Blogs of the day: Open Salon edition

I've promised to highlight my favorite blogs over at the newish Open Salon community. There are some fabulous and talented writers there. I urge you to check them out.

• Sandra Miller: She writes stories and personal essays. Miller is probably the most talented writer at Open Salon. A few recent highlights, her musings on holding intelligent (or informed) opinions, the merits of eating alone, a fathers' day personal essay, and a disturbing story about an evil Disneyland plot.

• Arlene Green: She doesn't pull any punches and sounds like an interesting person, confronting old ladies in grocery stores for giving unsolicited advice. She tells us why Rachel Ray would fail at cooking for her family, about how she became the unofficial birth coach for young mothers in her community, and a great piece on teenage sexuality called "Hormones With Feet."

• Pretend Farmer: Living in Arizona entails some adventures apparently. Whether it is providing stark footage of the flash flood that surrounded their home, posting close-up shots of dessert wildlife, or a portrait of her highly litigious neighbor, the Pretend Farmer has something to say every day. She's knitting a vibrator cozy for Sandra Miller, so you know she's no prude.

• neilpaul: An angry defense attorney who writes about the injustices of the criminal justice system. One of his more noteworthy posts is the angry Black versus White post. Did I mention he was angry?

• Chris B: If you want to read about the politics of the day, Chris B is timely. He usually has the lasted campaign ad, snafu, our YouTube tribute posted, be it Ludacris' Obama is here or Paris Hilton's foray into politics.

There are lots of others. Check it out.

Changes are a-happenin'

Frequent readers of this blog (the two of you) may notice some changes. I've changed the title. While I thought "Who Can Say?" was a clever title for a blog, it was kind of confusing. First, I made what is typically implied as a statement into a literal question. Secondly, it's not like the domain was whocansay.com. That domain was unavailable.

So the domain is doubtcreptintohisvoice.com. A bit long for a blog title.

Meanwhile, I have begun blogging over the name Skeptic Turtle at the new online community at Open Salon. I selected that name because I had submitted letters and comments over at Salon.com as "Turtle," but felt I need an adjective to flesh it out.

Maintaining a second blog means I neglected the first. And they are both general interest blogs, so why keep them separate. I'm now Skeptic Turtle in both places and will be cross posting between the two.

So you can read me here or there.

I do recommend checking out Open Salon. Lots of good stuff there which I'll be highlighting shortly.

Driving in Iowa

When the missus and I were newlyweds we visited her grandparents in Iowa. Due to their health problems they had been unable to travel to our wedding in Washington DC and this was my first opportunity to meet them.

After a short and pleasant weekend visit her grandfather pulled out the maps to give me extensive advice on the best navigational choices for the Iowa country roads.

"If you take this route over through Lowden it is pretty strait without a lot of curves."

He carefully drew the route with his fingers.

"But if you go through Oxford Junction, you'll have only 6 stop signs instead of 7 between here and Cedar Rapids."

The retired country vet certainly knew how to navigate his section of Iowa. We gave due consideration to all his options and said our goodbyes.

**************************************************

The drive was perfect. It was a clear, Sunday afternoon in the middle of summer. We got to Cedar Rapids in no time and soon was on a divided highway headed several hours north to Minneapolis.

We were relaxed and making good time, so of course something happened.

BAM!

Whomp whomp whomp whomp whomp whomp whomp whomp whomp...

Flat tire.

We had the good fortune to get the flat about 200 yards from an offramp with a gas station, so the car bumped along to the gas station parking lot.

It's Sunday. We were in the middle of Iowa, no where near even a small town, and we have a flat.

I wasn't excited about to have to change a tire and drive a couple hundred miles on a tiny spare tire in our 1993 Honda Accord. I got out the spare anyways and discover that for some unknown reason, the jack was missing.

It's difficult to change a tire without a jack.

As I kind of just stared at the car puzzling over my options, a man in his late 20s approached with his girlfriend following behind.

"You have a flat?"

"Yeah... And I don't have a jack and only a cruddy spare tire."

