When Nietzsche Wept I Made A Linzer Torte

This is a post about serendipity and how I came to bake a Linzer Torte.

It's also about changing - changing all these ingredients into a torte.  I could include the changes that reading a particular book causes in one's understanding of the world, but that's too much.


So how did I get to the spot where I had all these ingredients measured and waiting to be combined?

About a year ago I was headed to Juneau and my friend Paul with whom I was going to stay while there, asked if I could bring him the book The Spinoza Problem from Anchorage. I started reading it while I was there, but Paul suggested I read an older book by the same other author, Irvin Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept.  [I thought I'd posted about the book in the past, but I can't find such a post, only one that mentions The Spinoza Problem in passing.  There's a lot in both these books to chew on and so I'm guessing I kept putting off actually writing a post.]

Anyway, I recommended Nietzsche to my book club and eventually we got to it - last Monday and I was the host.  We try to have some snacks that are mentioned in the book.  But I had borrowed Paul's copy and returned it long ago.  So I emailed Paul, who is also an incredible cook, and suggested that since he'd originally recommended the book and since he's interested in food, maybe he could scan the book and come up with a recommendation for something I could make for the group.  He enthusiastically accepted the challenge and the next day I had two recipes for Linzer Torte and one for Apple Strudel.  (The book takes place in Vienna in the late 1800s.)

The strudel recipe looked like more things could go wrong.  I chose the Joy of Baking Linzer Torte recipe.  Above you can see all the ingredients gathered.  I had no idea how much butter these tortes have in them.  I haven't had that much butter in the last ten years - except maybe what's hidden inside things like, well, Linzer Torte and or food I eat in a restaurant. 

The first thing to do is put the raspberries and sugar into saucepan and boil off the liquid. 













Then I mixed the rest of the ingredients.









The major adjustment I made to the recipe was that I didn't have hazelnuts and we did have some almond meal, so I didn't crush my own almonds.  I just used the almond meal.  The dough was very different from bread dough.  Not as sticky, but all that butter made it very oily.  

The recipe said to divide the dough into two balls.  This one had to be flattened between wax paper and put into the refrigerator.  This part of the would later be cut into strips that I would (very badly) braid across the top. 

The other half of the dough on the bottom of the pan and poured the raspberry sauce into the pan.

The chilled dough broke very easily and as you can see, the braiding was pretty sloppy.  Then whatever was leftover was put around the edge of the pan. 

And here it is out of the oven.

The powdered sugar was sort of like make up, covering some of the flaws I'd had in the braiding. 

The book club members were all very polite and complimentary.  Paul said people always say nice things when they find out you made it yourself.  But I've tasted his masterpieces and they're incredible. (You can see what I mean at a post about what he made for an Easter brunch a couple of years ago.)  This was good, but anyone who really knew about Linzer Torte would know it was my first try.  (And yes, we had whipped cream for each piece.)

Go back and compare the finished torte to all the ingredients in the first picture.  I think it's pretty amazing how human beings have figured out how to take a bunch of items - whether it's to make food, a machine, a book, a painting - and transform them into something else. 

USS Anchorage To Be Commissioned In Anchorage May 4 After May 1 Block Party

USS Anchorage - screenshot from video below.

The USS Anchorage (LPD 23) will be in town this week.  She was christened in New Orleans on May 28, 2011 when she was 85% completed.  Looking online I see that the commissioning was originally scheduled for last fall.  But PRWEB has this announcement: 

"Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has approved the date of May 4, 2013 as the day of commissioning for the Anchorage (LPD 23). Early this year it was announced that the commissioning would be held in Anchorage, a first for the city and the state of Alaska.
The commissioning is a formal ceremony in which the ship officially becomes a unit of the operating forces of the United States Navy. It is the final, most significant event, and the occasion when the ship "comes alive" and becomes a United States Navy Vessel."

The USS Anchorage is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship.  Don't know what that means? Or why it's LPD 23? These terms and lots of other interesting tidbits are in the Navy's FAQs  I've posted at the bottom of this post.

Actually, this is the second USS Anchorage.  The first one is sitting on the bottom of the sea off of Kauai.  She  was used as target practice in 2010 after being decommissioned in 2003.  She was commissioned in 1969.  You can read more about her here and here.


Before the commissioning on Saturday (May 4), the Port of Anchorage is throwing a block party at Town Square on Wednesday (May 1) from 5-9pm.

