Money and Goods Drive for Birthing Women!

Dear Friends and Family,

Most of you know that I've been working on and off as a doula (professional labor and birth support person and educator) in Honduras since 2008. This work has always been a tremendous gift to me-- I've learned an incredible amount and experienced incredible joy supporting Honduran women in childbirth, just as I do in my practice as a doula here in the US!

In December I'll be returning for the third time to Hospital Atlantida in the beautiful coastal city of La Ceiba for a ten-day labor and deliver practicum. This is not an altruistic mission-- I need to complete recertification paperwork, and this trip will allow me to do so quickly and efficiently while visiting a country and community that I've come to adore. For me, it's vacation!

I'm proud to work at the Hospital Atlantida because no woman is turned away there. Women from all over La Ceiba come to receive (sometimes lifesaving) maternity care.

As long as I've been going to Honduras, my incredibly generous, empathic friends and family have asked if they could offer donations in support of the women and babies I work with. In the past, this hasn't been feasible, but for the first time, after a lot of soul-searching, I've decided to do some goods-collection and fundraising with the goal of disbursing the goods and funds through the wonderful Dar La Luz Honduras program during my time in La Ceiba from Dec. 14-Dec. 26. 

I'll be collecting goods and funds (more details below), between now and Dec. 12 If you'd like to make a donation, please review the details below and decide what you'd like to offer. Again, please let me know if you have any questions about this.

I am so grateful for each of you.

Love,
Anna

DONATION BASICS

MONEY: Any money donated will purchase medical supplies, birth coping supplies and birth education materials for use by myself and Dar La Luz Honduras at the hospital Atlantida in La Ceiba and at small clinics in the rural areas around La Ceiba.

You can donate money by going to www.paypal.com and sending a donation of any amount to DoulaWorkInHonduras@gmail.com

I will email you to confirm that your donation has gone through, and will then share with you the Google Spending Spreadsheet.

GOODS: If you'd like to donate material goods, please note that I'm only going to be carrying over specific things. I've created a very exciting Amazon Baby registry based on the Dar La Luz wishlist-- just point, click, buy and it will ship right to me! 

Link: http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/3DELTXFBUJEA8

HUGS: I will accept all hug donations personally. They are also very helpful. 

If you are interested in donating, please do read the FAQ below so that you can understand the way things will work!

Anna's Collection of Goods and Funds for the Hospital Atlantida/Dar la Luz Honduras FAQ

Hey, Anna, you've been working as doula in Honduras for years. Why are you asking for donations now?

For as long as I've been doing this work, I've struggled with whether or not to facilitate the donation of material goods and money between the projects I've worked on in Honduras and my loved ones back home in DC and NC. I've been afraid, primarily, of two things:

--That there was not a way for me to facilitate donations in a manner that made sense or was truly beneficial to the communities/organizations I work with. That's why in the past I've just encouraged people to donate money to groups like Doctors without Border who have more sophisticated systems for the collections and disbursement of donations.

--That the donation of material goods and money from one group to another often creates or perpetuates problematic relationships of 'charity', in turn supporting the systems that create and maintain global and local inequalities.

A few things have changed recently that have led me to believe that the collection of donations for the women of the Hospital Atlantida would be helpful and feasible:

1. My friend Silvia Bahr established Dar La Luz Honduras, a nonprofit organization that provides labor support, childbirth education, nursing support and health educator training to women and families in La Ceiba and in surrounding rural area. Organizations Dar La Luz make the the process of donation more feasible and fruitful because they allow for greater consistency, sustainability and accountability in disbursement of goods and funds.

2. Conditions at the Hospital Atlantida have worsened considerably in the part year. Much of the hospital beyond the ER and the Labor and Delivery ward has been shut down this fall due to doctor strikes. There is a serious shortage of medical supplies in the hospital-- women are laying open on birthing tables while their relatives rush out to buy needed antibiotics and sutures needed to close them up. Yes. People have had to supply their own sutures.

In light of these conditions, and in light of all of the generous people here in my community who have offered support, I feel that it would be unfair not help my beloved community here in the US to offer crucial support to my beloved community in Honduras.