The girlfriend chimed in. "We should see if Zack's around."

Apparently their friend Zack was in the tire business. They gave him a call on the spot and he agreed to come in and help us get a new tire. They explained his place of business just happens to be just on the other side of the highway interchange and he'd be there within 15 minutes.

After thanking them, we set off on our flat to the other side of the highway where and found a huge converted barn with piles of hundreds of tires everywhere. The place looked like it's going to fall appart.

Zack eventually arrived. He looked 40ish. He was dirty. He had just met us and was swearing up a storm. But he seemed friendly enough.

I toured the yard with him, looking for a used tire the right size. We're pulling piles apart in the summer heat. He opened up a couple of sheds with more stacks of tires. Eventually we found a contender. Zack "believes" it will work.

He then instructed me to pull the car into the garage/barn. The inside was messier than the outside. A grumpy three legged dog gave us what I interpreted as a "Hello. I'm going to tolerate you, but don't get too close to my master and me or there will be trouble." The dog laid down possessively against the car.

Then things got a little frighting. It was a perfectly beautiful day. The sun was out, but it wasn't glaring inside the barn. Zack closed the garage door behind us. Our eyes had trouble adjusting to the new darkness. We didn't know the way out. Eventually I could see well enough to observe my wife's expression that said, "We're not going to make it to Minnesota today or perhaps even out of this garage."

However, all was fine. Zack proceeded to work on replacing the tire, occasionally swearing at the car or the dog. In no time, he was finished.

Then it was time to talk cost. Uh oh. Zack prefaced his cost tally on the rationale behind weekend rates since he had to come in for us. I wondered how much regular business he got during the work week. But we just slightly nodded waiting for the number. For the used tire, and the labor, and the trouble of coming in on a beautiful Sunday afternoon...

Thirty five dollars.

"Will you take a check?"

He did.

Indeed, we made it out of the garage in one piece and all the way back to Minneapolis.

Garfield

From the blog, Garfield minus Garfield

Communion wafer taste test

Done by Real Live Preacher:
 
 

Neat new blog community

Salon.com has unveiled it's new user-driven content website / online community: Open Salon. (Get it?)

For the past few months I've been participating in the beta test of Open Salon. It has had its issues and problems but has already become a go-to spot for good writing on politics, current events, society, family, art, etc etc. Healthy debates have ensued in a mostly respectful and constructive manner. There's some great stuff there that I will hope to highlight here in the coming days. One of the best things: People write in complete sentences and without rampant abbreviation and text speak.

For now, I'll invite you to check out the Open Salon home page, as well as my own blog under the nom de plume Skeptic Turtle.

Brett Favre: What's up?

UPDATE: According to one media source, this information about Favre using a team phone is allegedly incorrect.

Hey, I love Brett Favre. But he's acting a bit stupid these days. From today's Star Tribune:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that a source said Favre continued to use a Packers-issued cell phone after his retirement and that when the team checked the phone records, there were "repeated calls to coach Brad Childress and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell."

OK, that's just dumb. He should know much better than that. I don't think he's going to end up with the Vikings anytime soon.

Quote: "The WHO! The WHO!"

Today's quote isn't from today. It's a few decades old. But it's a favorite one.

From Dave Barry:

"My band career ended late in my senior year when John Cooper and I threw my amplifier out the dormitory window. We did not act in haste. First we checked to make sure the amplifier would fit through the frame, using the belt from my bathrobe to measure, then we picked up the amplifier and backed up to my bedroom door. Then we rushed forward, shouting "The WHO! The WHO!" and we launched my amplifier perfectly, as though we had been doing it all our lives, clean through the window and down onto the sidewalk, where a small but appreciative crowd had gathered. I would like to be able to say that this was a symbolic act, an effort on my part to break cleanly away from one state in my life and move on to another, but the truth is, Cooper and I really just wanted to find out what it would sound like. It sounded OK."

And now, from The Who:

"Cute" headlines: X-treme version!