And there are Public Tours:  

Thursday, May 2 starting at 1:00 p.m. and ending at 8:00 p.m.
Friday, May 3 starting at 2:00 p.m. and ending at 8:00 p.m

Or you can go on this cool video tour from the ship's website.


Tickets for the commissioning itself are sold out, but you can watch the ceremony online.
 It's at 10am - 11am.


Here's some technical data from the ship's website:

Length: 684 feet (208.5 meters).
Beam: 105 feet (31.9 meters).
Displacement: Approximately 25,586 long tons (full load).
Speed: In excess of 22 knots
Crew: Ship’s Company: 360 Sailors (28 officers, 332 enlisted) and 3 Marines.
Embarked Landing Force: 699 (66 officers, 633 enlisted); surge capacity to 800.
Armament: Two MK 46 Mod 2 guns, fore and aft; two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers, fore and aft: nine .50 calibre machine guns.
Aircraft: Launch or land two CH53E Super Stallion helicopters or two MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft or up to four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, AH-1 or UH-1 helicopters.
Landing/Attack Craft: Landing/Attack Craft: Two LCACs or one LCU; and 14 Amphibious Assault Vehicles.

From what I can tell, the ship cost $134 million plus another $18 million modification of the contract.


Here's a video of the christening.  On the video you'll hear from a number of folks including the ship sponsor.  If you want to know what a sponsor of a ship is and more about Mrs. Conway, the sponsor of this ship, there's a bio on the ship's website.  She's scheduled to be in Anchorage for the commissioning. 






The document below comes from a Navy website.  It was put up before the date and location of the commissioning was launched. 

USS Anchorage (LPD 23) FAQ

Why Is It Hard To Talk About Racism?

I co-facilitated a workshop today on Why It's Difficult to Talk About Racism.  The participants were divided into groups of five or six and they came up with a lot of reasons.  Probably the main reasons are:

• Fear/Discomfort
• of getting hurt
• of offending someone
• of saying something stupid
• Ignorance 
• not much experience/training in how to talk about it
• not much knowledge about facts and underlying causes 
• It's a VERY Sensitive Topic

The groups today presented long lists of reasons, most of which were variations on these themes.    Below are some other responses.   From the  Daily Kos:

• IT IS FREAKIN' UNCOMFORTABLE.
• WE ALL FEEL THREATENED.
• WE GET DEFENSIVE. 

• Afraid of using the wrong terms or otherwise saying something offensive.
• Afraid of being called a racist or otherwise ‘attacked’
• Don’t want to have to change how I talk etc. 
• Afraid that changing things means losing something (while denying white privilege)

• Conversations feel disrespectful.  People of Color hear the same stories and excuses over and over again from whites when race comes up.  Things like “I don’t see race” or “Prove it to me” or “It takes time.”  These things assert the validity of the white person’s world view and deny the person of color’s experience.
  From:  People of Color Organize "10 Conversations On Racism I'm Sick of Having With White People"
• Example:  Talking about race is difficult and I generally don’t get into discussions of race unless I am around other people of color. I don’t like talking about race with most white people because many are blissfully unaware of their privilege. When around other people of color, I usually get into good, deep discussions. When I have gotten into discussions with some white people, I have often gotten, “Oh, it’s not really like that. Maybe you’re exaggerating” or “You’re just too sensitive. I’m sure they didn’t mean it like that.” These things all negate my experience and more often than not, I am told by white people that I’m making it up. I can’t get in discussions about race for my sanity’s sake.
  From:  Resist Racism -  16 thoughtful observations on race by commenters

• It’s exhausting and for some traumatic to talk about race.
• Forced to be spokesperson for my race.
• Feel like I have to teach (for free) the people who make my life difficult.  

 One frustration people -all people - have when talking about racism is not knowing what they can do about it.  In a long post about why it's hard to talk about racism in The Stranger  Jen Graves addresses this questions for whites who are skeptical of the stories told by people of color:

“So one answer to the question What can I do? is simple: Listen. Believe."

 It seems pretty obvious to me that most people of color would have a more heightened awareness of racism than most whites. It doesn't mean they can articulate it well or that they don't, on occasion, see racism when it isn't there.  And it doesn't mean that some whites aren't pretty savvy on this topic.   In general though, this advice, "Listen. Believe"  is pretty good.  Don't interrupt.  Don't deny other people's experiences. Ask for more explanation and context if you must, but pay attention to the emotion when they tell you. 

