frittata is good hot out of the oven, at room temperature, for breakfast or for dinner or in your lunch Tupperware the next day.

And don’t be intimidated by the name – as far as I’m concerned, frittata is Italian for 'omelet you don’t need to flip' and/or 'quiche without having to deal with the crust.' This recipe could be adapted to use any ingredients you like. It is also very spinach-heavy, so if you want less of the green stuff, you could halve that part.

Smoked Salmon Frittata with Caramelized Onions and Spinach

Printable recipe.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 6 tablespoons milk 
• 4 oz smoked salmon, cut or torn into small pieces
• 1 box (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained (squeeze spinach between paper towels to get all the excess water out)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 small (or ½ large) yellow onion, chopped into medium-sized pieces
• 2 teaspoon olive oil (divided)

Directions: 

1. Caramelize the onion (this can be done up to a couple days in advance): In a very small saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil and add onions. Turn the heat to the lowest possible setting and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes or until the onions are sweet and smell amazing. 
2. Preheat your oven’s broiler and have the oven rack in the middle of the oven (so the frittata won’t be too close to the broiler).
3. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs and milk. Stir in spinach, smoked salmon, caramelized onions, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. In a medium-sized skillet that can go in the oven, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil. Turn the heat to medium-low and spread egg mixture in the bottom of the pan. 
5. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until frittata is set but the top is still runny.
6. Sprinkle the top with the remaining ¼ cup Parmesan cheese and put it under the broiler with the oven door closed for 3-5 minutes. Keep your eye on it – you don’t want burnt frittata!
7. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, then serve with toast and cream cheese. 

Printable recipe.

Weekend Report: Operation WILD, Winter Edition (Skiing in West Virginia)

I just got back from skiing at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia and it was awesome!

Way back in August, SpeedyKate and I ventured into the wilds of West Virginia to go camping. Camping was fun, but I’m willing to say that our second trip to that great state was even better! We turned our roommate duo into a skiing trio by adding one of my co-workers (who will be henceforth referred to as SudanJenn). The three of us cover the country in our skiing experience – SpeedyKate is from Colorado,  SudanJenn is a New Englander, and I cover the West Coast, of course. None of us really knew what to expect of West Virginia, but considering that the weather forecast was 55 degrees (i.e. melty), our expectations were low and thus we were soooo pleasantly surprised!

We drove out on Friday night, winding back and forth and up and down on small roads through dense fog. Our hotel was family-owned and adorable – check-in was a note with my name on it on the door, telling us our room number and that we should stop by the office in the morning. We chose this place because our friend recommended it and because it had breakfast in the morning. SUCH a good breakfast! Eggs and French toast pre-skiing? Yes please. It was also, according to one of SudanJenn's chairlift friends, the best restaurant in the area. I believe it – dinner on Saturday was delicious!

We were skiing at Snowshoe, the biggest resort in near(ish) DC. It is completely disconcerting because the lodge, hotels, etc. are at the top of the mountain, then you ski down…it’s as if you just told me that south was north and north was south – I cannot wrap my brain around the concept. Pretty early on Day 1 we discovered the "Western Territory" that had two long and excellent runs. You had to walk across a street to get to it (weird), but done and done, we alternated those for the rest of the day.

The temperature was in the mid-50s on the hill, which is great comfort-wise, and means spring-skiing-style snow, but is less than ideal for said snow’s longevity. By Day 2 only one of the Western Territory runs was open because the white stuff stopped connecting all the way down on the other one. I didn’t mind  –  the funny thing about skiing is that I am completely happy doing the same thing again and again and again and again. A good run is a good run and I do not get bored.

We saw a lot of deer under the chairlift...
not a lot of snow. 

We further amused ourselves with making a little ski movie. I’m going to edit it and post here…get excited!

