Serendipity 13. Part II. Inventing Christmas Cookies with Tigist

So, the rest of the world may be sick of my stories of Christmas cookies, but this year I am squeezing every moment I can out of the season's baking spree.  Now that I'm in Tacoma with my sister and brother in law Katrinka and Brian, and three year old niece, Tigist, we're getting ready for another Wigilia celebration tonight.  But yesterday (and this morning) was Cookie Time, and Tigist proved yet again that she is going to take after her aunt in some big ways.  Besides being left-handed, she is a born baker, just like Auntie Trish.  And she got into the spirit of the season by adding her twist to one of the cookies that I invented in Burlington this year.  Tigist is almost as big a fan of my friend Siham as I am (she even named one of dolls after her), and so it was probably predictable that she'd pick Siham Surprises as the cookies to which she needed to add her own signature addition.    Here they are below:

Peanut butter blossoms and Siham Surprises Tigist's way -- she insisted that they had to be purple and pink.

Tigist is the do-it-yourself phase of her childhood, and so she was pretty insistent in soloing a lot of different parts of the operation -- from unwrapping hershey kisses (pretty easy) to cutting out Lemon Driskies (a little tougher, but she caught on quickly) to icing Chris Crinkles all by herself (definitely the messiest of the operations).

Unwrapping hershey kisses -- easy parcheesi, Auntie Trish!

Submitting to an extremely brief Chris Crinkle frosting tutorial before insisting on going it alone

Frosting Tig-style: lots on the cookies, and plenty of snacking of it along the way

Rolling and cutting out Lemon Driskies -- We both roll but only Tig can cut them out

After a solid morning's work rolling, decorating and baking (and eating lots of frosting in between) Tig went down for a nap and the grown-ups need to turn their attention to Wigilia prep.  Time to make some Ushkas, and tomorrow, will do another post on Wigiila in Tacoma.

Serendipity 13. A New Twist on an Old Activity: Inventing Cookies

Although I am a very terrible shopper (just ask my sister Katrinka), there are two parts of the holiday season that I absolutely love.  One is having the chance to celebrate Wigilia with family and/or friends, which I'll be doing once again this year in Tacoma next week.  The other is baking Christmas cookies.  And I have to confess that, after a year of being an absolute beginner of so many things, it was fun to actually do an activity where I feel like I know what I'm doing.  But the spirit of 52 New Things seems to have taken on a life of its own in everything I do, and this year, it inspired me to branch out a bit and try to invent (or maybe that's a bit much, and I should say modify) some new recipes. 




Something old and something new -- peanut butter blossoms and Lemon Driskies

 
So, this season my plates have three new cookies, all created out of standard recipes I got from somewhere else.  The first two came from a desire to add a new form of cookie to my repertoire this year -- shortbread.  Although, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I am fond of soft, doughy cookies, some of my nearest and dearest, namely Chris and Lilly, prefer cookies that are richer and drier -- hence the need to learn to make shortbread.  So, I tried a classic shortbread recipe, but it felt slightly boring to me, and I decided to jazz it up a little and make it lemon.  I added lemon peel to the dough, and then thought I'd like to do a lemon glaze, but wasn't sure if the glaze was too much.  I gave an experimental half glazed/half plain sample cookie to Drisk, and asked for his opinion.  He suggested keeping it half-glazed, and a new cookie was born.  I named it -- in his honor -- the Lemon Drisky.

Here's Drisk making tidy rows of his namesake cookie

Inspired by the Driskies, I decided to keep experimenting, and tried almond as well.  They have almond extract and chopped almonds in them, and an almond glaze on top.  After sampling the 11 varieties of cookies I made this year, Chris decided those were his favorite.  In his honor, they are now Almond Bennetts. (Chris actually wound up doing very well in my frenzy of cookie naming, because he also recently suggested that his second favorite type, heretofore known to my friends and family who eat them as Molasses Crinkles, should get a new name as well, at least at Christmastime.  They have become Chris Crinkles, which I had to agree was a highly appropriate name)