Treadwell Certifies Referendum

From the Lt. Gov's webpage:

 

Treadwell Certifies Referendum

Lt. Gov. Treadwell Certifies Referendum
April 25, 2013, Anchorage, AK – Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell today certified 13SB21, the referendum application to reject Senate Bill 21 on Alaska’s oil taxes passed during the legislative session that adjourned April 14, 2013.
The lieutenant governor signed the certificate after consultation with the Division of Elections, which determined the application included a sufficient number of sponsor signatures, and the Department of Law, which concluded that the proposed bill is in the proper form under Article XI of the Alaska Constitution and AS 15.45.
The lieutenant governor notified the primary sponsors of the petition, Victor Fischer, Bella Hammond, and N. Jim Whitaker, Jr.
The Division of Elections will prepare petition booklets for the sponsors to gather signatures from around the state. The petition must be signed by qualified voters at least equal in number to 10 percent of those who voted in the last General Election, who are resident in at least three-fourths of the House districts of the State, and who are equal in number to at least seven percent of those who voted in the preceding General Election in that House district. Based on the 2012 General Election, sponsors will need to gather at least 30,169 signatures from qualified voters.
The referendum petition must be filed on or before July 13, 2013.

Chasing My Tail

This is sort of how I feel this week.  I'm supposed to send in my paper (for the PATNET conference in San Francisco at the end of May) by next week.  I've got several blog posts - including one on Begich's press memo on his vote against universal background checks - that need more work.  I've got some work to do with the Citizens Climate Lobby local group today and tomorrow, and tomorrow I'm doing a workshop with Warren Jones at the YWCA on "Why is it so difficult to talk about racism?"  (It's from noon to 1:30 with a suggested $5 donation to cover costs if you want to come.) 

Also, I finally broke down and bought a new camera that I'm hoping will let me take better distance shots.  Like this dog next door.   He was barking a lot yesterday, but they were so sweet about it when I asked them to take him in. 


I've been looking at cameras for a couple of years now as I pass the cameras at Costco and this seemed like the right combination of features and price.  (Though it cost more than my first car.)  I did notice right away that the manual focus is a lot less smooth than my old film Pentax.  And the instruction book is over 300 pages.  I wanted a Canon on the grounds that there might be some overlap between how my Powershot works and this one does. 

Help Kenyan Kids With Their Homework With Solar Lanterns - Through Tayasola

[UPDATE Dec. 23, 2013:  Here's a new post about where this project is today.]

E.F. Schumacher, in Small is Beautiful argued that foreign aid projects should be scaled to the needs of the receivers.  Giant projects are often inappropriate and costly while small projects fit the needs and capacity of the receivers. But a lot of foreign aid is just a way for American companies to get the US government to buy their (sometimes surplus) stuff and send it overseas.  Think of all the unfinished and/or unused projects in Iraq that have transferred billions from the US treasury into corporate accounts. Big companies aren't interested in appropriate technology.  But in many cases it's what will make a difference.  Like the this project I'm going to tell you about.

While we were on Bainbridge I met Alma Lorraine Bone Constable who's trying to set up a small business that will distribute small solar light kits to school children to use at night to do their homework.  (She gave me a kit to put together and it was easy.)  The solar lanterns would replace the kerosine lanterns now used, which in addition to needing costly carbon based fuel, aren't particularly healthy indoors, and they're a fire danger.

But they don't just get the kits, they learn about solar energy. They are encouraged to find other ways to apply the technology.  If you want to help with this go to Indiegogo and make a contribution.

I challenge you to watch the video chat I had with Alma.  Why do I have to say that?  Because people are in a hurry and it's easier to skip on to the next link.  But Alma's a person well worth meeting.  You'll find out how she got into this project. And when you finish the movie, I challenge you (again) to think about what surprised you, and what that means about how your first impressions can fool you - especially when there isn't enough time to get the information needed to correct them.





I should disclose that Alma's in a class that my son-in-law is teaching. That's why I know about this, but it  isn't why I'm posting this. It's just good stuff. She's now raising money at Indiegogo - a fundraising site like Kickstarter.

People are always saying that they'd like to help others in need, but they don't know how.  Finishing everything on your plate doesn't really help starving kids elsewhere.  But putting your movie popcorn money into solar lanterns does.

It won't disturb your lifestyle at all. It will just take a few minutes. You can help the kids with a small donation, a fraction of what you spend a month on your cell phone bill. And the kids in Kenya will be able to do their homework with sustainable solar lights that you'll have helped them get. Here's the link again to Indiegogo.

And you can even get a kit yourself if you donate at the right level.  