My feelings about the problems of material aid to foreign countries have not changed overall. This feels like the right thing to do right now. I'm doing my best to think it through carefully and take the advice of people I trust.

What kinds of work does Dar la Luz do, and what will you do in La Ceiba?

Glad you asked! You can find great details here:

http://darlaluzhonduras.wordpress.com/about/

Why aren't you just asking us to donate directly to Dar La Luz?

You can totally do that! Do it! Go for it! The only reason I'm collecting supplies and funds myself right now is because Dar La Luz is a tiny organization with limited staffing, which can make the disbursement of money and goods go slowly sometimes. Additionally, certain goods are harder for them to get themselves, so I'll be bringing those things over.

I'll be able to help disburse goods and funds while I'm in Honduras, always following Dar La Luz guidelines, which will help things move along faster and relieve the overworked Dar La Luz staff.

Can I donate material goods?

Certain medical supplies, childbirth education and labor coping supplies will be easier to purchase in the US and transport to Honduras. You can see the full list of labor coping supplies that Dar la Luz needs, including medical supplies, birth balls, pelvic, baby and breast models, dilation charts and medical charts here and purchase them through an Amazon Registry here:

Link: http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/3DELTXFBUJEA8

Beyond these specific items, it's easiest and best to fund the purchase of items in Honduras. 

Where will donated money go?

I will be able to purchase many items once I get to Ceiba. This will reduce checked baggage costs and support Honduran business people! These items include:

-Diapers and menstrual pads. Women must bring their own to the hospital-- if they don't have any they simply go without. 

-Cans of fruit nectar for women to drink directly after birth. Women are not allowed to eat or drink (even water) in the labor rooms, and they depend on family to bring them food and drink in the postpartum room. Offering them a cold fruit drink directly after birth replenishes their hydration, blood sugar and electrolytes. This is crucial for their recovery and for successful breastfeeding. 

-Some Medical supplies perhaps including:
            Sterile scissors (for safe cord cutting and prevention of umbilical tetanus, a top      cause of neonatal mortality in Honduras)
            Gloves
            Suture packs
            Antibiotics
            Gauze
            Blood pressure cuffs
            Stethoscopes
            Cord care kits

-Baby clothes, hats and blankets

-Supplies for sewing nursing pillows

Hey, Anna, will any of this money pay for your travel, food or lodging in Honduras?

Nope! I pay my own way 100%.

Hey, Anna, what can you offer in return for my donation?

I recognize that donations feel more meaningful when those who give have the chance to receive information about the places and people that benefit from their generosity. I love Honduras (especially Ceiba), and I can't wait to share it with you via pictures and writing!

I also feel that it's very important that people who donate money and goods know exactly how those things are used. Here's what I can promise by way of informational accounting:

-Regular blog updates from La Ceiba with general information about my activities.
-Rad pictures, whenever it is possible and ethically appropriate.
-A detailed accounting via Google Spreadsheet of the money that I spend and the items that I distribute. Technology will make this fairly easy. You deserve to know where your money is going!

Hey, Anna, is there anything you can't offer in return?

It's important for me to balance my desire for accountability with the crucial best practices of the doula profession. For this reason, I cannot offer:

-Stories about specific women or babies, detail of specific births.
-Pictures of the women or babies I work with, except with their specific, signed consent.

How will the money/goods be collected and disbursed?

I've put a lot of thought into how I might collect donations in a way that is transparent, accountable, easy to organize and separate from my own finances. Here's what I came up with.

Those who wish to donate can do so through the Paypal account linked to DoulaWorkInHonduras@gmail.com. This account is not linked to my personal finances in any way.

1. Before leaving the US, I will transfer all funds from that Paypal account to a prepaid Honduran Visa card and use that card to purchase supplies in La Ceiba. My first purchase with that card will be checked baggage fees for the childbirth education supplies that I'll be bringing along. It's hard to get these things in Honduras, so it's best to buy them in the US.

2. Beyond that, all money will be used to purchase goods directly for women and babies at Hospital Atlantida and for the Dar la Luz Program. When I make a purchase, I will account for those funds on a Google spreadsheet viewable by all donors. 