Chris showing off the two cookies with names he inspired-- Almond Bennetts and Chris Crinkles

Finally, yesterday, in an effort to break up the grading that has taken over my life, I decided to take an intermission and bake off some doughs that were still hanging out in the fridge.  I used up all the peanut butter cookie dough I had making peanut butter blossoms, but wound up with some extra chocolate kisses, as well as some dough that I use for making jam thumbprints.  So, I did the logical experiment and wrapped some dough around the kisses, and the result looks a lot like the kind of sweet dumpling you'd find at a Chinese bakery (which you may recall from the post on 24 hours without sleeping in New York City is my idea of heaven).  When she was up helping with the biggest round of baking last weekend, Siham had been wondering about the Lemon Driskies and how one got in on the cookie naming.  So, today she became part of the trilogy when I named the day's experiment after her.  They are Siham Surprises.



Siham learning the fine art of rolling peanut butter blossoms

 
I'm pretty sure that if the world's human rights abuses went away tomorrow, and it was time for me to roll up my activist agenda and tuck it away, I'd open a bakery and invent cookies (and continuously repeat the better inventions) all day long.  That's probably not going to happen any time soon, so for now, it's only in the month of December that I go a little crazy baking cookies.  But do let me know if you want the recipes for Lemon Driskies, Almond Bennetts or Siham Surprises -- or if you're in Burlington, stop by and try one!


'Tis the season...for cookie invention -- Siham Surprises, Lemon Driskies and Almond Bennetts



Two Top Ten Lists from 2010, the Year of 52 New Things

I got some frustrating news yesterday.  I've been having some health issues and after yesterday's appointment the doctor told me no aerobic exercise or activities where I could potentially fall for the next three weeks.  That means that the ice climbing adventure I was supposed to go on today is off, as is my upcoming rock climbing adventure with Tigist and my first ski trip of the season and my ice skating plans.  Bummer.  But, as my sister Katrinka pointed out, it's all about "re-framing" so now I'm trying to think about all the activities I've wanted to get caught up on while I'm confined to walking and yoga as my only forms of physical activity.  I've still got plenty of grading to keep me busy, and it's also a nice opportunity for reflection I've wanted to do about the last year of new things, which is what this post seeks to begin.

Even before I began the year of 52 New Things I was a list-maker and that tendency has only gotten stronger through this exercise.  So, when I was thinking about the year that just was, of course I started thinking in lists and I decided to create three.  Two of them will be in this post, and then I'll do a second post with the third. One list is my own personal top ten -- people always ask me what's been my favorite thing to come out of the year, so I've decided to think of ten favorites.  Some are actual new things, and others are results of what's happened.  The other list is more of a curiosity factor -- the most popular postings  The blog program lets you track how many times a page has been viewed over the last six months, which is not quite the same as all time, but I thought would offer an interesting perspective in what other people have thought was interesting.  And finally, I wanted to do a Hall of Fame list to name the people who have been most active in this project in the last year.  Originally, I planned to put this in third list in this post, but once I started looking back and compiling who had done what I realized it's going to be a bit time-consuming, and therefore will put it up separately.

Top Ten According to Others
The most popular postings was easiest to compile because it's a straightforward matter of pulling it off the blog statistics.  Of course, postings that have been up longer have the advantage of more time to potentially be seen, but interestingly, it doesn't seem to matter much. In fact, the most popular new thing, in terms of page visits, is also the most recent -- 52. get a tattoo.  Another interesting thing is that the two most popular posts aren't actually new things at all, but rather Serendipity Posts.  So, here, in reverse order of popularity, are the ten most popular posts among blog visitors from the last six months:

10. 30. Visit Jordan, Happy Hour, Part II (July 1, 2010)
9.   39. Visit Sweden (August 9, 2010)
8.   32.  Give a Talk in Uganda (July 9, 2010)
7.   29.  Try Glassblowing (June 14, 2010)
6.   Serendipity 11.  A Most Unusual Birthday Celebration (October 27, 2010)
5.   List Update: So Much to Do, So Little Time (June 1, 2010)
4.  34.  See a Band at Nectar's and Eat at Pizza on Earth (July 15, 2010)
3.  52.  Get a Tattoo (December 11, 2010)
2.  Serendipity 1.  See a Sunrise over the Highest Mountain on Earth (January 8, 2010)
1.  Serendipity 7.  Start a Book During Alumni Weekend (September 20, 2010)

My Own Top Ten

At first I didn't want to try to make my own list, because it felt like I was being dismissive of everything I didn't put on it.  But I've reconsidered that.  Every single thing that became the subject of a post was memorable in its own way, and I think it's okay to single out a few things that particularly stand out for me when I review 2010.