Saturday was not crowded, but there were definitely people around (and a lot of drunk people! I’m pretty sure heavy drinking and skiing/snowboarding should be kept at least slightly separate…). Sunday though was empty. By 2 pm we were some of the only people on the runs! We left Snowshoe at 3 to start the 4.5-hour drive back to DC, and stopped in the old sawmill town of Cass to see what was to be seen, which was fascinating. Doesn’t it look post-apocalyptic? Welcome to West Virginia.

It was a great weekend and I’m so glad we went! If these temperatures continue, that may have been our last chance at skiing locally this year…think SNOW!!!

Best of the Week #88

Since this past May, I have realized my life-long dream of living with or near people who run as much/fast/frequently as I do. This means I almost always have someone to meet in the mornings, the guilt of not showing regularly forcing me out of bed, and I am therefore totally spoiled.

I can run by myself, and often I do and enjoy it, but this morning was not such a morning. My alarm went off at 6:25 am o’clock (I planned to pool run), and I immediately reset it for 6:45 (eh, I don’t have to pool run that long). When 6:45 came oh-too-soon, I decided to run instead of pool (running takes less time) and re-set it for 7:00. By 7:00 I was mid-dream and incredibly comfortable, so I made the executive decision not to work out at all today and reset my alarm for 8:15 (enough time for me to get to work, no shower). But then when I heard SpeedyKate come home from her run at 7:30, I was in a half-awake should-I-run-or-should-I-sleep debate, and finally guilted myself out of bed and out the door by 7:40. So there’s that. It was actually not a terrible run, and I tell you all this just to instill the message that even for “real” runners it is HARD sometimes…but usually worth it.

Anywho, I have a lot of links to share this week! My most popular post was “Orange Cake with Dark Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting,” which was featured on the Christian Science Monitor’s "Stir It Up" blog.

Let’s start with something silly. This video, “Gangnam Style remixed with MC Hammer’s 2 Legit 2 Quit,” gets exponentially better right around 2:55.


Random question – does anyone else get pop-up adds for a “CIA Intelligence Degree” on YouTube? I’m assuming, as in all things, Google knows every site I’ve ever visited and has targeted adds at me accordingly….so why does Google think I want this?

I spent waaaaayyy too much time on this Tumblr called Bookfessions this week and added all my favorites to my "Books" Pinterest board…so I’ll leave you to that particular Tumblr rabbit-hole.

Speaking of reading, “The Underground New York Public Library.” A series of pictures of people reading on the subway.

Why do we get pruney fingers in water? (source)

• For a long time, it was assumed that the wrinkles were simply the result of the skin swelling in water, but recent investigations have actually shown the furrows to be caused by the blood vessels constricting in reaction to the water, which in turn is a response controlled by the body's sympathetic nervous system.

OMG guys a Rhino Orphanage. This is simultaneously the most adorable and saddest thing ever. New life goal: bottle-feed a baby rhino.

On the serious side: “I Was Wounded; My Honor Wasn’t.”

• Rape is horrible. But it is not horrible for all the reasons that have been drilled into the heads of Indian women. It is horrible because you are violated, you are scared, someone else takes control of your body and hurts you in the most intimate way. It is not horrible because you lose your “virtue.” It is not horrible because your father and your brother are dishonored. I reject the notion that my virtue is located in my vagina, just as I reject the notion that men’s brains are in their genitals.

Think your identity is private? Nope.  (source)

• 87% of US residents can be uniquely identified by zip+DOB+gender 

Fireworks exploding in reverse – SO COOL. I love fireworks.


"Do French women need feminism?"

• From afar, many think French women don't need such victories, at least when it comes to the child/work balance that so eludes American women.
• French women sit in the bottom half of Europe's rankings on a slew of measures from the most recent 2012 World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index – even taking last place on the group's perceived wage-equality survey indicator – while sexism and even sexual harassment have been overlooked or disregarded as the necessary evil of an otherwise lovely cultural relationship between men and women. Just recently all the government's ministers were sent to 45-minute anti-sexism classes.
• Generous state support for working mothers is widely endorsed by French women, but many argue that, having hailed from a historic pro-childbearing effort, French women haven't really promoted gender or social equality.
• Women in France have less access to justice when it comes to sexual harassment. According to the French Ministry of Justice, about 1,000 complaints for sexual harassment are filed every year, but only a few dozen lead to sentencing.
• And overall, the World Economic Forum's index puts France at 57 of 135 countries in terms of gender equality, falling in ranking from the year before. It sits well behind the Scandinavian countries, all in the Top 10, as well as behind Germany, Ireland, Spain, and the US.

