Sunday, June 13, 2010

Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!! Beetlejuice!!!

The crowd at last night's Cinespia screening of Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice" was insane! It wasn't even 6pm yet and the space in line on the grass was already taken up. In between nibbling on crackers topped with herbed goat cheese, sipping beer/wine, and arranging tiles on the Scrabble board I took a few minutes to speak with Jenni. She was sitting on the other side of the caution tape. I noticed she was reading Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food". It's a non-fiction work "about how the Western diet is slowly killing us."

Jenni's brother handed her this book to read as she was leaving to come to the cemetery. She needed something to read while waiting in line and her brother thought she would enjoy it. Jenni's only a few pages in and so far, so good.

Her brother actually started reading it but never got around to finishing it. He had to put it down because it made him question everything and consider all the processed foods around us.



Jenni normally reads fiction. One of her favorite reads is The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. "It just has a really great story. Plus, I really love Russian literature."

The last book she read was David Sedaris' Naked. "Not my favorite of his stuff. I prefer Holidays on Ice." This sparked a bit of conversation with the folks in my group upon hearing this. Everyone started to go over their own favorite Sedaris books and began to delve into works by Augusten Burroughs.


We moved on to discuss our various reading habits. Jenni considers herself a fairly quick reader if she isn't distracted. "I can also read many books at one time. Sometimes I read 10 at a time! My bed is full of books." The saying is oh so true - "Readers never go to bed alone."

Jenni was super excited to "Beetlejuice". This was actually only her second time at a Cinespia screening! The last one she attended was "North by Northwest" a few weeks ago. "I meant to wear stripes tonight but I totally forgot. Now I kind of wish I did." Funny because I meant to wear my stripes, too!

Time flew by and we finally made our way onto the cemetery grounds. At 9pm John, Cinespia's fearless leader, commanded us to say the B word three times. We all belted it out in unison, summoning the ghost with the most.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

A Piece of Peace Pie

Call me a proud sister! My sister's recipe for Fair Trade mud pie has made it into the 'Peace Never Tasted So Sweet: CODEPINK's Peace Pie Cookbook'!!

Virtual high-five to her. Seriously.

The stories and recipes were collected from women across the US and globally including a poet laureate, a retired Colonel, a witch, radical grandmothers, civil rights activists, a leader in the Muslim peace movement, creative bakers, change-makers, a Girl’s Club, local CODEPINK coordinators and more.
CODEPINK Women for Peace is a hearty mix of highly creative and passionate women working for peace—and not afraid to bake for it.

"I am obviously the witch", quoth Z.


Interested in a copy for your kitchen? Or as a sweet gift?

$7.00 Ebook/ $33 print / 93 pp / 978-0-557-45194-4

Printed & distributed by www.lulu.com
Ebook: http://bit.ly/peacesosweet


And....if you happen to be in the San Francisco area next week then you should stop by the launch party. Details below.
  • Free and open to the public
  • Pie tasting (sliding scale $5-10 donation asked for the tasting)
  • Herbal iced tea
  • Pies and hot beverages for purchase from Mission Pie
  • Meet my sister, Zarah!

Tuesday June 15th. @ 6-8pm
Mission Pie

2901 Mission St. at 25th St.
(near 24th St BART)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128750723818428

Venezuela Speaks!

I just got home from IMIX Books in Eagle Rock where my friend, Carlos Martinez, was scheduled to speak. He's on his book launch tour and making the rounds! Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances (read: Lakers championship and L.A. Downtown Art Walk) this LA event will have to be rescheduled. But it was great to see him and I got to meet some really top notch folks. And to top it off I discovered IMIX Bookstore. It's a cute little shop on Eagle Rock Blvd. and carries some pretty amazing books (and jewelry, wallets, et. al.)

If you get a chance definitely check out http://venezuelaspeaks.com/

Read a phenomenal collection of interviews with activists from across Venezuela's social movements AND support a homie. I actually am not well versed in the Venezuelan social movement so, needless to say, I am quite intrigued and excited to dive in. Gonna learn me a thing or two.

I spoke to Carlos a few months ago whilst in San Francisco and he told me about his time getting this book together. Hear more about it in an upcoming interview with Mr. Martinez. Got questions for him? Send them over and I'll be sure to ask him.