3. I will either distribute the items personally at the hospital or give them to Silvia Bahr, director of Dar La Luz Honduras, for distribution in La Ceiba and in rural mountain communities nearby.

4. At the end of my trip, I will donate the remaining funds on the card to Dar La Luz Honduras.

I don't want to give money directly to you, but I do want to help. What should I do?

If you wish to donate money to support maternal and child health but would rather do so in another way, here are some ideas:

-Make a direct donation to Dar la Luz Honduras 

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=578R25SRBXAEW

-Make a donation to Doctors Without Borders in honor of the women and babies of La Ceiba.

https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/onetime-mobile.cfm?source=AUU1300MMDE6

-Make a donation to Mary's Center in Washington, DC in honor of the women and babies of La Ceiba.

http://www.maryscenter.org/content/giving-marys-center

If you choose this option, please do let me know so that I can include you in my thank-yous!

As always, I'm so grateful for your support and empathy. If you'd like suggestions for researching La Ceiba, the Hospital Atlantida, the work of Dar La Luz or the benefits of labor support from doulas, I'm happy to provide you with resources.

A Few Things I'm Excited About: CJ Cregg Edition

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ANNOUNCEMENT: I prematurely declared Katy Perry's Roar to be my Jam Of the Semester. I was wrong and I apologize. Clearly it is this. Rageful dubstep + things that are supposed to taste like pumpkin = Fall delights for everyone!

La Reunion Jewelry (handmade by a friend of a friend!) just put their Wolf necklace on sale. I have loved it forever. I would like for one of you to please buy it and wear it and love it because I cannot.

Several brilliant people (how well they know my taste) have directed me to Jana Ramanova's photos of expectant couples sleeping. They are stunning. I also adore Ramanova's  description of her process:

"When it was possible I stayed with the couple at their apartment at night to make a picture at around 5-6 a.m., mostly on weekends, when people want to sleep and don't really need to wake up for work," Romanova said. "When it was not possible, I tried to come around 5 a.m., waited in the kitchen while they were asleep, and then took the picture."

So intimate and lovely.

Super amped to cook up a huge pot of this sauerkraut soup on Saturday, because, well, look at the list of ingredients! Rachel and I ate it in-house at Veselka last year on a whirlwind 36-hour trip to NYC and halfway through our meal a famous actress approached us and asked us to watch her toddler because her husband was having a a diabetic crisis. I'm serious. Eating this soup at home should be marginally less exciting but equally delicious.

Finally, let me just say: you know who would NEVER have allowed our Federal Government to just shut down will-nilly? THIS LADY.

Fortify my Spine in your Help: Asking for your love for the Hospital Atlantida in La Ceiba, Honduras

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Hey friends. I'm wondering if  you might keep the Hospital Atlantida in La Ceiba, Honduras in your thoughts tonight. I have worked and learned at their maternity ward on multiple occasions and am set to return for a two-week refresher rotation in December.

The doctors at Atlantida recently went on strike, shutting down all departments save the emergency room. As long as they are striking, hundreds of patients will be turned away each day.

The doctors have reason to fight for change-- supplies at Atlantida have run so low recently that patients have had to buy their syringes, sutures and gauze (they've always had to buy their own medications)-- but this shutdown will mean that many people with no other source of medical care will just go without.

The hospital is understaffed, outdated and without supplies, for sure. But I've seen the doctors of Atlantida stop the premature labor contractions of an eleven-year-old girl. I've seen the beautiful babies of (equally beautiful) mamas with HIV who will remain healthy because rapid testing allowed nurses to deter breastfeeding. I've seen the miraculous birth of baby after baby-- the world remade over again each time. Good work happens there.

I know that injustice like this is rife in the world, but Atlantida is its own place, and this strike means that the world is worse off than it was before. Bodies are the same everywhere. They need care. And when they don't get it, they suffer.

 I just pray (a rare word for me) that something shifts and the hospital reopens so that doctors and nurses can do their lifesaving work.

I'm thinking tonight of the Virgin of Suyapa, the little mother icon who has appeared in unexpected places to faithful Hondurans when they have needed her most.

