The Brat Pack

Someone recently asked me why I like The Breakfast Club so much. I always include it in my list of favorite movies. It's an iconic film for my generation. But as I opened my mouth to answer, I did not have a specific reason to offer. My list of favorite movies includes great films with complex characters and relationships, amazing acting, beautiful cinematography, excellent directing, or some combination thereof.

So what is it about this iconic film that when it flashes before my eyes as I surf channels I must stop and  finish it? Of all the "Brat Pack" films like Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, St. Elmo's Fire, this one is it for me.

I guess to start with broad strokes, it's the theme of stereotypes and fitting in and the common enemy of the ridiculous detention teacher. But it is the clever one-liners, witty banter, great music, not-so-typical relationships that give it longevity. How many times have you  quoted the movie over a glass of wine at a party? Ok, maybe it was beer and tequila shots, but it was always epic.

The Breakfast Club came out when I was 11, a time when I was having trouble fitting in. It's a reality check about the boxes in which we place people. While the characters started out as seeming like one dimensional stereotypes, the film reveals more layers in funny ways. I was everyone in that film. I AM everyone in that film. I am the brain, the athlete, the basket case, the princess, and the criminal. And at the end of the film, you feel like you know that about each of them and they are friends.

Maybe I'm over romanticizing a bad film. I don't care. It's a classic and I will watch it with you any time.

Dear Mr. Vernon:

We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you're crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain... ...and an athlete... ...and a basket case... ...a princess... ...and a criminal.

Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.

Characters

What is it about the Fall television season that fills me with dread? It's not that I enjoy the endless trough of reruns, made-for-tv-crap, or endless bad movies that pop up during the summer months. Although it does drive me out of the house to do more engaging things.

When I was a kid, I pined for the new TV season. I would await my favorite shows with anticipation and talk about premiere episodes and pilots on the bus in the morning. Whether it was Family Ties, L.A. Law, Growing Pains, Full House (what is wrong with me?), I had something to say about it. Now it's as though the memories of television shows from last season are better than they actually were.

I think I've grown as a viewer (I really hope so anyway). I don't care about the plot as much as I do character development. And if I can care about the characters, and they can pull off even the most ridiculous scenarios, I'm hooked. This is why I enjoyed TV like Grimm, Once Upon a Time, Dr, Who, The Walking Dead, True Blood, etc. The characters, even the secondary ones, tend to have depth, a back story, something that makes me identify with them, or like them. Therefore, I care about whether they are injured, hurt, kidnapped, maimed, or killed. The ridiculous plots, and even more ridiculous plot drivers didn't bother me so much. I took my suspension of disbelief to a whole new level because I wanted to see how my heroes would pull through.

All of these reasons are exactly why I see some shows as complete failures. If you don't give me something to cling to in the first episode or two, you've lost me. And here lies the problem with Sleepy Hollow, the new supernatural series based ever so loosely on the story of the same name. I watched the first two episodes and not only have they given me nothing on the main characters (I have no idea of their motivations and very little history). Even worse, they eliminated the bad guy/arch nemesis after just one episode. How on earth do you only have the headless horseman for one episode???

Dear TV writers (and you movie folks too): please develop your characters, especially your female characters. Quickly. I know you can do this. Please do not create a female character who needs to be saved by a man (Yes I'm talking to you scyfy and Haven). Thank you.

Car Trouble

Anyone who knows me knows I love my car. It's a 2004 Honda Civic EX. When I bought it, it made me happy. I had just totaled my 1997 Civic on the Northern Parkway on Long Island. A person in the right hand lane decided to stop dead in the middle of a busy highway. As I rounded a bend, there he was. My car looked destroyed, but aside from a dramatic moment, my passenger and I were fine. Of course, then I got sued, but that was another story that ended anti-climactically with the suit being dropped. 

When I bought this car, it was a moment of pride. I got a great deal. I paid as much for it as I did my 1997 Civic. And this one has automatic locks and power windows, a CD player, a sun roof, and drove like a dream. I say ‘drove,’ because after almost 10 years and 160,000 miles, it's having some challenges.

Last month, the heat shield fell off. This is no big deal. It fell off my 1997 Civic. It doesn't impact the way the car drives, but it does make it noisy. The car now rattles a little at low speeds. So getting out of the driveway or the parking lot is like listening to a steel drum band.