So, here's my own personal top ten list:

10.  Blogging.  I entered this project thinking that blogging was a strange and mysterious thing, and now, a little more than a year later, I've discovered I love it.  I even love taking pictures for it -- another activity I used to avoid like the plague.  Many thanks to Julia for helping me get started.
9.    Seeing a New Side of Old Places.  New York City is a case in point.  I love going to New York anyway, but between trip skating at Rockefeller Center, doing a day of Broadway shows with Angela, and then later in the same year, having the 24 hours without sleep with Chris and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge together, all really drove home the point that a place you've visited many times can have all kinds of new facets and experiences waiting to be discovered.



I'd been to New York City lots of times, but it never occurred to me that the Brooklyn Bridge on foot is the way to see it, till Halloween 2010

 8.    Winter Sports. Yet another of the many gifts of this project is that it has resolved my long-standing conflict with Vermont winters.  I never knew that it could actually be fun to be outside in the cold  But thanks to Dan S, Nigel, Josh, Connor, Ryan, Dave, Drisk and a host of other teachers and friends, now I'm actually excited for the snow and the chance to get on skis, crampons or various other winter equipment.

Proof of my new found love of winter -- smiling before diving in at the Penguin Plunge in February

7.     The MDG Book Project.  There is no way I would have thought this was possible a year ago.  But after so many new things and great experiences with past and current students, it just seemed like a natural extension.  It's such an exciting thing to be able to put together a Dream Team of past and current students who all spend lots of their time and brain power thinking about development questions.  Their energy, commitment and imagination are infectious and I think this is my favorite academic project on which I've ever collaborated.
6.    Nepal.  This was my first international trip in the year of new things, and it was completely unforgettable.  I made great new friends (Manish, Jane and Kirk), renewed wonderful existing friendships with Cliff, Nicole and Jai and saw some of the most amazing and beautiful things I can imagine.  This trip cemented for me the fact that life is about being open to opportunities, even when you're not sure if you're ready yet.
5.    Camel's Hump  I feel like Camel's Hump, that quintessential Vermont peak, became a huge part of my year.  Hiking it in all four seasons was such a fabulous way to experience a state that I love.  Plus, there were so many people who did the hikes with me -- the four I "counted" and more that I didn't.  I got to go in all kinds of weather, at all times of day (I did not one but two dark-to-dawn hikes -- first with Siham, Josh and Ali and then with Chris), and with all kinds of people (including Alex, Ali, Brian, Bridgit, Chris, Conor D, Gary, Josh, Katrinka (who, with Brian, came all the way from Washington State to do it), Ryan, Siham, and Will) , and I thoroughly loved each hike I took.
4.    A Whole New Type of Friendship.  The process of doing new things all the time changed my life in ways I didn't expect. One of the most profound changes is that it opened me up to all kinds of new friendships based on shared experiences.  I learned that some people I've known for years, like my colleague Paul, have a sense of adventure that I never knew about.  I learned that others, like my high school friend Angela and my graduate school friend, Lilly, were brimming with ideas that they could share from a distance. I learned that many of my students and former students have tons of talents that they are perfectly willing to share, and I learned that other people (even Rhodes Scholars like my former student, Jamila) are as intimidated as me by ordinary things, like learning to change a car tire. I'm ending the year with a huge wealth of friendships -- some new, some deepened -- courtesy of the many shared experiences catalogued in this blog.
3.    Hanging out with Leah and Siham.  From the night in October, 2009 that the idea of this project was born, Leah, Siham and I embarked on an adventure together.  We've climbed mountains with closed roads in the dead of winter and strolled through local sites in the heat of summer.  We've collectively burned lists of bad things and drawn up new lists of great aspirations. We've taken numerous trips together over the last year, and have plans for more far-flung ones in the year ahead.  When I think of my friendships with the two of them and the list of new things, it's a chicken and egg dynamic, because there's no doubt that our friendship bolstered the list, but the list also furthered our friendship.