May there be somewhere a store of material goodness--hope and faith in the form of needles and gauze-- that might lift this sacred place, and all others imperiled by want, out of the material crises that threatens survival, and end the crises of justice that create these heart-crushing conditions of scarcity.

From El Oracion de Suyapa

Cuando me venza el cansancio,
o me atenace la angustia,
cuando la muerte, a su paso,
haga despertar mis dudas,
Virgencita de Suyapa
ven a mi espalda en ayuda,
sostenme con tu mirada,
y mis lágrimas enjuga.

When exhaustion overcomes me
or terror apprehends me
when death, passing close by,
awakens my doubts,

Virgin of Suyapa,
draw close to my back in your Help
sustain me in your gaze
and wipe away my tears.
(my translation)

This Week in Meals: Sleeper-Hit Eggplant Rice and Cult Mealoaf

I've already talked about my need for a regimented approach to meal planning in the interest of avoiding blood sugar tantrums and overall hunger-related life devastation.  With my schedule, this means making lots of food ahead of time and having it ready to re-heat/ tote to work at a moment's notice.

Fall is a great season for make-ahead food-- stews, casseroles and even kale salad actually taste better the second (or third) day. Where cooking in the Summer makes me feel kind of like a precious asshole (fresh heirloom tomatoes rotting on the counter because my plans changed), cooking ahead in the Fall makes me feel awesome and capable and prepared because the food is just hanging out in the fridge and it's already delicious!

I planned recipes on Saturday, shopped on Sunday, prepped (chopped and stored veggies, sorted ingredients into recipe bundles) on Tuesday morning and cooked on Wednesday and Thursday. Monday is the day from scheduling hell, so I ate chocolate zucchini cake from the Big Bear for dinner, and I'm not sorry. I'm a grownup!

Here's what I made:

Breakfast: Oatmeal. Green smoothies. Ezekiel bread with peanut butter. We have a thing going.

Lunch: Leftovers or this egg sandwich.

Dinner:

David Kinch's Eggplant Dirty Rice. The Amateur Gourmet made a big deal about this and he does not normally mess around, so I was bummed when I tasted it right out of the oven (it took 30 minutes to cook rather than the recommended 17) and it was meh. Then, I took a spoonful from the fridge the next morning and it was incredible-- really savory and complex and black-pepper spicy. This recipe is HUGE, so I divided into thirds. The first third fed the two of us, and I froze the other two portions separately to eat with poached fish in the next month.

Food 52's Rosemary Turkey Meatloaf. This meatloaf is approaching a cult-like status-- Rachel is obsessed. Jordy is obsessed. Rosalind is a vegan so she doesn't count. You know that yummy sweet topping that meatloaves have, and how you always with there were more? WITH THIS RECIPE THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TOPPING. Ftw. Again, we ate a third and I froze the rest in individual portions for sandwich purposes.

The chicken green curry recipe on the back of the Green Curry Paste bottle. Plus broccoli and red pepper. Half box chicken broth, one can lite coconut milk. Sautee a shallot and a jaleno pepper with fresh ginger before adding the chicken. Takes 30 minutes start to finish. Freezes great. Rachel reccomends serving this with rice noodles.

Sprouted Kitchen's Black Bean, Goat Cheese and Zucchini Enchiladas. Awesome awesome awesome. Don't change a thing.

A quick note:

You'll find that I use pre-made enchilada sauce and pre-made curry paste in two of these recipes. That is because I have a life and am not insane. Actually, I have spent 3+ hours making indonesian satay sauce by hand, but it was only marginally better than the stuff in the bottle. Since then, I decided to leave certain great pleasures to their respective experts. To whit-- dosas = Vimala's, yeast gravy= The Grit, matzoh ball soup = my mommy.

Awesome Ideas: Co-working Spaces like The Makeshift Society

Ever since I found out about the Makeshift Society in San Francisco, I've been dreaming of a creative coworking club in DC. How awesome would it be to have a place that's not work and not home where you can go to get stuff done at big long tables or comfy couches, surrounded by other people on the grind?