I want pistachio oil.

Word of the day: "shibboleth."

• From Wikipedia: a word, sound, or custom that a person unfamiliar with its significance may not pronounce or perform correctly relative to those who are familiar with it. It is used to identify foreigners or those who do not belong to a particular class or group of people. It also refers to features of language, and particularly to a word or phrase whose pronunciation identifies a speaker as belonging to a particular group.
• Where I found it: “Yet weariness remains one of the great shibboleths of U.S. foreign policy. In reality, Americans continue to support, usually with significant majorities, overseas military operations, at least at their outset.”

Picture me standing between Elijah Wood and Al Pacino

The Christmas Book flood – maybe I should move to Iceland?

• Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world, with five titles published for every 1,000 Icelanders. But what's really unusual is the timing: Historically, a majority of books in Iceland are sold from late September to early November. It's a national tradition, and it has a name: Jolabokaflod, or the "Christmas Book Flood."

The saddest graph you’ll see today (this week? This month? Ever?):

“22 Things You’re Doing Wrong.” The bobby pins one – blowing my mind. Luckily I was already right on the cupcake-eating front, and have never felt the urge to crush a beer can on my head.

I never had braces, and I’m pretty happy about that. But in Asia apparently it’s cool and trendy?! Fashion Braces.

• For many Westerners, braces are the bane of adolescence, but teens in Thailand, Indonesia, and Malayasia have co-opted a mouthful of metal as the latest fashion trend.
• The media has been abuzz over the past week with reports of youngsters in Southeast Asia buying black market braces -- fake metal-and-rubber mouth accessories in a rainbow of colors and designs (Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse are popular options) -- for around $100 a pop.
• Aside from the fashion statement, wearing a mouthful of braces has the added allure of being a status symbol. In Bangkok, paying for dental care is costly, with real braces running around $1,200 -- a hefty sum for the average family.

Love this (apparently this is a book-themed Best of the Week).

Bikeshare! Go DC!

• But today, the nation’s largest, most successful bike-share program—in terms of size, ridership, and financial viability—is in Washington, D.C. How did D.C. accomplish this unlikely task?
• The system is not without its weaknesses. Work by David Daddio has shown, for example, that many stations are underused, and that a station’s success depends largely on five factors: The age of its nearby population; the density of retail outlets (and in particular liquor licenses); the proximity of Metrorail stations; distance from the center of the system itself; and, essentially, the presence of a lot of white people. Gilliland says Capital is trying to counter the demographic skew, not just through geographic expansion, but in a partnership with Bank on D.C. to provide bike-share access to the “unbanked” —i.e., people who don’t have credit cards, which are necessary to use the system.

This video is TOO FUNNY. "Invisible Driver Fast Food Drive-In Prank."


I have the 9th most popular dog name. Who’s surprised? No one. My dog’s names have been Watch, Watch, Sarah, and Amy (no that’s not a typo, we had two dogs named Watch, oh The Boxcar Children days.) “Top Pet Names for 2012.”

More on color: Orange or beige…conflicting reports:

• Scientists at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and Oxford University tested this theory by having 57 participants taste the same type of hot chocolate out of four different cups: white, creme, red and orange. All of the participants claimed the hot chocolate in the orange and creme cups tasted better than the others, with some even going so far as to say the chocolate in the creme cups was sweeter and more aromatic.

And finally, caption contest?

Hope you have a great weekend! SpeedyKate and I are off to conquer West Virginia (again), Winter Edition.