Siham and Leah on one of the year's adventures -- this time in Quebec City

 2.    Rock climbing.  No one has been more surprised than me at how much I have liked this activity.  As I've noted elsewhere, it's not because I'm good at it (I'm not), or because it's easy (it's not)  or because it's a craze sweeping the nation (I think it's pretty obscure).  I think it has lots to do with how well it fits with thoughts that have been rolling around a lot in my head over the last year -- about challenges and fears and the processes we use (or run away from) in facing them both.  I also have been tremendously fortunate in having had marvelous instructors -- Cliff, Nicole, Conor D., Josh, Dan S., Amanda and Randall are all on my A-list forever -- and ultra-enthusiastic fellow newbies.  I've got tons to do in seeking to get better, so I'm hoping that will be one of the things I concentrate on in 2011, the Year of the Challenge, and that lots of friends will decide to do this one with me.
1.   Petra adventure in Jordan. I love to travel, and to me, our adventure in Petra epitomized absolutely everything that I love about travel.  I knew that the physical site of Petra would be amazing, but that was just one aspect of the experience.  On rare occasions (at least in my experience) everyone on a trip will be on the same wavelength -- interested in the same level of exploration and newness -- and that's what happened with Connor S., Siham and I.  At the same time, we had the great good fortune of being hosted by some of the warmest and most hospitable people I've ever met in Amman (with Khaled, the Omrans and Inas at the top of that list) and then again in a tea shop at the top of the Petra site, when we had yet more incredible luck in being befriended by our Beduoin hosts, Khaled and Ibrahim.  The night we spent in a cave in the desert with them ranks for all three of us as an adventure of a lifetime.  Whether it ever gets topped or not is not the point: the fact that it happened was a reminder and confirmation to the three of us that the world really is our oyster, if only we are willing to take a leap of faith and stretch as far out of our comfort zone as we're invited by others.


Ibrahim trying to teach me to dance by the light of the cave fire and the music of the truck during our cave camp-out

 

Khaled taking a break while leading us out of Petra into the desert



Khaled cooking us dinner at the cave



So, there are my two top ten lists for 2010.  What a great reminder of all that life has to offer.  Or, in the words of Mary Chapin Carpenter, "Call it chance or call it fate.  Either one is cause to celebrate.  But the question begs, why would you wait?  Don't be late for your life."

What's Next? 2011, the Year of the Challenge

When I decided that 2010 would be the Year of New Things it was because I had the germ of an idea (travel) and my friends Leah and Siham helped shape it into something much more ambitious and all-encompassing (52 New Things).  Since that decision in late fall of 2009, we've gotten together at least every couple of months (Siham lives in Boston, and Leah in New Bedford) to do something on all of our lists and think about what else we want to do.  This last weekend Siham and Leah were up to celebrate my birthday and the fact that I completed 52 New Things in a 52 weeks. I should have known they would, once again, take the germ of an idea (keep going) and help me think of it in a more ambitious way.  By the end of the weekend we were clear that 2011 will be the Year of the Challenge.

By the end of the weekend we also had the coffee table completely covered with Christmas cookies. Of, course I pressed everyone in the condo into service -- here are Drisk and Siham helping out.

All three of us are big believers in signs, and one of the signs came from the things that remained on all three of our lists of new things.  A lot of the stuff that's left is hard, and will require some pretty serious time commitments.  All three of us, for instance, want to learn a new language, and we're still planning our trip to Alaska by container ship in March, which is a bit more complicated than just hopping on a plane would be.