Much has been made of the importance of the "Third Place" as a way for people to feel engaged in community and connected to group efforts. I also just feel that I work more efficiently and happily when I am "alone in a crowd".

Since I first moved to DC in 2006 a bunch of coffee shops have opened that do a great job filling that role to some extent, but I think it would be really special to have a place dedicated JUST for co-working that wasn't also worried about meeting food and drink minimums (it's still unclear whether allowing people like me to camp out at their laptops for six hours is really a good business practice anyway).

At the Makeshift, membership is $30 a month, and affords members unlimited access to a communal workspace with a mini kitchen. That's way less than I spend on coffee. The super-awesome Scrap DC is currently renting min-studios at insanely reasonable prices, but I'm more in the market for a big table with a coffeepot nearby.

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Anyway, as much I love hanging out with a presspot and a stack of grading at the Big Bear, it's even funner to save cafes for social time with friends (or pleasure reading).

Today, office-less and working from home, I'm fantasizing about how great it would to have that third place in my life, and the creative community that comes with it. I think the exchange of ideas ( or even just the presence of other bodies) would be energizing and fun-- even when the work felt dreary.  The Makeshift Society is opening a Brooklyn outpost soon-- I think DC should be next! Who's with me?

Style and Self Care: Bribing Ourselves with Back-to-school Yoga Swag-- Basic Supplies

A very important part of back-to-school season for me is Treats. As in, Bribes. Treatbribes. For myself.

To put in it in more grown-person speak, I find it easier to do unpleasant things (like sending EIGHT HOURS worth of emails) if I offer myself some incentives. A big part of this program is currently The West Wing and Ben and Jerry's Banana Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt, but I'm looking to diversify my self-bribing options. On the list of Rejunvenatory Activities: cook something yummy, take some photos, practice yoga.

I really love what Ros has to say in her at-home yoga tips about making yoga a precious indulgence in daily life. I was struck by her suggestion to make yoga special by indulging in a nice lotion, a beautifully curated practicing space (even it's just between the bed and the wall) or special clothing. Of course, you can practice yoga anywhere and with anything-- the body is all you need-- but it's always a relief to be reassured that yoga as a philosophy is not fundamentally austere-- it's about celebrating the body as an extension of the self!

In the sprit of self-care and bribery, I asked Ros, along with another of my very favorite yogis, Minnesota-based yoga instructor Lisa Bevevino, to share the yoga swag that enriches their practice, and then added a few of my own faves. The products I feature here are all hand-made or ethically-made when possible-- Etsy is a rad source for yoga treats!

Here's what we love:

Ros: A Jade yoga mat. It's made of natural rubber, which has a texture that reminds me of sharkskin- nice and grippy! Plus, the natural rubber is a renewable resource, the mats contain no PVC and Jade plants a tree for every mat sold. It's fairly expensive (over $60), and it certainly wasn't my first mat, in the era when I was just starting to go to classes, but I'm so glad I finally made the investment.

Anna adds: Second on the Jade mat. I have very sweaty hands and normally need towels under my palms during a down dog, but not with Jade mats. They also seem incredibly durable-- I've seen years-old mats with little signs of wear-- and they are made in PA!

Ros: One cork block, which I like because it's heavy and dense without being hard or poke-y.

Anna adds: I use this in place of meditation cushion, in a pinch.

Ros: One blanket, which I use in savasana, for meditation, and for hanumanasana (on the rare occasion I feel like doing the splits at home).

Anna adds: Splits. You have got to be kidding me. No.

Ros: One strap, which I'm mainly using in back-bends right now.

Anna adds: I am far less bendy than Ros, so I use a strap a lot more often-- especially for hip and hamstring stretches. This one, handmade in CA, doubles as a carrying strap for your mat!.

Ros: One meditation cushion, which I use to elevate my seat in meditation.

Anna adds: Having butt support with a cushion like this makes sitting in meditation feel so much better for me! I like handmade buckwheat pillows like this, because you can add or remove stuff to adjust the height.

Ros: One lavender eye pillow, which my grandmother gave me years ago.

Anna adds: As for smelly things, I also really like Aura Cacia Panic Button essential oil blend. It has lavender in it, and also neroli which is kind of like orange? I put some on my wrists and behind my ears before I practice.

