Unfrozen -- Spring in Philadelphia

Last weekend, I went to Philadelphia for the NCAA mens hockey tournament, otherwise known as the Frozen Four. I was supposed to go down with my friends Joe and Allison, but unfortunately they had a death in the family and were unable to make it. So, as the official ticket courier, I headed down to meet Joe's grad school friends alone.

The weather was beautiful in Philly and I had a great time seeing a lot of outdoors things. One of the first things I did was stop by Philadelphia's magic gardens, a studio and lot turned into a giant mosaic grotto by the artist.

The outside was covered in tiles for multiple stories.

I liked the grotto feel.

Not just random tiles; there were words, figures, and designs.

At the end of my visit, I tagged onto a tour and got to meet the artist, Isaiah Zagar. I stayed back to ask him a few questions, and at the end he said, "Can I get a hug?" so I said "Sure!" Then I asked if I could get a picture with him. "A selfie?" he asked. Yup, exactly what I had in mind!

The next day, I got to do some historical touristy stuff. We stopped by Independence Hall and although the signs said the tickets were sold out, the Park Ranger came out and gave us some tour tickets for free. It was really cool seeing the place where our Founding Fathers formed our nation.

George Washington sat in that chair at the back

Hard to believe that what happened in this building changed the world.

I also learned something -- Thomas Jefferson did not write the Bill of Rights. I totally thought he did, but he was busy being an ambassador to France at the time. So although he was a big proponent, and gave some ideas to the authors, the true authors were James Madison and George Mason. Oops. I had to correct my history there!

Friday we also went to a baseball game: Phillies vs. Miami. I'm not a big baseball fan, but it was still fun. We started out near the top and finished the game in some empty seats near home plate.

Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack, I don't care if I ever get back...

Blurry because it's a close up. And I had beer. 

Saturday was market day! I started out at the Reading Terminal Market, the oldest continuously operated farmer's market in the U.S.

Flowers are the prettiest, even if food is my favorite

Then I visited Ben Franklin's grave. At one point he wrote his own epitaph, although in the end he decided he didn't want that on the grave itself.

Good old BF certainly had a sense of perspective: "Food for Worms" indeed!

After that, I met up with the rest of the gang at the Italian market, an outdoor market. It was interesting because the northern end of the market was definitely European, but the southern end was more Latino in nature, and there were lots of Mexican restaurants around and you started seeing things like prickly pear pads in the veggie stalls. We also found a butcher with whole, skinned goats hanging from the ceiling! I'll save you the picture out of respect for my squeamish or vegetarian friends.

What is a trip to Philly without a Philly cheesesteak? Everyone else had already eatern theirs, but I needed to get one before I headed home. And it was fantastic! I got provolone, no "Whiz", but I was eager to forgo a little authenticity in favor of taste.

Certainly not a misteak in my opinion!

I also got mushrooms. What? I like mushrooms!

So far I haven't mentioned much of the hockey -- it was really good. The first two games were fantastic; an action packed game between Boston College and Union College, and then a slower game between University of Minnesota and University of North Dakota -- which finished with a surprise goal by U of MN with only 0.6 seconds to go! The Championship was a bit disappointing for U of MN fans (Joe and his classmates), 7 to 4, Union College. But they really outplayed Minnesota and I felt like the best school won.

So, a whirlwind trip that really gave me a nice taste of what Philadelphia is like! Overall, a very positive experience. Philadelphia has a lot of neat neighborhoods, fun things to do, and good restaurants. I call that my kind of town.

On Television

Dad asked me at one point how I was able to read so many books, and I said "Well, I don't watch much television". Which makes me a bit of an outlier in this day and age. Ethan and I haven't had cable in years -- it came with my first apartment in Alaska, but when I moved out after a year and a half I got rid of cable and never looked back. That doesn't sound so strange now, with many people going to Hulu.com and Netflix, but back then, I was weird.