One of our many signs -- in Quebec City, Siham and Leah spotted a container ship -- a clear harbinger of an upcoming adventure.

But Siham and I had gotten another sign the week before when we were in Washington, DC and got to spend a little time with another friend and former student, Colleen. Colleen has decided that 2011 is the year to run the Burlington City Marathon -- not just her, but Siham and me as well.  Clearly, it was a sign.

Happy smiles -- Colleen had just wrangled a commitment from Siham and me about the marathon, and the gravity of what she had agreed to hadn't hit Siham yet.

So, now I'm in the position I was about a year ago (but this time thanks to Julia I already have a blog from which to write), asking friends and family for suggestions for challenging things for the coming year.  The plan is to try to continue to do new things on a regular basis (hopefully at least once a month), but also pick some things that take a serious commitment in order to improve or become even minimally competent.

Here's what my list is looking like right now:

• The MDG book.  This one has already been started, obviously, but now we need to spend the next year seeing it through  It's simultaneously the most ambitious and most fun book project I've ever been part of, and it's going to be a front-burner effort in 2011.
• Run a marathon.  I'm going to try to get Colleen, Siham and I all registered for the Burlington City Marathon (which will be May 21, 2011) before the new year so that we're all committed. 
• The container ship trip to Alaska.  Still planning to do it over spring break, and need to set up the logistics when I'm in Tacoma at Christmastime.

• Hike Hell Brook Trail with Chris.  This is the toughest trail up Mt. Mansfield, and full of big rocks which are usually wet. Incredibly, Chris does it on a weekly basis when the weather allows, and I am going to do it with him sometime in the coming year.





I won't be smiling like this when we do Hell Brook


• Learn to jump and spin on skates.  This was on my original new things list, but I was overoptimistic.  I was going great guns last winter, but then stopped skating altogether in May.  I need to commit to skating a couple days a week and hopefully doing some more lessons to get back into the game on this one.
• Do nothing.  Sounds incredibly easy, but when I was preparing to do it (I wound up doing the far easier and more delicious option of going to Chris's mom's for Thanksgiving instead), I discovered it was actually going to be pretty tough.  But I will do it in 2011.
• Mechanics, once again.  Despite Nigel's excellent tutelage on bike and car tire changing, I feel like I just didn't totally get it.  I think I need to take a full-fledged bike or auto maintenance course to really get a feel for how things work.
• Skiing. Loved it last winter when Drisk took me, and bought a Bash Badge for Smugglers Notch for this winter so I can work on getting better.
• Arabic. This language really intimidates me, probably because I don't even know the alphabet for it, and think it looks impossible to read.  But I want to give it a shot to at least learn some basics.

One more weekend Christmas cookie shot, just for the fun of it

It's a very incomplete list and I'm still thinking about what else should go on, so please, feel free to offer thoughts and suggestions.  I'll write the full list and plan sometime around the New Year, and I'm still going to do a post about the year I just finished.  But it's always fun to think about what might be on the horizon.  If anyone is interested in doing any of these challenges (or others you want to suggest) in tandem, please let me know as well.

52. Get a tattoo

I'll always remember my birthday this year  for a whole variety of reasons.  One was because it was a great day.  I don't teach classes on Friday, and started the day going ice skating with Derek  We'd been saying for a year that we'd go, and we finally did it the last day Derek was in Burlington before leaving for his Latin America bike tour.  Then we met Dan and Abby for brunch at Penny Cluse and in the evening Siham and Leah came to town, we had a great meeting of the MDG book group and then Chris took me for a wonderful dinner at Main and Church (neither of us had been and the food is quite good).  Definitely a perfect day.



Last Penny Cluse breakfast with Derek, Dan and Abby

 But the most unusual aspect of the day was the middle of it, when I did the final thing on my original round of 52 New Things -- getting a tattoo. I got mine at Yankee Tattoo in Burlington. Like so many things I've tried for the first time this year, I discovered there's a lot more to it than I had thought.  For starters, you can't just bounce in and get a tattoo.  First you need to look through the work of various tattoo artists and decide who you want to work with, and then do an "artist consult".  There, you decide on the design and set up an appointment for the actual tattoo. 