Ros: I've also used Jivamukti lavender lotion and China Gel in class, and would love to keep them at home. The china gel is fantastic- it's an icy-hot gel that you can apply to your low back or shoulders before practice, and helps to keep those muscles warm and loose. The lavender lotion just smells lovely and comforting. :)

Anna adds: When I have to stay out in The World after a yoga class (and therefor can't go home to shower) I have been enjoying Leap Organics body powder --which is basically like Gold Bond for hippies--to cut sweatiness It's talc-free (better for your lungs) and smells like lemongrass, but it still has that tingly feeling.

Ros: I also like to have eucalyptus oil, lavender oil and tea tree oil around. The latter two can both be mixed into a spray bottle with a 3:1 mixture of water and white vinegar for a mat-cleaning solution, plus they're both antiseptic. The eucalyptus oil I just find soothing.

Anna: Ros has been reminding me to do crucial things like CLEAN YOGA MAT for more than a decade now. She's the best, and I'm a lucky lady. Stay tuned next week for our recommendations re: Yoga clothing! Happy Weekend! May all beings bribe themselves within reason!

Pictures: What I See When I See You: Chet'la

I spent this Friday evening in the community garden with my friend Chet'la, chatting about all kind of things and snapping some pictures. 

It had been a while since Chet'la and I had caught up, and I was honestly more interested in talking to her than in photographing her, so when we reviewed the images, I warned her not to expect anything amazing. She said that just as long as I was feeding her dinner, she didn't mind how the photos turned out.

What she saw shocked her.

In the pictures, as in life, she is stunningly lovely. Calm, dignified, but also full of feist and spirit. 

Chet'la found the images incredibly interesting. She studied them as one might examine artifacts from another time or place. "Dude," I finally said. "Don't you realize that that's what people see when they look at you?"

Of course she didn't. 

None of us, except on really rare occasions, are very good at conceiving of ourselves in the same way others view us, right? 

This is one of my favorite things about photographing people: being able to hand them a photo and say, this what I see when I see you.

Good photos give people a chance to re-see themselves, just for moment, through the eyes of love.

I can't wait to show more and more of the wonderful people in my life what I see when I see them.

 It's remarkably beautiful, the view from here.

Makers: Each Peach Market and making space for food conversations

The best way to describe Each Peach Market is to say that it's like a tiny farmer's market. Indoors. That's open all of the time. Where you can call ahead and ask them to set aside the last package of chicken breasts for you.

I heard about Each Peach's Kickstarter campaign back in June, and I was so excited by the concept that Jeanlouise and Emily laid out: a community-oriented market with a mixed stock of reasonably priced staples and high-end fancy foods.

 A lot of the time a food store is either-or: you can get carrots and lettuce and flour and peaches, or you can get a eight-dollar jar of Rick's Picks beets. Why not place both on the same shelf?

I had a great conversation with Jeanlouise about her desire to build store inventory around the principle that some foods are for everyday, and others are special treats. Peaches and bread? Everyday. Fancy beet pickles? Probably a sometimes food.

It's impossible to talk about food stores without talking about the price  and availability of food, and the fact that, when it come to food opportunities, most people don't get what they deserve.

Add to that the fact that Each Peach is located in the incredible diverse and rapidly gentrifying Mount Pleasant neighborhood of DC, and you've got the making of a pretty lively conversation: What kinds of food can people buy within walking distance of their homes? Is it affordable in proportion to their salaries? What percentage of their budget should people be expected to spend on food? Should their be community standards for what "good" and "healthy" food looks like? Who should be in charge of setting them? How can people be made to feel welcome?


What impresses me most about Each Peach is that Jeanlouise and Emily aren't shying away from that conversation. They seem excited to be a part of it.

They are also excited about things that taste awesome, like District Kombucha, Number One Sons Pickles, responsibly raised meat,  and produce from local growers (it's worth noting, but the way, that the produce they sell costs the same or less than the produce at Whole Foods). If I'm going to commit to buying local or organic produce whenever I can, I'm so excited to be able to give my money to REAL PEOPLE.