Then we moved to Australia, and our bunny ears didn't even work. And we just never bothered to buy new ones. I missed watching sporting events on t.v. sometimes, but otherwise, it was blissful. So when we returned, and didn't have a t.v. for about 5 months, it wasn't a hardship.

That isn't to say we don't watch t.v. at all. We watch a fair number of movies on the weekend, and we watched the football games all season long. But the difference now is that we watch t.v. much more purposefully. I will choose a show I want to watch, instead of turning on the t.v. and letting it remain on for 4 hours a night. You know what? I don't miss most of those shows anyway.

I'm a lot more productive now, too. I actually complete projects and start new ones. I tiled our kitchen backsplash this weekend (pictures to come once the grout's in), I have a painting waiting to be finished, and I'm going to a pottery class with my friend on Thursday. Plus, I actually make dinner on weeknights.

So that's what I'm doing with my life -- not watching t.v. I kill enough brain cells reading Facebook and surfing the interwebs anyway.

2012: Year in Review

January: I posted about my book reading goals for the year and complained about how hot Sydney was. Oh, the irony!

February:  We went to Japan, where we skied, visited many cultural sites, stayed in a Japanese guest house, and pretended we were ninjas. I continued my reading plans.

March: I didn't post anything in March, I think because I was too busy applying for jobs!

April: Ethan and I took our last major trip in Australia to Uluru (Ayer's Rock). We saw a dingo, but no babies were stolen.

May:   I announced that we were returning to the States, but I didn't yet have a job. I pondered the future of the blog. I also posted my spider stories from Australia. I do not miss the giant creepy crawlies one bit!

June:  We returned to the U.S. I was surprised to find that Alaska hadn't changed much. By this time, I'd gotten my new job at the National Weather Service Alaska Regional Headquarters.

July:  We visited our good friends Heidi and Dan and lived "off the grid" for about a week. I missed having running water a lot. I also lost my camera cord.

August:  I visited my family in Florida and Virginia. I saw an armadillo and manatees. We started looking for houses, and I started my new job. Signs of fall started appearing in the end of August. And I got a new phone, so pictures started appearing again. Ethan and I went hiking with our friend Robin.

September: We visited Chicago over Labor Day weekend, where I stuffed myself silly and saw my favorite paintings in the art museum. I read a really terrible book and laughed about it. We got termination dust on the mountains.I started my watercolor class and shared my first paintings with you. I updated you on my reading list. And we finally got our stuff!

October:  We started playing board games with our friend Robin. I saw the Aurora for the first time since I'd been back and managed to actually get a picture of it. I shared my continued artistic attempts. I posted about Hurricane Sandy.

November:  another month with no posts, because we were too busy moving into our new house!

December: We had an earthquake, which merited a post about the '64 Alaska quake.

Honestly, this year was pretty stressful for us, both good and bad stress. I was trying to be positive the whole time, so I didn't post about a lot of things. I'll summarize what all happened:

We moved internationally
I changed jobs -- with much uncertainty, as one job was ending and I didn't have another lined up for quite a while
Ethan's mother remarried rather unexpectedly
We bought a house, but in the meantime we lived in a "temporary" situation for 5 months
We bought a new car
My sister had a healthy baby girl, although she had health concerns as she reached the end of pregnancy
Ethan's sister in law had a kidney removed due to a cancerous tumor, with positive results

Anyway, that's why I've been pretty sporadic posting this year. At one point, I was attempting to post once a week, which went well until we moved into our new house and my priorities changed quite a bit. I'm hoping that now that we're settled in, I can get into more of a routine again. And, I'm also hoping that 2013 is a much calmer year!

I wish you all a happy and healthy 2013!

Halloween 2013: Sandy's Revenge

(This picture is not mine and was taken from here.)