Literary Bite: The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

You don’t think it’s possible, but this book is like nothing you’ve ever read before. And it’s so good.

That’s what my mama told me when she handed me The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, and I was a little skeptical. No really, she insisted. You think you’ve read every writing style out there, but this one is different and you will love it. 

Turns out, per usual, she was right.

The book is about Japanese picture brides coming to America after WWI, and their lives in the US – marriage, children, WWII, Japanese internment and afterwards. Picture brides are much like mail-order brides. They were set up by a “matchmaker” who used pictures to match immigrant workers with women from their homeland.

• “On the boat we could not have known that when we first saw our husbands we would have no idea who they were. That the crowd of men in knit caps and shabby black coats waiting for us down below on the dock would bear no resemblance to the handsome young men in the photographs. That the photographs we had been sent were 20 years old. . . . That when we first heard our names being called out across the water one of us would cover her eyes and turn away — I want to go home — but the rest of us would lower our heads and smooth down the skirts of our kimonos and walk down the gangplank and step out into the still warm day. This is America, we would say to ourselves, there is no need to worry. And we would be wrong.”
• “On the boat we carried…silver mirrors given to us by our mothers, whose last words still rang in our ears. You will see: women are weak, but mothers are strong.”

It’s border-line poetry, but poetry with a story, told in first person plural. Otsuka writes a long melancholy poem about love and loss. Or more like 30 (50? Countless?) parallel poems echoing one another and rolling from themed refrain to themed refrain – Come Japanese, First Night (woah seriously this chapter is a must-read), Whites, Babies, Children, A Disappearance. [When I was in school in California, we were still barely talking about Japanese internment – I still don't know if it's taught at all in State and/or US history, but it should be!]

All the stories are mixed up to together paint a complete picture of the picture brides’ experience. It's kind of like impressionist art that doesn’t look like anything close up, but from far away you see what the artist wants you to see.

I thought the style would annoy me, when I realized that every sentence started and ended a new story, but then I found myself settling into the rhythm and rolling along, building my reading momentum, along with the unfolding many many many tales.

The book is short (144 pages) and I could not put it down. Some sentences were so powerful that I read them a couple times, just to fully process all the author packed into so few words. I’ve never felt so attached to characters whose names I don’t know and who all I have of their lives is one discreet sentence.

You MUST read this book. Actually, writing this post makes me want to re-read it asap...

And in case you’re not sold by my review, you can read the first chapter, “Come Japanese,” here.

Run Vietnam for Global Literacy

This is a guest post by Sister2, who now lives in Thailand and is teaching English to high school kids. She's writing a blog of her travels, and I will be cross-posting her running blogs here on Eat Run Read as her half-marathon training continues through the winter and spring.

Two things I love: running and reading. For those that don't know, I come from a family of runners and  am the offspring of two awesome marathoning parents. I have considered myself a runner since I was a fifth grader competing in the Petaluma West Side Relays.

Fast forward about ten years later to 2009 when I ran the Boston Marathon (my first marathon). Then I ran the Washington DC Suntrust Marathon in 2010, and most recently I ran my first trail marathon in Susanville, California, in 2012.

More important and older than my running identity is my identity as a reader. My sisters and I were almost excessively read to from babyhood to young adulthood and we loved it. There was no stopping us once we learned to read, and I have been a reader ever since.

So what does this have to do with Thailand and my travels?

When Eric's [Editor's note: Eric is Sister2's boyfriend who is in Thaliand as well.] mom and sister came to visit, we left school early to meet them in Bangkok. It was 11 am on a Thursday. A time when, in the US, absolutely every child is sitting in a classroom or playing at recess unless their parents are letting them play hooky (like my mom did from time to time to take us to museums and art exhibits in San Francisco [or to ski well duh!]). We drove by an elementary school on the way to our apartment and we saw a child in the road who looked to be about 6 or 7 years old. This child wasn't playing hooky. He was walking through traffic selling flowers -- he was working.