Here's the design on my arm waiting to be made permanent

  The tattoo artist draws the design and sizes it, and then the first stage of the tattooing is transferring the design to the body, as you can see has happened in the blue ink on my arm above.  The artist who did my tattoo, Liz, was great.  She normally doesn't even work on Fridays, but came in and did the work so that I'd be able to get the tattoo on my birthday.  Here she is getting ready to start in the photo below.

Liz, the artist who did my tattoo

 In case you're wondering (I know I always have), it does hurt to get it.  My friend and former student, Drisk, had told me about the process and what to expect, and he had described the feeling as a very sharp pencil dragging just under your skin.  I think it's more like scratching a double sunburn.  But in either case, it's not very pleasant, but I'd say it's not any worse than getting a cavity filled.  It's also true, at least in my case, that some areas are more sensitive than others and doing the part on the underside my arm was my least favorite. The whole thing took about an hour, with maybe 45 minutes as the actual tattoo process.

In case you've ever wondered, this is what an in-process tattoo looks like

Finished product

They sent me home with a couple bandages and lotion and instructions about caring for the tattoo for the next few days.  Apparently, the most important thing is to keep the area from drying out, and you're supposed to apply lotion regularly.  Today the area stings a little, but otherwise feels fine, so I think I'm good to go.

So, that's the story of the tattoo.  Not as dramatic as I had built it up to be beforehand, but it's on there for good, so it's a good thing I really like it.  And of course, it's a memento of a very different year of my life, (as well as being a constant reminder now to get my arms in shape for my favorite activity that came out of the year -- rock climbing) and I like that a lot.

I think in a week or two I'm going to write a post that's a sort of retrospective of the year, and then of course around the New Year I'm going to write the plan for New Things in 2011.  I know what things have been my favorites through the year, but I'm a bit curious about other people's reactions.  I'd love to know what things sounded interesting and fun to other people and of course, as always, I'm always psyched with suggestions of new things. 

Thanks so much  to everyone who made this a fabulous birthday this year, and also to everyone who has participated in all the New Things I've done this year! It's been a great adventure and I'm looking forward to a lot more.

50. Take the SMC Shuttle to North Campus and 51. Eat Dinner at Knights at the Roundtable

“Objects which are usually the motives of our travels by land and by sea are often overlooked and neglected if they lie under our eye. We put off from time to time going and seeing what we know we have an opportunity of seeing when we please.”

-- Plutarch

So, in my quest to experience new things this year, by far the greatest assistance has come from my students and former students.  And once again they've come through with a whole host of brilliant suggestions of New Things to try, all of them right here in Burlington or at least within an hour's drive. I've gotten a slew of new ideas, and am going to incorporate a whole bunch of them -- from volunteer walking of greyhounds at the rescue to shooting a gun at a shooting range and lots in-between -- in the next iteration of the list.  But last night I did two new things (they went together) that it's ridiculous I've never done until now given that I've been teaching at Saint Mike's for over a decade.  They were both suggested by members of the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC), who are not only ardent AIDS activists but also share my interest in finding fun new things to do.  Emily had suggested eating at our dinner restaurant, Knights of the Roundtable, much earlier in the semester, and she put in a reservation tonight for some of us to go eat there.  Then during the day Kate suggested that we take the campus shuttle over (it's on North Campus about a mile from the Main Campus), since I had never done that either.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but the risotto was really good!

The SGAC dinner crew -- Ellen, Kate, Mae and Emily

Kate and I were "dinner twins because we ordered all the same things.  Here we are with matching desserts.