This week is Halloween, one of our favorite holidays and one that we didn't really celebrate in Australia. I had hoped this year we could do it up right -- decorate, have a Halloween party, go to a Halloween event in costume, carve pumpkins, any or all of the above. Sadly, we are still not in a house of our own, which has nixed pretty much any decorating, pumpkin carving, or parties at home, and other conflicts prevented us from attending any Halloween parties this weekend. Instead, we plan to go to a haunted house on Monday. That should be fun!

I was going to write a post about Halloween in Australia, but I think I've already done that, and it was a bit boring. Instead, I'll talk about something I find more interesting: the so-called Frankenstorm. I'm not really a big fan of cheezy names like that, but whatever. As you might imagine, I've been following the evolution of this storm with some interest.

This storm is somewhat like the storm of 1993 (The "Perfect Storm"), in that it combines a tropical system with an extra-tropical system to create a monster. For the non-meteorological, tropical cyclones tend to lose their strength when they move away from the warm water that is their energy source. Extra-tropical cyclones (your "normal" storm systems) get their strength from the strong temperature difference between air masses. So what's happening here is that once Sandy moves away from the Gulf Stream, it will tap into a strong temperature difference caused by a front moving across the continental U.S. -- which means it will change into an extra-tropical cyclone. It will be particularly strong because the warm, moist air mass that fueled Sandy will cause a really sharp difference with the cold air mass behind the front.

Thar she blows! (NWS HPC Surface Analysis 00Z 29 Oct 2012)

Complicating this, or adding to it, is the fact that Sandy has been around a while, which gave it the chance to build a big storm surge which it will bring to the table. This means that in addition to the very high winds, tornados and heavy precipitation that you might see from a strong Nor'easter that just formed off the coast, coastal storm surge is a big concern. For clarification, Nor'easters can also cause storm surge, but in this case, it's a big risk.

One thing I just thought of (hence the moon picture above) is that I wonder if the storm surge will be worse because it coincides with a nearly full moon, which will bring the highest tides of the month. This may not be a factor. I haven't checked the tide schedule and Sandy may make landfall when the tide is low, which would actually be a good thing. But it could make a difference in how damaging the storm is.

Of course, my interest in the storm does not lessen my concern for those in harm's way. I hope everyone is taking this threat seriously and preparing their homes and planning possible evacuation routes for themselves, their families, and their pets. I wish all my readers a safe and non-scary Halloween.

My Kind of Town

Last weekend, Ethan and I went on a short trip to Chicago so he could go to a writers convention. It had been almost 20 years since the last time I was in the city, so I was pretty excited to get a chance to see it again, as an adult.

The first thing I went to see was the giant jellybean sculpture ("Cloud Gate") in Grant Park.

I love how it reflects the Chicago skyline!

It was even cooler underneath.

The last two times I visited Chicago, I went to the Museum of Science and Industry, so this time I decided to go to the art museum. It was awesome! I even got to see two of my favorite paintings in the whole wide world!

Un Dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte (A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grande Jatte) by Georges Seurat

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper

There was also a Roy Lichtenstein exhibit on display while I was there. I like his art as well and it was really special to get to see it in person. You just can't substitute prints for actually viewing the works up close. I also went to the planetarium, where I saw a cool show on the universe.

Adler Planetarium

Yep, that would be the Windy City!

The view of the Chicago skyline from the planetarium was iconic.










One of my favorite things to do when visiting someplace is sample the local cuisine. First off, I had to have a Chicago-style hotdog.

What?!? How will I survive?

The only "acceptable" ingredients: mustard, onions, tomatoes, pickle relish, and a dill pickle. The dill pickle goes ON the hotdog!

This was still one tasty hotdog, in spite of the lack of ketchup.

Then it was Portino's for an Italian beef sandwich! The juice from the beef soaks into the bread, making it deliciously soggy.

Picture doesn't do it justice. Full of salty, juicy goodness!

We also stopped by the original Billy Goat Tavern, made famous by John Belushi on SNL. I didn't know what to expect, but this is pretty much classic midwest. And the burgers were good and cheap!