I know it's the Xcel Center, but these "clever" headlines have got to end!

RNC gets the keys; time for an X-treme makeover

Women and botox

No words can improve this bit:

Hezbollah and public relations

We learn today that the two Israeli Defense Forces prisoners swapped with Hezbollah for Lebanese prisoners are dead. It had been widely suspected, but confirmed when Hezbollah members pulled two coffins out of the van in the swap.

Coverage so far in American media gives us the basic facts. Certainly this is a sad day for Israel. Certainly it is humiliating for Israel and has the effect of encouraging other attempts for Hezbollah or Hamas to attempt to capture Israeli soldiers. I won't weigh in on the question of whether or not Israel made the right decision or even had much of a choice in the matter, but certainly this is a bad public relations moment for Olmert's government.

In Lebanon, the response is the polar opposite, of course. The main person released, Samir Kuntar, who entered Israel in 1979 and murdered a man and his four year-old daughter. He is receiving a national welcome. It was the attempt to get Kuntar released that provoked the capture of the two Israeli soldiers in the first place. The kidnapping then provoked the disastrous war Israel launched against Hezbollah in 2006.

While Israel mourns and Lebanon celebrates, the rest of the world watches. I can't think this is a helpful moment for Hezbollah outside of the region. How vile do you need to be in order to withhold the fact that these two men were long dead and dishonestly trade them for five prisoners, the most high profile of which is a man who killed a four year old girl in the name of his ideology?

The BBC published a quote from the father and grandfather of the 1979 victims:

Ehud Goldwasser's father, Shlomo Goldwasser, said he was mystified by the Lebanese celebrations, coming after the recent war with Israel.

"I cannot understand what the Lebanese are so glad about and happy about," he said.

"They sacrificed over 700 of their best warriors and all their economy, and what they get for what they did is a murderer, a bloody murderer of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl and her father - and for this they are making all this glory, for this they sacrificed so much. So I feel only pity for them."

I am generally not a big defender of Israel. I'm a believer in the two-state solution that includes Palestinian control of East Jerusalem. I think that Israel has illegally annexed the Golan Heights. But it is hard to see Hezbollah as victims when they pull off cold-blooded stunts like this.

Summer eatin'

Summer is my favorite season. But it can get hot. For someone who likes to cook, it becomes no fun to be in a hot kitchen on a hot day. So I grill or make things that require little use of the oven and stove.

So I offer my own summer recipe. It's my new favorite, chilled Avocado-Lemon-Shrimp soup. It's delicious and easy! The dish is no-cook and chilled, so you don't have to heat up your kitchen on a hot day and the cold, slightly, salty soup cools you off real well. In my experience it goes well with a light beer, but would also work with margarita or white wine.

It can be an entree in of itself--or if you have an appetite, could be paired with something like grilled pork chops.

My recipe is an adaptation of one in this month's Cooking Light magazine of all places.

I never measure when I cook. The amounts below are estimates and can be changed depending on your own personal tastes. The below version isn't very spicy and would probably taste just as well with a little more kick in the form of more chilis, chili powder, or hot sauce.

COOLED AVOCADO-CITRUS-SHRIMP SOUP

Topping

• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or lime)
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped chives
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 8 ounces of cooked and peeled shrimp, coarsely chopped
• 1 pinch of salt

Chop ingredients and toss in bowl. Chill for at least 15 minutes.

Soup

• Two cups of broth (chicken broth is probably best)
• 2-3 medium-sized avocados, coarsely chopped
• 1 can (15 oz) of great northern beans (0r try another "soft" canned bean)
• 1 can (4 oz) of green chiles, diced
• 1 cup of plain yogurt (or sour cream if you're in a pinch)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (or lime)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine ingredients in blender until smooth.

• 1 medium tomato, finely chopped

Mix in chopped tomato and chill for at least 15 minutes.

• 1/4 cup cotija cheese, finely crumbled

Serve soup in bowls with shrimp topping and cheese.


Best eaten outdoors after a hot day with a cool evening breeze.