At 5:30 Kate, Emily, Mae, Ellen and I hopped on the shuttle and headed over to Sloan Hall.  To eat at Sloan is the same cost as eating in the regular dining hall in Alliot Student Center (one "meal swipe"), but there's a bit of a production to make it happen.  The Knights of the Round Table is only open for dinner Monday through Thursday, and requires reservation, which Emily had made for our party.  Everyone gets one appetizer, one main course and one desert, and there is a rotating choice of about six options in each category. There were all kinds of fun possibilities -- potato pancakes, chili, minestrone, and shrimp risotto were some of the appetizer and entree possibilities and deserts included chocolate bread pudding and seven layer bars with ice cream.  I opted for mixed greens and goat cheese, vegetable risotto, and a dessert panini.  Kate, who was sitting next to me, was my dinner twin, because we got the exact same thing.  The whole thing was profesisonally served up by student wait staff (both of ours happened to be past or current students of mine, Annie and Jackie), and if last night was any indication, the place is very popular.  In fact, I'd say it's one of the best-kept secrets on campus, and between the great food and excellent company, it was a fabulous meal. I'll definitely be back.

Could there be a more Vermont-worthy hat than the one that Emily was sporting in the shuttle on the way back?

Drisk, Anne Marie, Dan and Derek at Dan and Derek's last night out

A final post script to the evening, but relevant to the list of 52 New Things, is a good by to two fabulous former students, Dan and Derek.  They're leaving Burlington to embark with two other great SMC alum, Ted and Zach, on the bike trip of a lifetime in Latin America.  I'm still hopeful that I'll be able to fly down and meet them during their travels, but for last night, I just popped by Ri Ra's after dinner to meet various SMC students, alum and staff to say goodby and wish them a great trip. 

52 Ways to Say I Love You

...in Mata, a local language in Cameroon.  Elizabeth, an AIDS activist who I met last weekend who used to live in Cameroon and now lives in Maryland, told me these.  I am writing them phonetically (at least as I heard them) since she wasn't sure of how they'd be spelled in English.

Hello  A way re yay (or We you)

Goodby Ta chee ka (or see you tomorrow: Ti sa so)

I love you Mo kongo way

May I have two beers, please Mo free berra mobiya mobay

Coming Attractions

Only one more thing to finish up the first round of 52 New Things, and it's a biggie.  On Friday I'm getting a tattoo.  I had no idea that it was such an involved process, but I've had my "artist consult" and put down my deposit and made my appointment, so there's no backing out now. After this week, I'll have a permanent reminder of the year of 52 New Things. I'll definitely keep everyone posted on that one.

A great thing about doing this whole exercise is that it's left me with a habit of seeking out new things, as well as a whole slew of things I want to keep going with.  There's lots of stuff from the original list that I still haven't gotten to but definitely plan to -- like knitting mittens, going to Alaska, mastering a skating jump and taking a martial arts and/or painting class.  And there's lots of new thing ideas that got generated this year -- like going to the Snowflake Bentley Museum, going dog sledding and visiting the Faroe Islands -- that need to go on a new list.  And there are lots of things that I loved from the first list -- rock climbing obviously, but also skiing and sea kayaking and many others -- that I'm going to keep going with.  As always, I'm looking for new ideas and people who want to teach me or do them together, so post a note if you have thoughts about that, please.

Not New, But Surely Worth Noting: A Week of AIDS Activism

Although this has been a year marked by scores of new things, places and people, there have been a few constants as well.  Because I am an AIDS activist, the week of December 1 is always a very busy and important one for me, because December 1 is World AIDS Day.  I belong to three different groups -- the Saint Michael's College chapter of the Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC); the Vermont Global Health Coalition; and the Health Global Access Project (Health GAP) that all use this day, and the week surrounding it, to educate and advocate for the funding, programs and attitude changes necessary to fight AIDS in the United States and around the world.




The Saint Mike's Crew at Vermont CARES' Evening of Reflection


This year, SGAC, together with additional students from my new course on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) decided to organize our World AIDS Day advocacy and education around the MDGs, drawing the connections between them and the global AIDS pandemic.  There were talks and panel discussions, a great turnout in support of Vermont CARES, our local AIDS service organization at their annual night of reflection and remembrance, and a die-in in the school cafeteria to highlight the number of preventable deaths occurring around the world because of lack of access to treatment and prevention services.  But as usual, the largest amount of energy went into the political advocacy with which we ended the week, our annual  rally at the offices of Senators Leahy and Sanders.