Now Thailand is by no means a developing country, but it still has work to do in its education system and getting all children into school (not to mention the huge problem of thousands of girls and young women working in the sex industry instead of going to school).

Seeing the boy selling flowers in the street struck me. I worked with an amazing non-profit called Room to Read during my senior year at Cal Poly and planned a fundraiser for them last spring. Room to Read promotes literacy and gender equality by working with local partners to provide books/uniform/transportation/school fees, build schools and libraries, and encourage girls' participation in education. Room to Read currently works in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa and will continue to increase their impact in other countries when the time is right.

I learned about Room to Read while I was studying abroad and traveling in India. I read the founder's book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World [so did I -- review here] and was impressed by his passion (which led him to quit his executive job with Microsoft to start Room to Read) and purpose. I asked one of their employees came to speak at a conference I helped plan for my senior project, and then I went full-steam ahead in planning a bigger fundraiser, and am now almost (or completely) annoyingly passionate about this organization.


Room to Read has impacted the lives of over 6.7 million children and is not going to stop any time soon. Check out this video to see what Room to Read accomplished in 2012 due to support from people like you and me, local communities in the countries they work in, and Room to Read employees.

Because I am living so close to three of the countries Room to Read works in, I plan on visiting a few schools while I am on this side of the world. I don't really enjoy traveling as a standard tourist and prefer to do something to be more involved. I want to instill a passion for reading in children who do not have the same opportunities I had growing up.

So here's the plan:

• I am combining my love of running and reading and racing the Phu Quoc Half Marathon on an island in Vietnam to raise money for Room to Read. 
• I will visit Room to Read's schools when traveling in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos so I can report back to my supporters on where their money is going and the difference they are making. 
• I plan on blogging about my training progress regularly, so check back to see how I am doing and learn more about Room to Read. 

Phl Quoc Island, where I will run my half marathon. 

If you received an education as a child (and I know you all did), please visit my fundraising page here to make your donation. A little really goes a long way on this side of the world, so no donation is too small. I am, however, challenging everyone to donate at least $13 to represent the number of miles I will be running to support literacy in May. You can also visit my Run Vietnam for Literacy facebook page to learn more.

Thank you thank you thank you for your support! As Room to Read says: "World Change Starts with Educated Children." Let's help change the world one book and one mile at a time!

Cake of the Week: Orange Cake with Dark Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting

Sometimes people in my office travel to awesome places that most people (/sane people) do not want to visit – i.e. eastern Congo, South Sudan, Chad, etc. I do not get to go…but I WANT to. Getting chased by a monkey while on a run in Juba? Sign me up! Lost on the way to a refugee camp in Chad? I’m in. Randomly producing a music video for an African pop star? Yes please!!! (True stories.) For the rest of us, ever desk-bound, all we can hope is that our intrepid colleagues come back safe and sound, with good stories/pictures/video, and bring back some delicious foreign treats to share.

Just before Christmas, someone brought back Belgian chocolates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (not to be confuse with the Republic of the Congo -- yes, there are two Congos) All colonial irony aside, apparently there’s still a lot of Belgian stuff in Kinshasa, and the chocolate is delicious! I had a dark chocolate and orange truffle and was suddenly reminded how GOOD dark chocolate and orange are together. (Much like the mint-chocolate combination, I forget how perfect it is until I REMEMBER.)

That truffle was still on my mind as I considered my baking options last weekend. Orange cake? Hmmmm. Dark chocolate ganache? Yummmmm. Together? It could work!

I’ve never made an orange cake before, and couldn’t find any good-looking recipes online, so I adapted a lemon cupcake recipe and it worked shockingly well.

So here’s the cake strata breakdown: orange cake, dark chocolate ganache, cream cheese frosting, orange cake, cream cheese frosting.

I chose this cake recipe based on ease and what ingredients I had – you could probably adapt any good lemon cake recipe.