Mark Gilbert once wrote, "We must risk delight". With all the pleasure that food can bring, I don't think that our dialogue about it, even in its hardest moments, needs to be austere. It can happen in beautiful places. Everyone can be invited. Every conversation, even the ones about fancy pickles, can be predicated on the notion that all of us deserve to eat well, near our homes, for a reasonable price.

I'm thrilled to see so many Makers in DC who are interested in talking about how food can bring us both pleasure and sustenance. The space at Each Peach Market invites contemplation of that nature- it is both beautiful and utilitarian, full of foods for body-fuel, for quotidian pleasure and for special occasions.

As food produces and curators like Each Peach get their legs, I think contemplation and conversation about food in our lives and our communities will keep expanding. The challenge will be to make it inclusive, and to make sure that it bears real fruit.

A Few Things I'm Excited about: Not Quite Fall Edition

School is in full swing. There are as yet no papers to grade. The late summer light stupid beautiful and golden and I've got two quarts of Number 1 Sons pickles in my fridge and a new episode of The Newsroom on queue. Just try and harsh my mellow.

My students have known each other for about two weeks now, so obviously it's time for them to start dating each other. In October, when the inevitable drama begins to unfold, I will share this genius toddler adage with them: WORRY BOUT YOURSELF.

I spent a little too much time this weekend ogling the rad food documentary site, to cure. This is the kind of food photography I want to take.

In this open letter to her older brother, Dr. Jasmine Elizabeth Johnson has written the most compelling and fascinating gentrification narrative I've ever read. A particularly poignant thing to stumble across while drinking a short americano at the Big Bear Cafe in Bloomingdale, freshly painted rowhouses on all sides:

I've come to appreciate jazz, wine, hookah, and designer pizza. I am sure you would have enjoyed these things too, if it were not for your absence that in part made space for it all.... 

...The park and still-swings that were backdrop to your morning murder are today the spot where first dates go. It's a clean green park where couples with coffee sit on benches and read. Or meander. They unwind and relax where you transitioned. They exercise a luxury of time in the place where you were refused more. Your death spot was my high school bus stop.

My former professor Michael Wenthe and his cadre of comic nerd genius co-artists are running a Kickstarter for Cartozia Tales,  "An all-ages fantasy anthology with all the stories set in a shared world, created by a team of top-notch indie cartoonists". It. Looks. Awesome. So many rad, hand-drawn backer gifts. I'm for sure getting a subscription to share with my 12 year-old sister, Ziggy.

Oh, Internet, first you give me this perfect, perfect, description of What's in Prince's Fridge, and then you tell me it was an April Fool's joke. Nevermind. Leave me alone. I'm too busy contemplating how yak milk can be "freely given" to worry about details like veracity.

Food Best Ever: LITERALLY the most wonderful egg sandwich in the world is at Swiss Bakery (objectively speaking) and some tips for college freshman

The college students are back, folks. With a vengeance. Everywhere. Still figuring out the crosswalks. I love them. I want to squeeze them. Let's teach them some rhetoric and then go out for breakfast, shall we?

A big part of teaching writing turns out to be helping adolescents to understand the difference between objective experience and subjective experience. To whit: what happened to you on Saturday night with the jello shots was not, in fact, LITERALLY the worst thing ever. It might be, OBJECTIVELY SPEAKING, the most horrible thing that happened TO YOU, but that doesn't take into account, ahem, the suffering of others.

These are the lessons I try impart on my freshman in the first crucial weeks of college: crosswalks (use them--somebody loves you), breakfast (eat it--or else you'll lose your mind), subjectivity (it's a thing--I promise).

Primarily, though, I try to drive home the fact that without breakfast, the other two are pretty much impossible.

And since we all know that the best part of teaching is breaking your own rules, so I also tell them that, objectively speaking, the best egg sandwich in the world can be had at the Swiss Bakery in Springfield, VA.  Literally. Ever. If you happen to think that another egg sandwich is better, you are wrong.

Perfect square of omelette, melty cheese, a soft, tender cloud of a bun call a SNOWFLAKE ROLL. Don't argue with me-- just go get one. And a swiss coffee. And an amaretti cookie.