Kate and Josh working on rally posters



This year, the focus of the rally was the problem that has emerged in a number of developing countries because of the US government's failure to keep its commitments to scale up the AIDS  treatment programs it has begun in many of the most AIDS-affected countries in the world under President George W. Bush.  These programs have saved the lives of millions of people, but they work because of the promise of continued treatment.  This is the incentive that brings people in for testing and prevention education; this is the way to keep children from being orphaned; and this is the way to start to reverse the devastating impact to families and communities caused by untreated HIV infection.  President Obama had pledged to keep these programs growing when he was campaigning for President, but now both his and Congress' commitment to that pledge appears to be wavering.  Thus, we decided that the theme for this year's rally would be "Keep the Vow" and we dressed in wedding apparel (veils and bow ties, anyway) to drive the message home.

Jerry, Rachel and I getting ready for the rally

In front of Senator Leahy's office

Connor leading some chants while we waited to talk to a staff member from Senator Sander's office

Friday's rally concluded this year's World AIDS Day work at home, but on Saturday I continued it in another way in Washington, DC.  Another of the AIDS advocacy groups I work with, Health GAP, is a national organization, with staff and volunteers based in cities of the East Coast as well as in East Africa.  There are a group of core volunteers that form a sort of national steering committee, and I've been a member of that committee for about ten years. Two Saint Mike's alum, my former students and close friends, Jamila and Siham, are also members of the committee, and a current Saint Mike's student, Emily, who is a member of both a group of activists called IMPACT and the national steering committee for SGAC, was invited as well. Jamila is now a Rhodes scholar, completing a PhD in Public Health at Oxford University, and flew in from England for the meeting.  The rest of the Saint Mike's crew has an easier time, since we only had to fly from Burlington and Boston respectively.

The Saint Mike's Crew -- Emily, Siham, Jamila and I -- at breakfast

We spent Saturday and Sunday meetings at George Washington University with other AIDS activists from all kinds of places and professions.  There were student and grassroots activists, doctors, lawyers, professors, community organizers and staff of advocacy and service organizations.  There was Elizabeth, who currently lives in Maryland, but immigrated from Cameroon.  There were a number of longtime community activists from the vibrant advocacy organization ACT UP Philadelphia. Paul and Jen flew in from Kenya, and there were contingents of students from Harvard, Yale, Columbia and a number of other schools.  Together we spent two days (and a number of people came a day earlier or stayed a day later to lobby in the Hill) strategizing and figuring out what it would take at both the national and international levels to increase the levels of treatment around the world.


As a professor who teaches about and participates in social movements, I sometimes encounter students (and colleagues) who question the value and appropriateness of political activism.  For some, it seems too strident and confrontational; others wonder how it can achieve its aims when it often angers the people it seeks to influence. Still others question the focus on problems outside our borders -- why spend money outside when there are problems at home?  Weeks like this one remind me of my responses to these questions.  Although it is true that it will cost billions of dollars to provide AIDS treatment for all who need it around the world, it's also true that Americans spend 8 billion dollars on pet food every year, and over 30 billion on weight loss products.  Surely, we can and must value the lives of millions of fellow human beings around the world at least this much. As for the tactics of activists, its true that sometimes they are strident, and upsetting to the people on whom demands are made as well as bystanders who might be inconvenienced.  Yet these same tactics have helped level the playing field for Gandhi and King and many, many other activists with less money and power than those they were challenging. 

A brainstorming session



Emily writes up her small group's conclusions

The AIDS pandemic is not in retreat, and it won't be until we address the underlying poverty, discrimination and power inequalities that guarantee that it will be disproportionately felt by the world's poorest and most marginalized people. But there have been exciting medical breakthroughs, from new treatments to new diagnostic tools to new prevention methods, and we actually have the tools available to effectively treat people with AIDS (and the diseases that often come with it) and in many cases, prevent new infections. What we need is the political will to get these tools out to the communities that need them, and it is the activist movements around the world that are creating that will.  That's why I imagine that next December 1, wherever I am, once again I'll be working with students and other activists to try to make that happen.