The ganache layer is key here, it really makes the orange-y-ness stand out. If you don’t like cream cheese frosting (are you human?), you could do a buttercream instead.

Orange Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache and Cream Cheese Frosting

Printable recipe.

Cake ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• Zest of two large oranges (about 2 tablespoons) 3 extra-large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 3 cups cake flour (ok so I only had 2 cups cake flour and therefore had to use one cup regular flour…it was ok but the cake would probably be lighter if you had the right amount of cake flour.)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Ganache ingredients:

• ½ cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ½ cup heavy cream

Frosting ingredients:

• 4 oz (1/2 block) cream cheese at room temperature
• ¼ cup butter at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla 
• 1-3 tablespoons milk or buttermilk as needed

Directions:

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 9-inch round cake pans. 
2. Beat sugar, butter, orange zest, vanilla and almond extract in large bowl 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in orange juice.
3. Sift or mix (I never sift…mostly because I’m lazy and don’t own a sifter.) flour, baking soda, and salt into medium bowl. Mix dry ingredients into butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. 
4. Divide batter among prepared pans. Bake about 25 minutes, until cakes start to pull away from the edges. 
5. Let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then to get the cakes out, invert the pans and tap the bottom. Cool completely on wire racks until ganache-ing and frosting.

Dark Chocolate Ganache:

1. Stovetop: Bring the cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan.
2. OR Microwave: Bring cream to a simmer in a microwave safe bowl (it took about 1 minute for me).
3. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl.
4. Once the cream reaches a simmer, pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand 1-2 minutes. Whisk in small circles until a smooth ganache has formed.
5. Let the ganache cool for about 10 minutes so it’s not too runny when you spread it on the cake. If it gets too firm, you can microwave it briefly.

Frosting:

1. Beat all frosting ingredients together until smooth and spreadable. Add more milk if necessary. 

Assembly:

1. Put one layer of the cake upside down on a plate so the flattest side is up. Spread ganache evenly over the layer, trying not to go all the way to the edges (otherwise you might have a chocolatey smear in your white frosting). 
2. Spread a thin layer of frosting on the bottom-side of the next cake layer and place it on top of the ganache. 
3. Frost the outside of the cake with the rest of the frosting. I garnished with shaved dark chocolate. 
4. Bring the cake to a party and make new friends!

Printable recipe. 

Weekend Report: Boy Bands and Pitch Perfect and Himalayan Food

Oh this weekend. I’m not entirely sure where it went, and yet I’m sad it’s gone.

Friday night I was looking forward to a dance party at the 930 Club: Lady Gaga v. Madonna v. Boy Bands. Clearly I was there for the boy bands and when it started with Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) I was just as excited as any self-respecting fan-girl would be.

The ever-important question: Which one is your favorite???

Unfortunately the venue got really crowed really quickly, so I can’t give the evening a full two thumbs up. Also, apparently the DJ’s definition of boy bands is more broad than mine -- really I just wanted her to play N’Sync and Backstreet Boys’ first couple CDs (or tapes, as it were...oh 1996), and maybe some 98 Degrees thrown in there for good measure. (So my ideal Friday night is a 6th grade dance? Maybe.) Any so-called “boy bands” before or after that are beyond my scope of silly music knowledge.

[Sidenote: My elementary school was really small and didn’t have a gym, so when it was raining out, we had “indoor recess.” In 5th and 6th grade that meant that all the cool kids played our favorite CDs (the aforementioned boy bands, Spice Girls, Aqua, etc…oh dear) on the classroom boom box and knew all the dances. Our teachers must have thought we were insane. Please tell me you did this too?]

Woah big news: some preliminary googling tells me that
98 Degrees is reuniting and going on tour!

Just to brighten your Monday, go ahead and listen to all these songs and try not to dance at your desk.

Saturday I baked a cake (recipe to come), to bring to a Pitch Perfect viewing party. The movie is like a cross between Bring it On, Mean Girls, and Bridesmaids, i.e. hilarious. Rebel Wilson is SO funny.