The organization Alma mentioned that first got her to Africa is Cultural Reconnections.  Norma, are you listening?

Caller to Reporter: "I'm Going To Kill You"

Screen Shot from Reportero-Reporter Segrio Hara relating phone call he got

Serious journalists in Mexico can have short careers.  Bernardo Ruiz's film Reportero,  first showed here last December at the Anchorage International Film Festival.  It's gripping film documenting reporters risking their lives to cover the narco wars, and many losing their lives.


You Can Make A Difference

I asked Ruiz after his keynote address at the Alaska Press Club conference Saturday what viewers could do to help support reporters trying to uncover the drug dealers and the government workers who support them.  Go ahead and start the video.  You don't have to watch it all (it's short).  You can just listen as you read below.

Screen shot from Reportero Trailer

My question was how viewers could support journalists like these.  He offered a couple of organizations that protect journalists around the world that we can support:

Committee to Protect Journalists - "CPJ promotes press freedom worldwide and defends the right of journalists to report the news without fear of reprisal. CPJ takes action wherever journalists are censored, attacked, imprisoned, or killed for their work. Our advocacy helps to ensure the free flow of news and commentary."

Article 19 - This one just got graphic threats in the Mexican office which you can see at the link.

Reporters Without Borders -They too help endangered reporters.  They also have a World Press Freedom Index. 

Reportero is a very compelling movie.  If you watched the Sopranos or the the Wire, well this is the real deal.  Not only does he tell the reporting story, you get to know the reporters as well.

You can order copies from the ReporteroProject website or Quietpictures.com. 



This is happening in Mexico, in large part because of the demand for drugs in the US and the availability of guns - all kinds of guns - just over the border from Mexico in the US.

Screenshot from Reportero trailer

I wonder how many people who are so violently opposed to any law to expand background checks have as much respect for the First Amendment as they claim to have for the Second Amendment.  Clearly many in Mexico feel their right to own guns also gives them the right to prevent others from talking about what they do with those guns. 

Smoothly Blending Words and Images, Still and Moving - Neal Mann on Multiplatform Story Telling

Neal Mann's Friday presentation focused on Twitter and a bit of what he does as the Social Media editor at the Wall Street Journal - basically using social media to get WSJ stories out to the world AND using social media - particularly Twitter - to keep track of what's happening.  The Boston bombing which was unfolding over social and mainstream media emphasized the point he was making.

Saturday's talk was called Multiplatform Storytelling and he had two areas to cover:  multimedia platform story telling and stories of longevity.  He never made it to the second part. (Or did he and I missed it?  I don't think so.)  Everyone in the room seemed totally absorbed.  The video shows the beginning of the presentation.  I was sitting up close so I encourage you to at least watch the first 30 seconds.  He's a dynamic speaker and while he's in the US anyway, he's got a cool accent.


)

This presentation was very confirming. Neal's talking about what I try to do here - blend the written word, photos, and video into a story.  My execution isn't as good as my imagination - it would take a lot more software savvy on my part to get things to move and stretch the way I'd like. I've been putting up integrated posts for over five years now  with just a Canon Powershot and a Macbook and this jack-of-all-trades blogger didn't know that the reporter, the photographer, the video guy, the tech guy, and the editor were all supposed to be different people.  If I didn't try to get something out every day, I might be able to spend more time learning enough code to make the screen flow and stretch the way I'd like it to. What I'd really like is something like the NobodyHere site I featured a year ago February.  It's utter genius.

Neal, if you read this, what were you going to say about longevity stories?  Does my coverage of the Alaska Redistricting Board fit with what you were going to say. (See the Redistricting Board tab above.) 

[UPDATE March 12, 2014:  Viddler video replaced with YouTube.]

Notes Of A Reluctant Twitter Newbie - Thanks Neal, I Think

[Note:  This post is for people scratching their heads about Twitter.  I need to do these first impressions while they're still fresh in my head.]

As I started writing this, someone on the radio was singing "I didn't wanna do it , I didn't wanna to do it . . ." and I thought, how apt.  [If the culprit - Neal Mann - and I had our way, instead of the words, you would hear Judy Garland singing them.]  He baited the hook on Friday at his talk that focused on his use of Twitter as the social media editor at the Wall Street Journal.  

Saturday's talk at the Alaska Press Club conference on multiplatform storytelling - sunk the hook. There's some good video of Neal starting the session.

