Beyond Selidor

Marcella Hazan, who was a fabulous, wonderful chef, died. While 89 years is a good innings, I still feel a little melancholy. I grew up with her cooking. Her recipe for pasta with tuna sauce has been my comfort food since I was on solids. Whenever I move to a new house or city, the first meal I cook is always that tuna sauce. I don't feel at home without it.

I'm loving Tim Minchin's occasional address to graduating students at the University of Western Australia:

We must think critically, and not just about the ideas of others. Be hard on your beliefs. Take them out onto the verandah and beat them with a cricket bat. Be intellectually rigorous. Identify your biases, your prejudices, your privilege.

Most of society’s arguments are kept alive by a failure to acknowledge nuance. We tend to generate false dichotomies, then try to argue one point using two entirely different sets of assumptions, like two tennis players trying to win a match by hitting beautifully executed shots from either end of separate tennis courts.

Speaking of a failure to acknowledge nuance, check out Jon Stewart's magnificent rant about the US government shutdown. I am incapable of discussing the need for government-funded healthcare in a rational manner, and I cannot be charitable to its opponents. As individuals, or even as individual charities, we are incapable of paying for the healthcare of all who require it. To deny the need for government-funded healthcare is nothing short of heartless.

This post by Tumblr user fygirlcrush is interesting, in that almost nothing in it matches my own experiences, and yet I can see that it is saying something true and powerful. One of these days I may come back to this and discuss why the only part I relate to is this quoted excerpt:

I love teenage girls because even if they hate themselves, they love other people. I remember how I felt, seeing other girls go through what I was going through. It ruined me. I wanted so desperately to help them out of the muck, but when you’re submerged yourself, there’s not a lot you can do. Teenage girls understand, and they want to make sure no one else feels the way they do. I see it on websites like Tumblr all the time. It’s fucking beautiful.

I love teenage girls because society loves to blame them for everything. The self-obsessed teenage girl is always the face of the “problem” with youth today. Apparently, these superficial teenage girls who love their iPhones too much are the issue. Not, you know, the people conditioning them to believe that their worth is tied to how many Likes they got on their last selfie. No, you’re right, let’s focus on the girls who post on Facebook too much. Great.

I am loving the Game of Thrones vids by hollywoodgrrl. They're reminding me why I like the TV series, and how I can read between its lines to find a story that gives me hope and strength. This one, 'Smells Like Westeros Spirit', was new to me, and was pointed out to me by goodbyebird.

Right, back to the library.