My Sunday was pretty lazy. I went for a long run in the pool (2 HOURS, aka omg kill us all now), and then lounged on the couch watching Nashville and some football (Redskins fans, I'm sorry for your loss) until dinnertime.

Dinner was a “Global Dinner.” As you probably know/assume, I’m an adventurous eater and have tried almost every cuisine DC has to offer. Therefore I’m always shocked (shocked!) when I learn that not everyone does this. Way back in August, my coworker/climbing friend invited me to Ethiopian food with a group of her friends, because they’d never had it before, which is a travesty that needed fixing asap. At that first dinner it soon became clear that most of them wanted to expand their culinary horizons, but were not entirely confident in doing so; therefore we decided to meet for regular food adventures.

So anywho, this is a long way to explain that I went to Himalayan last night and it was delicious, obviously.  Indian is in my top-3 cuisines (Mexican, Indian, Mediterranean), and Himalayan food is pretty much Indian with some Nepalese mixed in.  The food wasn’t as spicy as I expected(/hoped) but it was very good. And the naan – OOH THE NAAN. I love naan.

We ordered pretty safely/conservatively -- I split palak paneer (spinach and cheese – my go-to), chicken curry, and Chicken Biryani (Indian fried rice). The nice thing about Himalayan Heritage is that naan comes with the entrees. Yummmm. We didn't order momos (dumplings), but awww momos remind me of my trip to Manali, India!

And that is that. Hope you had a good weekend too, and happy Monday!

Best of the Week #87

Hello hello! This is our first Best of the Week for 2013! And my 87th week compiling these posts!!! (That is insane…anyone who is ungodly bored could waste a lot of time on this tag…)

My most popular post this week was Costa Rica, which is from my first trip to that fabulous vacationland in summer 2010…siiiigh, this time last year I was poolside.

Can we talk about TV for a second? I have a new show: Nashville. There are only 9 episodes and I am obsessed. And it’s not just country music-loving me – people who don’t like country like the show. Sooo you should watch it. (And listen to this and this.)

I got into an interesting discussion about color and color theory at work yesterday (if we redesign our website, what colors should we use more? less? why?), which of course led me down a bit of an internet rabbit hole…here’s some interesting fun facts (having never taken any kind of art class, this may be all old news and/or only interesting to me). Also, for the record, my favorite colors are blue and yellow, and my least favorite color is orange.

• Red can actually have a physical effect on people, raising blood pressure and respiration rates.
• Outside the western world, red has different associations. For example, in China, red is the color of prosperity and happiness. It can also be used to attract good luck. In other eastern cultures, red is worn by brides on their wedding days. In South Africa, however, red is the color of mourning.
• In Egypt, yellow is for mourning. In Japan, it represents courage, and in India it’s a color for merchants.
• Blue is the only primary color within the cool spectrum, which means the other colors are created by combining blue with a warm color (yellow for green and red for purple). Greens take on some of the attributes of yellow, and purple takes on some of the attributes of red. Use cool colors in your designs to give a sense of calm or professionalism.
• Green has many of the same calming attributes that blue has, but it also incorporates some of the energy of yellow.
• Dark blues are excellent for corporate sites or designs where strength and reliability are important.
• In Thailand, purple is the color of mourning for widows.

In things I learned this week: my favorite book, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, is a movie in French and it’s good! Called The Hedgehog – it’s on Netflix Instant right now. Bonus times a million points if you can finish this line: “They didn’t recognize me. It is because they have never seen you…”

Is this real? “Ice Cream Buybacks.” No seriously – is it???

• Mayor Blomberg announced today a new program to help reduce obesity and heart disease, ice cream buybacks. Any ice cream that citizens wish to turn in will be bought for up to $5 a pint. No questions asked.  ”Heart disease is the number one killer in the nation,” said Mayor Blomberg, “and we must do everything we can to get Ben and Jerry and these other killers off our streets.”

