The 'er' Files

Does My Head Look Big in This?

2009-11-20T05:00:00.002-06:00

If you've been following my blog over the past couple months, you may have noticed I've been on a young adult literature kick.

Because of my interest in travel and other cultures, the books I've been gravitating to stick to these themes. I've also been able to read through them more quickly as they are often shorter than adult novels.

But that's not to say they don't tackle heavy ideas. For example, I just finished reading a book called Does My Head Look Big in This written by Randa Abdel-Fatta.

The book takes place in suburban Melbourne (the author is Australian) and is about a high school gal dealing with some critical identity issues. Even though she is Australian, she is also Palestinian and Muslim. She attends a hoity-toity private school with a strict uniform policy and she has recently decided that she wants to wear a hijab, or head-scarf.

Will she be able to manage all the typical social pressures any normal high school girl must deal with while also managing the stereotypes and questions that come with the hijab? You'll have to read the book to find out.

This is Abdel-Fatta's first book, and I could kind of tell. Sometimes the main character got too preachy and high-strung. However, that wouldn't stop me from recommending it to a teen reader.

It does offer an interesting cultural perspective. The United States isn't the only country in the world where people deal with hyphenated ethnic labels, and this book clearly illustrates that. Plus, even for me, an adult reader, it was interesting to encounter the thoughts and feelings that a Muslim woman might go through in decided whether or not to don the hijab.

Wise Words from a Fortune Cookie

2009-11-18T05:00:00.000-06:00

Fair Trade Sugar Cooperatives

2009-11-16T05:00:00.002-06:00

This month, an article I wrote about fair trade and organic sugar was published.

It was an interesting story for me to research as I spent my college years in Moorhead, Minnesota where, each fall, sugar beets are burned to produce sugar. The stench of the burning sugar beets would fill the town's air with a distinct, unpleasant aroma. Because of that experience, I found it interesting to learn more about where sugar comes from.

This story, though, concentrated mostly on imported, fair-trade sugar.

If you're interested in learning more about the topic, you can read my article here:

Fair Trade Sugar Cooperatives Sustain Communities

Photo (c) Wholesome Sweetners

Hello Kitty is 35 !!!!

2009-11-15T05:00:00.001-06:00

Hello Kitty turned 35 years-old this month! Yikes! She's younger than me!

A friend sent me a link to an article in the LA Times about Hello Kitty that details this famous Japanese cat's creation and her ascent to global domination.

I had no idea Hello Kitty was on the verge of such a momentous birthday when I decided to review a book of Hello Kitty haiku on Haiku By Two, my haiku blog.

And thanks to my haiku'ing partner, Alison, I now know all about a blog called Hello Kitty Hell.

It's a funny read written by a man who's wife collects Hello Kitty do-dads and gizmos, which she then resells somewhere online. Her Hello Kitty stuff has taken over their house, causing him to live, therefore, in Hello Kitty Hell.

Sofi Mendoza's Guide to Getting Lost in Mexico

2009-11-13T05:00:00.002-06:00

I've traveled off-the-beaten-path in Mexico, so I was curious when I came across this young adult novel called Sofi Mendoza's Guide to Getting Lost in Mexico.

The book, which I was wary of at first because it started off with some sexy, getting-drunk party scenes (it's a book for teens), turned out to be a good read.

It's about a high school girl named Sofi Mendoza who lives in LA. Her friends come up with this plan to tell all their parents they are sleeping over at each other's houses when really they are going to cross the border into Mexico and go to a party at a friend's weekend house in Rosarita.

What Sofi doesn't know is that she's not a U.S. citizen. She makes it into Mexico just fine, but when it's time to come home, she gets stopped by border patrol. She isn't allowed back into the United States and that's when her whole world gets turned upside down.

Via phone calls back to her mom and dad, she gets directed to relatives in Tijuana who she has never met. She must stay with them until her visa/residency/passport situation gets straightened out.

In the end, while I did think some of the boy-meets-girl themes were a bit too over-the-top and racy, as a whole, the descriptions of Tijuana and rural Mexico struck me as right. Plus, the observations Sofi makes about life between the two cultures and countries, and the lessons she learns about education, opportunity and family were wise and true.

Learn more about the author, Malin Alegria.

The Closest I'll Get to Barak Obama

2009-11-11T05:00:00.002-06:00

This might be the closest I'll ever get to Barak Obama.

In July I interviewed a man named Bud Philbrook who works for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. My finished article about him was finally published a couple weeks ago in Hamline Magazine, the alumni magazine for Hamline University.

Philbrook earned his law degree from Hamline and is currently serving the Obama Administration as the deputy under secretary for farm and foreign agricultural services.

His title is a mouthful which means, in his own words, that his job is "to promote United States agricultural exports and to help fight world hunger."