That would be an empty glass of beer in the front, with football in the background. There are some things the midwest gets right.

Of course, you can't go to Chicago without sampling some deep dish pizza. Lou Malnetti's was the restaurant we visited. I think from my experience in the past, I might like Giodarno's better, though. The crust wasn't quite as buttery as I like.

Blurry because that wasn't my first beer.

As I mentioned, Ethan was going to a writers convention for speculative fiction. I didn't really do much at the convention because I'm not that interested in speculative fiction (a.k.a. science fiction and fantasy) but I did watch the Masquerade, which is a costume contest. There were some amazing costumes there!

My favorite costume, a steam punk aviatrix. The propellers moved!

Other things that I did but don't have pictures readily available for: I took an architecture boat tour, which was really cool and informative, visited the stained glass museum, and met up with some friends for tapas! It was really great to hang out with Jess and Laura, and the tapas was really good too. As always, there were so many things I could have done but didn't have the chance. But I feel like I got a good taste, both figuratively and literally, of what Chicago has to offer. What a great city!

Likes and Dislikes

Lynn said she would like to hear more about what I like and don’t like about living in Australia, which is fair enough. In other news, this is probably not the best time to be writing this post, because we found out this week that our landlord is selling our place and we need to move out, so I am a hater right now (sort of). I decided to write this anyway, because I’ve actually been thinking about it for a while. I’ll start with the bad, so I can end on a good note.

What I don’t like about living in Australia: let me pre-empt this with the caveat that some of these things are a function of living in Sydney, or being outside of the States and not necessarily a statement on Australia itself.

• Real estate is out of control. It’s way overpriced and the rental market is very tight. This means that the rental agents can treat you like shit, because they know you’re desperate.

• There’s a lot of red-tapey kind of bullshit here that I find annoying. It’s hard to explain, but it just seems like there are a lot of hoops to jump through whenever you try to do something.

• Everything costs more here. Everything. Books are $25 for a small paperback. My mascara costs $20. It costs $14 to eat lunch at a fast food restaurant. Don’t even get me started on the beer. And because of the high taxes, importing things costs a bloody fortune as well.

• In spite of the high taxes, you have to pay for a lot of stuff. Like I found out you have to buy a child’s pass to take your bike on the train. Can I get a whaaaa?

• I don’t like being an American in a foreign country. The “American” that seems to be prevalent in people’s minds is a cross between Homer Simpson and Michael Douglas' character from Falling Down. Plus, every time I say something, I wonder if people judge my country by what I’m saying. And, I feel like if I’m too positive about my country, people will view it as having a superiority complex. I like America! That doesn’t mean I always like it, or that Australia sucks, but I feel fortunate to have grown up there.

• The t.v. here kind of sucks. There are some good shows, but there are fewer of them. I guess it’s the law of proportions – proportionally, there are the same amount of good shows, but because there’s fewer shows overall, that means fewer good shows.

• Customer service also sucks. And that’s saying something, because American customer service hasn’t improved in the past 20 years, in my opinion.

• I never really appreciated our government system until I found out how Parliament works. I don’t like how one party runs everything. And while Aussies point out (justifiably) how much it costs to run for President, or that our government can reach a stalemate on a lot of issues, I really like how I get to vote for the person who represents my country to the world. Thank you, founding fathers, for the system of checks and balances!

Okay, enough complaining. What I like about living in Australia:

• The food here is pretty good. Specifically, the lollies and desserts. I like TimTams, Pavlova, Mint slice (or even better, the generic version) and Crunchie bars. The gummies are pretty good too – better than gummy bears or gummy worms, there’s milk bottles and bananas and teeth and strawberries and cream, all of which are very tasty.

• Bacon and egg rolls deserve a bullet of their own. Get on board America! Or perhaps don’t, because my cholesterol will thank you when we move back.

• Most of the time, the weather here is very pleasant. Okay, summer sucked and I wanted to die, but the other nine months of the year are pretty nice.