This makes me laugh more than it probably should…“Baby trashes bar in Las Palmas.”


Government-approved list of names?!? How limiting. What would all the Apples and Maddoxes and Sage Moonbloods do??? (Those are real American names.) “Iceland teen fights government to approve her name.”

• A 15-year-old is suing the Icelandic state for the right to legally use the name given to her by her mother. The problem? Blaer, which means "light breeze" in Icelandic, is not on a list approved by the government.
• Like a handful of other countries, including Germanyand Denmark, Iceland has official rules about what a baby can be named. In a country comfortable with a firm state role, most people don't question the Personal Names Register, a list of 1,712 male names and 1,853 female names that fit Icelandic grammar and pronunciation rules and that officials maintain will protect children from embarrassment.

I just like this picture. Someday I will tell you about my lambing experiences.

Oh dear, economic policy and The Hobbit – I have reached a whole new level of nerdy. “Smaug the dragon's monetary tightening.”

• So Smaug dies in the end, and the gold was released into Middle Earth’s money supply. Was there hyper-inflation as a result? Or did Nominal GDP return to trend (i.e. the “catching up” theory that has been talked about by Central Bankers like Mark Carney lately) without longer term inflation problems? If there was hyper-inflation perhaps the political instability that resulted allowed the rise of Sauron as a leader, and the subsequent world war between Men and Elves, and Orcs?

I’m supposed to read this – have you heard of it/read it? The Man Who Tried to Save the World.

I love The Mindy Project and 100% agree: "Literally the Best Thing Ever: The Mindy Project."

• The Mindy Project is a show where the lead gains confidence by channeling a warrior named Beyoncé Pad Thai. It is a show where teenagers at a swanky high school have a class called History of Dubstep. It is a show where a bright blue alcoholic drink is compared to the liquid used in pad commercials. It is a show that is, literally, THE BEST THING EVER.

Random flashback to my life in 2005/6, I love the intro music to this song. And the whole album actually.

I never felt the urge to do an ultra anything…until now. And I am DYING to do this: "Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race." Sister2, you with me???

• Founded in 1991, the Himalayan 100-Mile Stage Race takes place over five days in the foothills of the Himalayas in the eastern corner of India, on or near (depending on the stage) the border of Nepal. The course is the same every year and traverses between 6,000 and 13,000 feet. Most years, between 50 and 100 people participate; this November, 68 people participated. Many walk the entire way, and even the best runners must walk extended sections because they're so steep. You pass through several small towns along the way but are mostly in very remote areas on roads and trails. Each night you sleep in unheated huts and lodges (the temperature ranges from about 28 to 70 F), eat communally with participants who come from all parts of the world, and remain always under the authoritative yet extremely competent care of one C.S. Pandey, race founder and the only director the event has ever had. 

This is a little old but super-interesting: "How Did Syria Turn Off The Internet... And What Other Countries Can Just Hit The Off Switch Like That?"

• Meanwhile, the folks at Renesys look into just how difficult it is to cut a country off from the internet, and whether other countries are at risk of the same sort of thing. Basically, it comes down to how decentralized the internet is in various countries -- and in many countries there isn't much decentralization. As Renesys notes, some countries have just one or two telcos who handle all internet traffic to and from the world. Those countries are easy to cut off. Renesys helpfully provides a map:

“I’m not grumpy, this is just how my face is shaped.” (source)


I always wonder about this too./Wish I were sitting in a coffee shop right now. Preferably sipping an Americano and eating a carrot muffin... “An Open Letter to People in Coffee Shops in the Middle of the Day.”

• But what about you? It’s almost 3pm on a Tuesday and you are in a coffee shop! Are you like me? I want to know what you are doing here and I want to know your story! I want to know everything about all of these people in the coffee shop in the middle of the day!

"Chart (but not pick-me-up) of the day: Deaths around the world."

And to finish off the start of 2013 with some pure 100% ridiculousness: I kind of want a Celestial Soul Portrait. Right???

Have a good weekend!