Hospitality for the Coming Age

23 October 2008
Today Melissa Hill spoke at Bethany/ESR Peace Forum about third party politics.
Three-and-a-half years ago, Bill Kristol spoke at Earlham College.
Melissa is a volunteer coordinator for Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez in Indiana, and Florida, 2000 was bound to come up. When it did, tension filled the room and the decibels jumped. Quickly, the energy focused [...]

“Whatever we may have liked about the era of cheap, oil-based food, it is drawing to a close. Even if we were willing to continue paying the environmental or public-health price, we’re not going to have the cheap energy (or the water) needed to keep the system going, much less expand production. But as is [...]

I don’t own any stock, have retirement savings, or have a mortgage payment. Heck, most years, I don’t even have to file income taxes because I’ve made so little money. So when I think about the economic “crisis” we’re facing, I see a lot of opportunity:

extra incentive to bike for transportation, getting exercise while doing [...]

Warning: This post contains images of super-cute cats, but no substantial thoughts on hospitality.
Last Tuesday I was working on taming a neighborhood stray for my sister:

I lured them to the porch with undesired leftovers, and watching their enthusiasm, went back to the kitchen for more.

Dar Williams is one of the most important musicians of our time – her lyrical insight and soothing melodies sustain hard-working and hard-loving people all around the world. Read about Dar’s recent journey into her own kitchen – from the theory of local food to the practice of growing and preparing delicious food.
“I mentioned to [...]

30 September 2008
Dinner with the Ellers and Dershems was at the Dershems’ house because our house has several steps, and is not fully accessible. “Hosting” dinner at someone else’s house was a fairly foreign experience, but Dershems were very welcoming and happy to help!
We had eggplant lasagna
whole wheat bread
salad, rhubarb bread (with chocolate chips)
and pineapple [...]

28 September 2008
This lunch with Hopi, Mark and Lena Stosberg wasn’t officially for this project, but I wanted to share the recipe!

28 September 2008
The Ottoni Wilhelms are wonderful dinner guests. We enjoyed a fairly quick dinner on a busy evening, learning more about each other and laughing.
We ate black bean tortilla casserole
salad
rhubarb bread
and zarda pulao for dessert.

Our house is mostly kid-safe, thanks to some friends having babies and inspiring me to put plastic in all the outlets and look around for glass. It still requires perusing when toddlers are around, but tends to be ready to go.
An essential part of kid-friendliness that I learned from my parents and grandparents is the [...]

Folks in New York City PARK in parking spaces, creating opportunity for meeting their neighbors, playing, relaxing, and claiming their inherent need for green space.
I’m grateful to live in a community with lots of green space, but we definitely need to take over the streets more often for block parties!