• I love the flowers. And looking at (not listening to) the birds. And the kookaburra. Seriously, I’ll miss that guy. He’s pretty cool.

• The scenery is really beautiful, in particular living in Sydney. Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour, the beaches, well, you just don’t find those things anywhere else.

• For the most part, Aussies are pretty friendly. And I enjoy all the colloquialisms in the language. It’s very colorful.

• The sports here are fun. I like cricket and AFL. And the prices are reasonable, unlike the U.S. We paid $30 each to sit in the members section at the AFL game in Melbourne, for a really good game. Does anyone even remember when it cost $30 to go to an NFL game?

Of course, I really like my friends here, which is no different from living in the states. You can find cool people wherever you go.  And I really like my job, which is good.  I liked my job in the states too, but I work fewer night shifts here.  Sorry America, but Australia wins on that one.

Overall I'm happy here, but I think in the long run we will move back to the U.S., where our families are, and where we can afford to buy a house and a paperback novel.  Don't worry, we will let you know when we return!

2010: Year in Review

January:  I got a Wii as a graduation present from my folks.  I went skiing a bunch of times.  I announced that we were looking to move out of AK, and that we were going to buy a house when we do.
February:  I complained about reading Walden.  I went on a diet.  I started posting about my interest in permaculture.  I finished Walden, and ended up liking it.
March:  I baked lots of bread from my favorite bread book.  I posted one of the awesome Mt. Susitna webcam images.  I whinged about missing a speech by the author of my favorite permaculture book, and I talked about one of the foremost women in Atmospheric Science, Joanne Malkus Simpson.
April:  I went to Virginia to visit my relatives, and posted that I had big news upcoming soon.
May:  I announced our upcoming move to Sydney!  I complained about decluttering and getting my visa.  I attempted to explain the Australia healthcare system (which I am no more knowledgeable about now that I live here).  I acknowledged that I was going to miss Alaska.  My visa arrived and I resigned from the National Weather Service.
June:  We went on a rafting trip down the Chulitna, where my boat flipped and I ended up floating down a glacial river.  Scary!  Next thing you know, I was packing up and moving on.  I arrived in Sydney and went to see the light show downtown and Manly Beach.  I unsuccessfully looked for an apartment and got discouraged by Sydney prices.  Back in Alaska, Ethan got punched in the face.
July:  I found a great apartment only 10 minutes from the beach!  I checked out the Royal Botanical Gardens, and got up close and friendly with bats and cockatoos.    I heard my first Kookaburra and bought tickets to see one of my favorite bands, The Eels.
August:  I went to Cockatoo Island to see an art show. At Featherdale Animal Park, I petted koalas and kangaroos. The Eels concert rocked.  The Australia election happened and I attempted to explain Australian politics. I went on a ski trip to Perisher Valley and got to visit Canberra in the process.
September:  I joined GoGet car share, took a bike riding class, and planted my garden.  I posted pictures of the beach I live near (looking back at those pictures, I can't believe how empty the beach is!).  I went bushwalking with my coworker and her husband through the glorious spring bush.  Ethan and Fievel arrived safely.
October:  I started my worm farm.  My garden started growing.  We made our first attempt at home brew.  We visited Taronga Zoo.  I did a post on water for Blog Action Day.  Fievel came home.  We enjoyed fish and chips at Watson's Bay and hiked past a nude beach.  We hosted a Halloween party, and people actually came in costume!
November:  Ethan and I went camping, sans camera card, where we saw kangaroos and possums in the wild.  I butchered Ethan's hair.  We did the Sculpture By the Sea walk.  My garden started producing, and dying at the same time.
December:  I did a 6-month in Australia update.  I posted about how weird it was to have Christmas in the middle of summer.  I went to the community garden for the first time and really enjoyed it.