Philbrook was nominated for his position because he has a wealth of experience dealing with global cultures and developing nations. Twenty-five years ago, he and his wife founded an organization called Global Volunteers.

While it's currently a popular choice for travelers to spend their vacations volunteering, Global Volunteers was at the forefront of this trend.

During our interview, Philbrook spent a lot of time talking about the injustice of malnutrition when it comes to children. Children who are not properly nourished, no matter where they live, don't usually do well in school.

In my opinion, one of the most striking things he said in the course of our interview was this:

"Children who don't do well in school don't grow up to be Mozart, Mandela or Confucius because their brains aren't fully developed. They can't recognize their God-given potential and because of that they can't help improve the human condition."

If you'd like to read the whole article, you can see it here:

Mr. Philbrook Goes to Washington

Photo from Hamline Magazine.

As Seen in National Geographic

2009-11-09T13:35:00.003-06:00

Be sure and pick up a copy of the November/December 2009 issue of National Geographic Traveler Magazine.

Turn to page 104 and you'll find a photo taken by me!

The picture is one I took during an air boat tour of the Atchafalaya Swamp in Louisiana last summer. It is in the magazine in support of an article about the town of Breaux Bridge.

The publication of this picture was a total surprise. I hadn't submitted it to the magazine or anything. A few months back I got an email from a photo intern at the magazine. She'd seen the picture on my blog and wanted to know if National Geographic could purchase it. Of course!

Here's the blog post she saw.

Sudanese Lost Boy Finds Home in Minnesota

2009-11-06T05:00:00.002-06:00

Lately, I've been on a young adult literature kick.

Years ago, when I taught 8th grade, I used to read a lot of YA books, but since leaving the classroom behind, I'd kind of forgotten about the genre. But not anymore. I'm back into young adult and children's literature with a vengeance.

A friend, a former teacher herself, recommended I read Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate.

I'm so happy I did. It's a gentle, touching novel about a young Sudanese boy who immigrates to America.

He arrives alone. His father and brother were killed in his country's brutal civil war and his mother is missing, unaccounted for. He is placed in Minnesota to live with an aunt and a cousin already here.

The story is told all in poems. The language is precise and poignant and sparse. It's just lovely. Lovely, lovely, lovely.

I can't recommend this book enough. If you've got a young person in your life -- say middle school -- and you want to expose them to thoughtful prose and other cultures, this book is a winner.

Great Travel Writing Always Surprises

2009-11-04T15:49:00.003-06:00

I'm always in the mood for a great travel read, and of course I have my favorite travel writers -- Rolf Potts and Bill Bryson are at the top of my list.

And I love it when really good travel pieces show up in places I don't expect. For example, I recently read a great travel essay in Golf Magazine.

Now, I'm not much of a golfer. In fact, I'm not a golfer by any stretch of the imagination. But I picked up the piece, called Adios Fidel Hello Tiger, because it featured a rather large photo of Che Guevara golfing.

I was alerted to the piece by a follower of my other blog, Che Spotting, which showcases pictures of Che from all over the globe submitted by travelers. It's a sort of Where's Waldo web site, except the travelers are looking for Che not Waldo.

Anyway, the Golf Magazine article was a very well written piece about the state of golf in Cuba. Currently, there are only two golf courses in the country. Foreign investors, however, would love to up that number.

But of course (as the author even said in the story) no article about Cuba can discuss the future without discussing the past, and so first he chronicles the history of the island's golf courses.

There actually used to be a whole bunch, and the PGA even held tournaments there, but then Fidel played a round against Che, lost and got so mad he bulldozed all the courses except one.

Anyway...if you're interested in golf, Cuba or travel writing and have got some time to check out the essay, I recommend it.

Inclusive Junk Mail Part 10

2009-11-02T12:10:00.002-06:00

It's been a few months since we've gotten any Korean mail in our box.

Never fear, though, the junk mail gods have not forgotten about us.

Just last week, we got more inclusive junk mail.

If you're new to the story of the Korean/Chinese/Vietnamese mail that keeps showing up in our mail box, you can read more about it here.

Day of the Dead Picture Book

2009-10-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

Halloween and Mexico's Day of the Dead are not the same thing. First of all, today is Halloween, but tomorrow -- November 1 -- is Day of the Dead.

Secondly, while Halloween seems to be all about scaring yourself silly and hoarding candy, the Day of the Dead is about peacefully welcoming back the departed souls of your loved ones and spending time remembering your good times together even though you're now separated by death.

This picture book, Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book, by Jeanette Winter, can help teach those differences.

It's an alphabet book with a cultural twist: Each letter of the alphabet depicts a skeleton all dolled-up for a Mexican Day of the Dead celebration.

The words associated with each letter are in Spanish, but the illustrations and glossary at the end make it easy to understand what all the words mean.