 Objectively speaking, in these first rough weeks of the semester, you deserve it.

Pictures: Jordan and Jasmine Get Married (Love in our Lifetime)

Friends, it's the New Year. Let's look at love pictures.

Last week, I was lucky enough to photograph the wedding of Jordan and Jasmine on a rainy Tuesday afternoon in Maryland. Both of them are from New Mexico, so they they'll have a larger celebration soon with all of their friends and family from home, but their sweet friend hired me to capture in photos the day of their legal marriage.

Jordan and Jasmine's love is so palpable and real-- you don't need to know their story to understand the enthusiasm and affection that they put into their relationship.

They were so excited to dedicate themselves to one another, and it seemed like their wedding marked for them a new step in that dedication, but also a natural progression of a love story that's been unfolding since they met, two years to the day before they were married.

Part of me wants to focus only on the love between Jordan and Jasmine, and the everyday miracle of it- two people choosing each other. But there's the other part of the story, too: the fact that when Jordan and Jasmine met two years ago, a marriage like theirs wouldn't have been legal. And now it is.

So as much as it's important to honor their love for what it is-- purely and uniquely theirs--I can't look at this picture of Jasmine, carefully tucking away the fresh marriage certificate that will allow her new wife to access her military benefits, without thinking of all the people I know who fought to make the legality of their union possible.

People who look at pictures like these and say, with hushed reverence, barely believing it, "In my lifetime."

And then, there's the that individuality again-- the pure, goofy uniqueness of their love, Jordan and Jasmine, choosing one another for who they are, not because history demands it.

That's the way love is, I think. Part sweepingly universal, and part specific and particular: those hands, those lips, these brains and hearts, with all the weight of the millennia behind them.

When we see love like that, regardless of what the government has to say about it, or how many times we've seen love before, the appropriate response is to stop and say, with fresh wonder, "In my lifetime".

Jordan and Jasmine, thank you for adoring each other. It brightens the world.

Here's to long and happy years.

Style: When US-Made Goods Aren't Ethical: The Prison Labor Hipster Button-Down

Ya'll, I was really excited to find out out about Made Collection, a site that curates US-made (and delightfully hipstery) goods under a single online storefront. There are plenty of great brands making good-looking clothing in ethical ways, but I've found it hard, in the past, to locate them.

I was on the hunt yesterday for a few back-to-school pieces (things I can teach in that aren't uncomfy), when I came across the Hickory Shirt by Oregon Correction Enterprises. It's basically my dream shirt. I'm bonkers for railroad stripes (I WAS BORN THIS WAY). It comes in a comfy men's size Small. It's made in the US. And it's $36. Wait. What? Because of their relatively complicated construction, US-made button-down shirts usually cost at least twice that.

Maybe you saw this coming before I did: the shirt is made by prison laborers.  Hence the brand name. Hence the low price tag. Just to offer a frame of reference, prisoners "working" in the US are paid a minimum of wage of 23 cents per hour. And a maximum of $1.15. 

Oregon Correction Enterprises "employs" incarcerated people to manufacture a variety of products, including this shirt, which is obviously designed to adhere to hipster aesthetic I love so much. Even weirder is the label reading "Prsn Blu", which I guess is supposed to be funny?

While some argue that "putting prisoners to work makes prisons safer", I'm not interested in buying goods made by captives, regardless of the conditions of their captivity. The Prison Policy Center provides a sobering fact sheet about prison labor in the US.

This was the reminder I needed that US made and ethically made are not truly synonymous.  As marketers identify that hipsters like me will pay a premium for ethically-manufactured products, I'm sure plenty of brands will turn to prison labor, and with much less transparency than the "Prsn Blues" label affords.

The question of how to respond as a consumer to issues like this, beyond demanding more information from reluctant companies, is unclear to me. It certainly damages the ethos of Made Collection as well-- their connection to prison labor makes it clear that profiting from the image of US-made branding is a much greater priority than adhering to their "ethical" mission.  Just like greenwashing, this is bullshit. It's an abuse of human rights, it's anti-union and it's dishonest to consumers. What a timely Labor Day eye-opener.