Looking back, this has been a year full of unforeseen changes!  Back in January I had no idea I would be moving to Australia for the adventure of a lifetime (joke's on me about buying a house, huh)?  Although I've been a bit lax about posting in December, I hope to find some time to post more in the New Year (including those beer posts Uncle Carl asked for)!  May you all have a safe and happy New Year!

Half a Year in the Other Hemisphere

It’s hard to believe, but it has been six months since my arrival in Australia! That's longer than most celebrity marriages! I thought this would be a good opportunity to update you all and answer some FAQs.

Q: How do you like Oz?

A: I like it, but surprisingly, now that I’ve settled in, I don’t feel like life is all that different than life in the U.S. At fist everything seemed really different, but I’m not sure that’s not just a function of moving to a new location. We still do a lot of the same things we did in the U.S. and the culture is very similar. It’s not like we have kangaroos in our backyard or anything.

Q: What do you like best about living in Australia?

A: Frankly, what I like best is more of a function of living in a larger city: I like all the cultural opportunities that Sydney has to offer. There are loads of concerts and shows and exhibits and classes and things to get involved with. And in spite of the fact that Australians complain about Sydney’s public transportation like there’s no tomorrow, it’s a lot better than many American cities I’ve been to.

Q: What do you like least?

A: It’s hard to find things here, especially when we’re grocery shopping. I am amazed at how many things are called something different (i.e. peppers = capsicums, pumpkin = all types of squash, ketchup = tomato sauce, etc.) And some stuff, they just don’t have. Like Cheezits or frozen bread dough, or more than one brand of dill pickle (Aussies apparently don’t eat/like dill pickles. Who knew?)

Oh yeah, and it's effing expensive!

Q: What do you miss most?

A:  Well, again, this is mostly a function of living in a larger city. I miss the relative quiet of my house in Anchorage. I miss being half an hour away from true wilderness. I miss really great bike trails. I miss the mountains. I miss having cheap things – not just cheap food or clothes, but cheap anything. Did I mention that life here is expensive?

Q: Do you think you’ll stay in Australia?

A: Hard to say. Never say never, but I imagine that we’ll move back to the U.S. We’d like to be closer to our families, and we’d like to have things be a bit easier. Plus, unless the housing market here crashes soon, we’ll never be able to afford a house. And after this, I’d really like to buy a home of our own.

So, this has been interesting so far. The first three months were really difficult, when I had no friends, no stuff, no place to live, and no husband or dog. Now that I have all of those things, I’m starting to enjoy it a bit more. It’s cool to see kangaroos when we go places, and they have some great candies and cookies here (America: Tim-Tams. Look into them).

I do miss home though. One thing I find kind of funny is that I hear a lot of comments about the U.S., and a lot of them are negative – regarding our politics, or how our culture has kind of taken over the world. But I think that Australians haven’t had the chance to experience some of the best things about the U.S. – like really good dill pickles, or readily available Mexican food, or how diverse we are from one region to the next. And, good or bad, we have it all out for anyone to see: Bill Clinton’s scandal, Tina Fey’s impression of Sarah Palin, everyone coming together after 9-11, or falling apart after Katrina, it’s well known world-wide. So good on ya, America, even when you’re all f-ed up, for the most part, I’m still proud to call you home.

Nor Any Drop to Drink

Today is Blog Action Day, a day in which bloggers worldwide write about a specific topic in order to raise awareness about a particular subject.  This year’s topic is Water.   Having recently moved from a water-rich location to one that is very sensitive to drought, my perspective on water has changed a little recently.

Australia has been suffering from intense drought over the past several years.  Many locations, including Melbourne and Sydney, have recently had water storage levels as low as 35% of their full storage capacity (the full storage level does not include floods).  This has resulted in many water restrictions and high water prices, as you might imagine.  Currently, a series of unusual rain events have raised the storage capacity to above 50% across New South Wales (Ref: National Water Commission).  The key word here is unusual – these rain events are not expected to continue on an annual basis.  While NSW has water now, in the very near future, we may be back to water restrictions.