The happy skeletons offer a perfect opportunity to discuss the differences between Halloween and Day of the Dead and illustrate that even though skeletons are part of the Mexican holiday, they are about celebration and not fear.

And the pictures also show that both holidays are about sweet things to eat.

While the alphabet format suggests a younger audience, the book’s cultural element means it could be used with older students, too.

Two for One is Like One for Free

2009-10-29T05:00:00.002-06:00

Two for One is One for Free or Almost One for Free?

Save a Village in Malawi

2009-10-26T05:00:00.002-06:00

Do you eat Cheerios? Or any of the other gazillion products put out by General Mills?

If so, you might be interested in the company's Malawi mission. General Mills has set aside $500,000 to be donated amongst ten different villages in the African nation of Malawi through a program called Join My Village.

You can help determine how quickly money gets released. Go to the web site, create a log in name and then read about the various villages and projects going on there.

You take a quiz about Malawi and every time you answer a question, you "unlock" part of the $500,000 General Mills has set aside for its donation.

It's an interactive, feel-good way to learn more about a Malawi and get some resources heading into the country without ever having to break open your own account.

Novel about the Taj Mahal

2009-10-23T05:00:00.002-06:00

Every once in a while I come across an author who captivates my imagination, and I go on a splurge reading everything they've ever written.

This year, my author splurge was John Shors.

In June, I read his novel, Beside a Burning Sea, and interviewed him on my haiku web site.

In August I read his newly released novel, Dragon House, which takes place in Saigon.

Now, I've just finished reading his first novel, Beneath a Marble Sky. It was sooooooo good!

It is a historical novel, a love story, and an adventure tale all rolled up in one. It is the story of the building of the Taj Mahal.

I don't think I can stress how much I loved this book! I've never been to India, and before picking up this book, only knew the barest of bones about the Taj Mahal. And yes, I know that the book is a work of fiction, and that some of the details might not be correct, but I DON'T CARE. It was that good!

It has only fueled my desire to visit the Taj Mahal. Someday....

In the meantime, I'll have to get an India fix by reading my fellow GoNomad blogger, Mridula Dwivedi. She lives in India and posts about her travels in her home land (and sometimes beyond).

Organic Blue Agave Nectar

2009-10-21T05:00:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, I worked on a story about fair trade sugar. In researching that story, I spoke with one of the founders of Wholesome Sweeteners, a company that imports and sells fair trade sweeteners in the U.S.

Wholesome Sweeteners sells nine different types of fair trade sugar, but it also markets fair trade honey from Mexico and fair trade blue agave nectar, also from Mexico.

The blue agave nectar is harvested from the blue agave plant, which is also used to make tequila.

The nectar is sweet, sweeter than sugar, so you use less of it, and it has a low Glycemic index, which means that it breaks down slowly in your body, which means you don't experience a "sugar high."

I'm now obsessed with blue agave nectar. I have a bottle that I've been trying out on everything -- in coffee, on grapefruit, etc.

I recommend it!

Carpe Diem -- YA Travel Novel

2009-10-16T05:00:00.001-06:00

A friend told me about a book called Carpe Diem. It's a young adult novel, she said, about traveling in Asia.

Since she's a reader whose opinion I respect, I decided to take her advice and seek out this book written by Autumn Cornwell.

In it, a sixteen year-old girl named Vassar gets kidnapped to Southeast Asia. Well, she's not really kidnapped. But to her, it feels like it.

Her artist grandmother insists that Vassar get out of the country and away from her high-expectation parents for a summer. The grandma fears Vassar is in danger of becoming an over-focused planner with no ability to adapt to life's changes.

And of course, if you've been there, then you know that there is no better way to break someone of their love of planning than to take them on a backpacking trip through Southeast Asia.

I actually really liked the book. It didn't matter to me at all that the main character was a 16 year old kid. I identified with her journey, the places she was seeing and the feelings she was experiencing.

If you know a middle school/high school girl looking for a book, I say hand her a copy of Carpe Diem. And even if you're an adult -- so what? It's still worth a read!

Neighborhood Block Parties

2009-10-14T05:00:00.001-06:00

The timing of this feels like a joke.

This month, a local magazine is featuring a story I wrote about neighborhood block parties, an activity that usually takes place (at least in this neck of the woods) when the weather outside is nice.

And yet, in the past week, just as the article was unveiled, it has snowed here -- TWICE!

Ah well. If you'd like to get a jump start on planning next year's block party, you can get ideas from my story: Neighborhood Block Party

Early October Snow

2009-10-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

My backyard on October 12, 2010, taken at 1 pm. I'm not ready for this.

Wine Tours in Hungary

2009-10-12T05:00:00.001-06:00

Ask me where you should go for a really great glass of wine and Hungary probably wouldn't be the first country out of my mouth.

But maybe I should rethink that.

