Monumens

No, I'm not sure what it is. Makes me think of people walking in the city on a soggy day. It came out of a free drawing exercise.

What is it about Food?

Pork it seems, is as Danish as apple-pie. A couple of months ago I read an article on NPR.org about how some public institutions in Denmark, like schools, had voluntarily stopped serving pork altogether in order to more easily accommodate individuals who did not indulge in porcine delicacies (usually on religious grounds). When news of this came out, some Danes were outraged at the ommission.

Denmark, as it turns out is not only a major consumer of pork, but also a major producer and exporter of hammy treats. NPR even claimed that pigs outnumber people in Denmark something like 3 to 1! But pork is not only economically significant to Denmark, it is also culturally and traditionally significant as well--so much so in fact, that it was reported that some conservative elements in the Danish government even proposed legislation making it illegal for public institutions to remove pork dishes from their menus. They argued that this was not intended as an attack on a religious minorities (menus would continue to provide alternatives), but out of sacred obligation to preserve Denmark's culinary culture and tradition.

Okay, so it might have been a slow summer news-wise in Denmark, but the fact that some Danes saw the curtailing of chops, roasts, hams, bacon, sausages--I digress--as as threatening their cultural heritage got me thinking about food and food traditions. They really can and do play a significant role in our personal identities.

Whatever the source of our food traditions be they historical, regional, cultural, or religious, they can play a significant role in who we are. Even though I like to think of myself as an adventurous, curious, and open-minded feeder, I cannot deny identifying in a more personal and intimate way with certain foods. For me, this is the Brazilian, German, and Portuguese food traditions of my mother's family, and to a lesser extent the Swiss of my father's. 

I absolutely love curries--all variations, and preferably spicy, but when I crave "comfort" food, I find I usually want nothing as much as Brazilian black beans and rice served with, cove (collard greens), farinha de mandioca and banana, the way mamae would give it too us. Why else would I feel hurt when my kids turn up their noses at this and other favorite dishes of my childhood? I don't feel sad when they don't want my curry.

If our food heritage isn't so integral to our identity, why did impossible-to-get root-beer taste so delicious to me when I was living in Chile when I rarely ever drink it at home? Why else does it not feel like Thanksgiving unless I have a plate of turkey and dressing? I don't even particularly like turkey, but I have to have some--it is the holy sacrament I take to welcome the holiday season. And why then, do I feel hurt, really hurt, when one or more of my children wrinkle their noses at the special treat of speatzle, rotkohl, and weisswurst at my favorite German delicatessen?

Yes, I can sympathize with those crazy Danes, be they pro or anti-pork. Food traditions are extremely important to us. They make us who we are.

We truly are what we eat.  

 

Lilly & Pig: The Laboratory

I suppose this is how it starts sometimes. Just gotta spend enough time in the lab mixing potions.

Some More Lilly and Pig

(Yes, I actually wrote a little! I quote here directly from my hand-written scribbles. I'll quote more as I draw accompanying pictures)

 "Pig is a World Traveler. Before he got Lilly he'd been to London, where he lived for a time, and Norway, where some of his cousins live.
  "He prefers visiting Norway in the summertime, however. It's too cold in the winter." 

Hovering Sombrero Meets Doctor Worm

Your never only just a hat. Even if your oppressive older brother won't let you learn to play the drums. 

ALL STAR!

 
So, I am now the owner and wearer of my first Converse All Stars since the 20th century. Can you believe it? On a trip to Brazil in 2000 I bought a pair of suede green leather low-top Nikes that I thought were pretty cool and more "grown-up", a better brand, or something. With that about a decade of exclusive All Stars wearing ended. I am so disinclined to purposeful or frequent athletic exertion, that those shoes lasted me until this summer.

I felt the lack of gym-style shoes nevertheless, though not with enough urgency to buy some before now. At the time I automatically felt drawn to Chuck Taylors as familiar, safe, comfortable and cheap. Imagine my surprise to find that a pair commands as much as $55 this century! When I balked at this at the mall shoe store, the 17 year old (hip) salesman said, "Oh yeah, All Stars are cool, they've been going up in price for a while". Not only that, but the first time I put on this new pair at home, even my wife (who has never seen me wearing All Stars) said, "look kids! Dad is cool!" When did this happen? When did Converse All Stars become cool?

 Maybe I'm wrong, but I started wearing them in junior high in part because they were the least expensive shoe that were still (sort-of, almost) socially acceptable. I embraced them for this reason and because my cousin, who always seemed a genius to me at making our hopelessly-not-cool into our very own anti-cool wore them (with argyle socks). And they were our thing because I don't remember anyone else really wearing them. I honestly don't remember them being cool. I thought they were the poor kids' shoes.

Nevertheless, when I saw a pair at the retail outlet store the other day (while shopping for shoes for my daughter) for $27.99, I thought I'd better not pass them up (didn't find anything for my daughter).

Classic navy-blue high-tops with bright white (soon-to-be-dingy-gray) laces and stitching. They'll do just fine.

Now, I don't wear the same size jeans in the 21st century as I did in the 20th, but I still fit into the same size All Stars. And putting them on was just like putting on...well...a comfortable pair of favorite old shoes.

I'm wearing them now. As I write this. And I feel great. But some interesting things are happening.

Suddenly I want to listen to all my pre-Y2K They Might Be Giants CD's, wear hooded sweatshirts, and cut class. (I was going to add "daydream about naked girls" but I've actually always done that).

All-Star clad foot memories come flooding back as well: push-starting my VW bug and then making quick shifts while absolutely certain I was going 20 miles per hour faster than I really was; putting them on the feet of nearly every cartoon figure I ever drew;  the unique smell my feet soon acquired; the way they wick every bit of warmth from your feet when the temperature drops anywhere below 50 degrees; trying to figure out how to lace them in such a way so I could just slip them on and off without ever having to touch the laces again; drawing designs on the white (dingy-gray) rubber parts to make time pass in class...

I'd totally forgotten how "me" these particular shoes have always been. I'm so glad to be back.

Now, if they've actually become cool as well, I suppose I can live with that. I still need all the help I can get in that area. I just hope I'll be able to afford to buy them for my kids so that they can be cool, too...

The foot powder was actually just a happy, but appropriate coincidence.

Seldom seen in Harlem

Now if only it were orange.

Hope it's not owned by some peener.