One of the areas of New South Wales that is most affected by drought is the northwestern slopes area.  This area is at the headwaters of the Darling River, and a lot of cotton and rice is grown there.  As a result, the Darling frequently suffers from low water levels, high pollution and high salt content.  While I believe in locally made products, this makes me question whether I should buy rice and cotton products that are made in Australia.  Does it make sense to buy these products, which are grown in climatologically poor water areas?  Or should I buy products that are shipped from Asia, that don’t have as much of a negative impact on water levels, but are made by underpaid and poorly treated workers, and are shipped thousands of miles across the world, thereby using our precious fossil fuels and contributing to more carbon emissions?  I don’t think there’s any easy answer to this.

On a personal level, Ethan and I struggle with water conservation.  I have no idea how much water we use.  Back in Alaska, our landlord paid one fee for the building, so we never had to pay water useage.  Ethan loves baths, and I am constantly watering my flowers.  I also suspect that my methods of washing dishes waste a lot of water.  

Unfortunately, renting restricts some of the conservation measures I would like to take.  A rain barrel is not an option, because of the way our downspouts are built (can’t exactly cut into them).  A gray water system is completely out of the question.  We do have a dual flush toilet, but unfortunately, the half-flush just doesn’t work very well.  I’m hoping to take some more sustainability courses that might give me some clues as to how to reduce our water useage.  In the meantime, we will have to be more cognizant of our usage.  I’m sure our water bills over the next few months will make us more aware.

You Say You Want a Revolution

"...well you know, we all want to change the world." --John Lennon

I have some posts with pictures ready to go, but like I said, I'm waiting until I get real internet. Unfortunately, that won't be until next Thursday because I got my dates mixed up. If I have time, I will try to post from work. Otherwise, you'll have to wait for a week and half for more pictures, sorry.

In the meantime, I thought I would post a little something about an American trait I found I have, and sustainability/healthy living (which are close to my heart). I went out with a coworker and her friends the other night, and we started discussing Jamie Oliver's show "Food Revolution". This is a show where Jamie Oliver, a famous British chef, came over to the U.S. and delved into the inner workings of the school food system. As you all might remember, the public school food is pretty bad in the U.S. It's a lot of chicken nuggets and overcooked veggies (which not surprisingly, don't get eaten). But something about the show rankled a little bit with me, and I mentioned that the other night. I said that I found it a little bit irritating for some snobby British dude to come over and tell us everything that's wrong with our food system, and the lady who was talking about the show said "That's how all the other Americans felt. But don't you think it's better for him to come over and raise awareness?"

Now admittedly, I haven't seen the show. But here are my gut reactions: first of all, sorry, Great Britain, but you aren't on the list of the World's Skinniest People. So Jamie Oliver, maybe you should fix things in your own country before you go messing with others. Secondly, it's not like no one in America cares. There are lots of people who do care and are trying to do something about it, like this guy. But instead of interviewing people like that, who are working really hard and making progress, the television network thought it was appropriate to bring over a foreigner to tell us we're doing it all wrong. If I were an American like Ed Bruske, who had been working on the school lunch system for years, I would be pretty insulted and discouraged.

Of course, the network probably wants someone "famous" to do the show. Well, if they want someone famous, why don't they hire an American cook, like Rachael Ray (not that she's the healthiest cook ever, but you know what I mean)? Then, that person should interview the people who are trying to make things better to raise awareness. We are not a country of Neanderthals.

I think the other lady thought I was being a bit defensive. I thought about it a little bit, and I do think I am exhibiting a distinctively American trait: we like to tell other countries what to do, but we don't want foreigners all up in our business. Still, I wonder how it would fly if Jamie Oliver came over here and tried to tell Australians they were eating all wrong. As far as I can see, Australians are also pretty independent, and I think the show might go over like it did in the U.S.: like a lead balloon.