So here's my Twitter experience so far:

1. Signing up

• You need a name.  I used mine.
• Then a username.  Finding an unused username wasn't easy.  All the variations of What Do I Know? were already taken. (A reason I should have done this when first invited six years ago?) I'm not completely happy with the one I chose, but I like the idea and the alliteration:  whisper2world.  Seems appropriate to Twitter.
• Password - they tell you how good it is.  I played around until I moved from 'ok' to 'perfect.'  Didn't need to type it a second time. 
• Agreement wasn't even that long and unreadable.  Still, I only skimmed it.  

2.  Personalization and automatic follow suggestions.  You have to decide if you want this or not.  They'll recommend Tweeters to follow based on my browsing.  I didn't like the idea, but it said I could change it to 'no' any time.  Turns out I got all these recommendations, clearly not based on my browsing.  Mostly celebrities.  I have turned this off.  But they are still recommending people for me to follow.  I found instructions to hide the recommendations at this website.  It requires AdBlock+, which I have already, thanks to a commenter recommendation.  But I couldn't get the instructions to work.  When I go to AdBlock+ things don't look the same as in the examples.  Another website also wants me to use AdBlock+ and I found the page and pasted in the code, but it doesn't seem to work either.    It's annoying and I'll find better instructions.  (I thought maybe if I sign out and back in it would work, but it didn't.)

3.  First Tweet was a reply to Neal Mann's (@fieldproducer) Tweet that he was going to present again to the AK Press Club.

Steven Aufrecht ‏@whisper2world 15h

@fieldproducer Thx for two great presentations in Anchorage. You pushed me over the Twitter cliff

4.  Follow Five:  When you first open your Twitter account, they push you to start following five people.  I started with Neal Mann, that seemed appropriate.  There was also a 'browse categories' option.  In "Books" I chose Guardian Book, but that started flooding me with promotional Tweets and I unfollowed.  Neal had talked about lists, so I looked at Neal Mann's lists and added this one:

starterkit by Neal Mann

The best news based twitter feeds for any journalists new to Twitter to follow.

There are too many in Spanish.  I'm hoping I'll be able to edit the list to work for me better, but it's a good start.  I'll substitute some German ones for the Spanish ones.  The lists are what he said would be a good way to set up your own personalized news feed.  This will take some adjusting, but looks promising.

For starters I'm following six others: Dan Bern ‏ @DanBernHQ, Mother Jones @MotherJones, Heritage Foundation @Heritage, Citizens Climate Lobby @citizensclimate, and Diane Benson ‏ @FPCArcticFox.   I'm not sure how, but Diane found me as soon as I went live and is following me and somehow I was following her.  I don't think I did anything to make that happen, but as long as there aren't too many tweets, it's ok for now.   

 5.  It's not hard, but there are things to figure out.  The upper left looks like this:

When you put the cursor over the icons,

• the little house says 'home,'
• the @ says 'connect'
• the # says 'discover,' and 
• the pawn says 'me'

It's not totally intuitive what they have.  Connect relates to contacting others and discover is for finding others. 


Early Reactions:

• Messages:  One thing I was hoping for was to be able to send messages to people I wanted to contact who only had Twitter accounts as contact info.  Your choices for contacting are to send a public 'tweet' or a 'direct message.'  BUT, you can only send a direct message to someone who is following you.  
• Blog Promotion:  Perhaps I can use this to let more people know about blog posts, we'll see.  It won't matter if no one is following me I'd guess.  
• Time Waster:  While this gives me very brief notices of things that are out there, this could be a giant time drain.  I have enough to write about without any help from Twitter.  I don't need to stay current on a whole array of events like a WSJ editor does.  Discipline, Steve, discipline.  
• Links:  It says that links will automatically be shortened to 20 characters, but that didn't seem to happen with the first link I put in.  

Meanwhile, Twitter offers lots of help:

I found Twitter for Newbies
And there's also a Twitter Glossary.
And there are more pages.  Sort of like going on a trip and learning some of the basic language and customs of the country you're going to visit. 

But I also took today's (April 21, 2013) Doonesbury as a warning closer to my gut instincts.  Here's the last panel:

 

Last panel April 21, 2013 Doonesbury

[I'm not sure if the link takes you to this particular strip or the generic 'today's strip.' In any case this is the April 21, 2013 strip.]

Who's In Space Now? How Far Is Mars?

Do you know how many humans are currently in space and where they are from?  How Many People Are In Space Right Now? tells you the current number, their names, and nationality. 

And while we're in space, to get a sense of how far away Mars is from earth check out Distance to Mars.