According to Jamison Bachrach, owner of Wandering Puffin, a travel provider specializing in Eastern Europe, Hungary is a wine-lovers paradise.

Check out his suggested nine-day food and wine travel itinerary for Hungary.

A View from St. Paul's Harriet Isalnd

2009-10-09T05:00:00.000-06:00

The entrance to St. Paul's Harriet Island Park.

The park isn't really an island, but a peninsula that sticks out into the Mississippi River.

I liked the view of the St. Paul Cathedral in the background. It's on the opposite bank of the river, and as you can see, atop a tall hill.

River Boat Grill & Views of St. Paul

2009-10-08T05:00:00.000-06:00

The Mississippi River cuts through the city of St. Paul. I'd never really spent much time around the river in St. Paul and so the other day a friend and I decided to check it out.

We stumbled upon the River Boat Grill, a restaurant on an old boat docked at Harriet Island.

Could there be a better way to enjoy views of the water and downtown St. Paul than to sit on a boat with something to drink? No. We found a table and ordered some lunch.

The boat's menu told the long story about the boat's beginnings and how it came to be a restaurant in St. Paul. Unfortunately, that story isn't posted anywhere on the restaurant's web site. And I didn't have too much time to absorb it at my table. The waitress set upon us pretty quick for our order before snapping the menus out of our hands.

Oh well. The sign on the receptionist stand had warned us. It said something along the lines of Beware the Bitter Waitress.

We didn't give it much more mind, other than to giggle a bit over it. The views of downtown St. Paul were just too pleasant and the people watching was equally appealing.

Visiting Alpacas in Minnesota

2009-10-05T13:37:00.002-06:00

It was an easy drive into the countryside to hang out with an alpaca herd for the day.

We set off toward the small town of Hutchinson and an alpaca ranch just beyond its reach called The Abbey Alpacas.

I've been around alpacas before. I'd encountered them while traveling in both Bolivia and Peru. And I'd seen plenty of llamas and alpacas at the Minnesota State Fair.

But I'd never been to an alpaca farm so I was curious to see the set up.

The owner, Ruth Kinkade, opened the doors to her alpaca barn and freely welcomed visitors. She talked to anyone who cared to listen about the animals, their temperaments (they spit if you touch their face), their wool, mating techniques for achieving better wool, and how much it costs to buy an alpaca (thousands -- 3, 7 or even 18!).

We got to pet a couple and sink our fingers into their fuzzy hair. They'd been shaved last spring so their current wool wasn't too long. Still, it was soft and squishy to the touch.

Apparently there's a lot of money to be made in the alpaca industry. The wool can pull in a pretty penny.

Plus there's lots to be made from selling the animals to others looking to start or expand their herds. Alpacas can no longer be imported into the United States. If you want to start a herd, you have to get them from within the country.

Go-Girl! Women Pee Standing Up!

2009-09-28T12:37:00.002-06:00

So here's something you just don't see everyday -- a silicone device that allows women to pee standing up.

It's called GoGirl and it happens to be produced, marketed and sold right here in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

I just can't help but blog about the GoGirl. That's because I already blogged about the subject over a year ago. Back then my post was about a device called P-Mate. It also was a "female urinary device" that would allow women to pee standing up. It, too, was from right here in the Twin Cities.

This new device, the GoGirl, differs from the P-Mate in that it is made of silicone instead of cardboard. The GoGirl is reusable whereas the P-Mate was more of a one-time-use sort of thing.

Apparently the GoGirl is going great guns, selling all sorts of inventory. Well, good for them.

I, however, have a different question: What is it about the Twin Cities that has produced two companies selling basically the same product -- and a strange one at that?

Plantation Homes in St. Francisville, Louisiana

2009-09-14T13:41:00.001-06:00

GoNomad recently published a story I wrote about a touring plantation homes in Louisiana.

I stayed in a small town called St. Francisville. It was a quiet place dripping in Spanish moss and oozing in Southern charm.

John James Audubon, the famous bird watcher, spent a part of his life living in this neck of the woods. And befitting his legacy (maybe?), I encountered a turkey there!

If you're interested in the story, you can read it here:

St. Francisville, Louisiana: Plantation Homes, Spanish Moss and Southern Hospitality

If you'd like to read some of my blog entries from this trip, you can do that here:

Louisiana Blog Entires

Beauty Queens and Butter

2009-09-05T05:00:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite parts of the Minnesota State Fair is stopping into the dairy building to see the butter heads.

Every year, about a dozen young ladies compete for the title of Princess Kay of the Milky Way.

The Minnesota Dairy Association crowns a winner at the start of the fair and for the next year, she acts a representative of the state's dairy industry.

All of the candidates get their likeness carved out of a block of butter. The butter heads are life size and each girl gets to take hers home and keep it!