Next, the A/C cut out. If you know me, you know I love the A/C. I'm a sweater, so even slightly warm days make me unhappy. Also, I have hair that responds dramatically to any kind of moisture in the air. In short, the A/C keeps my windshield from fogging up and my hair from exploding. It's a win-win. The A/C just needed to be recharged, which I could take care of at my next oil change, or so I thought.

Then, the inevitable happened. And I say inevitable because it is unexpected, annoying, and ridiculous. And those three happening all at once to me periodically is a given. The car was left outside, with the trunk open, overnight, during a torrential downpour. The names of the guilty are being withheld to protect the innocent. Emptying the trunk and sopping up the water was no small feat. Fortunately, the weather dried up and I think it's finally dried out after three  days. But at the same time I pulled the car back into the garage, my husband noticed a flat tire.

So today I headed out to get the flat fixed. Hubby used the bike pump to get me out the door. Easy fix. $8 and a smile. Sweet! Next, I headed to Valvoline for an oil change and to get the A/C done. 45 minutes later the nice man explained it's not the coolant, but the compressor. They can't do it, but they know someone who can...for $500. Um...no thanks. I called my mechanic and headed over. Okay, he can do it for $400. Crap.

Really? Really??? This is just great. My beautifully running, favorite car that was a dream at 140,000 miles has quickly turned into a piece of crap right under my nose. It seems to have happened all a once. I had always planned on running this car into the ground, but I thought it would be different. I take good care of it and maintain it well. I thought if things went wrong, it would be one or two things a year, not ALL AT ONCE while I'm unemployed. 

They say timing is everything right? We'll see.

Mac and Cheese (revised)

My husband and I are huge, HUGE mac and cheese fans. We eat it any way we can get it: from a box, gourmet offerings, frozen meals, deli case... it's our go to comfort food as vegetarians. We add stuff to it: broccoli, onions, spinach, black beans, peppers, jalapeños, spicy cheeses, salsa, and more. But when it comes down to it, we really love his mom's tried and true creamy baked mac and cheese recipe. 

This is a recipe that gets handed down for generations. It likely was originally taken off the side of an elbow macaroni box, but hey, if it's that good, it should be published. So, I am deeply committed to this recipe. My mother-in-law passed away before our wedding. At one of our last Christmas' together, I asked for her family recipes and, thankfully, her "Baked Macaroni and Cheese" recipe was included. 

I typically make this with very few changes. Every time I try to mess with it, well, let's just say the results are disappointing. Lately, I even tried trading out classic elbow pasta for cavatappi. Now that's a winner. I have also tried whole wheat pasta. But in the end, the delicate béchamel needs a white pasta. 

So, at a recent visit with friends, I was intrigued when they urged me to try brown rice pasta as a substitute for regular durum wheat pasta. It has similar nutritional value to traditional white pasta but it is safe for gluten allergic friends. He sent us home with a bag to try. So here is our experiment with the recipe:

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

2 TB butter
2 TB flour
1 tsp ground mustard
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups milk
8 oz. cheese (cheddar, or american)
8 oz. elbow macaroni
buttered bread crumbs

First note: I doubled the recipe. I always double the recipe.

Thickened milk mixture
before adding cheese.

Over medium heat, melt butter, add flour, and remove from heat. Stir until well incorporated. Do not brown the flour. It's okay if you get distracted, and it cools off. You can add it back to the heat later. Add mustard, salt. This is also sometimes where I add other ingredients like garlic black pepper or cayenne, depending on how I'm doctoring it up. Place pot back on heat, add the milk, then stir until mixture starts to thicken and clings to spoon (roughly 10 min).

Add 6 oz. of cheese, a little at a time, stirring constantly over low heat until a smooth, creamy sauce is created. Reserve the remaining cheese for the topping.

Note: You do not want the sauce done before the pasta. It can get a film on the top if you stop stirring. If this happens, stir it again until smooth.

Cook pasta according to package directions (minus 2-5 minutes). This is what got me in trouble. I did not look closely at the package which says to cook over medium heat and to rinse the pasta after cooking. The instructions said to cook 15-16 minutes, and I cooked it for 10, knowing the pasta would finish cooking in the oven. I did not rinse it.

Add pasta to baking pan. (This is also where I added some broccoli this time) Pour sauce over the pasta and gently stir until noodles are mostly covered. Sprinkle remaining cheese followed by the buttered breadcrumbs. I use panko bread crumbs which get super crunchy.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until the top is nice and brown.

The results: Well, let me just say that brown rice pasta is YUMMY. It tastes similar to white pasta, but a little sweeter, which in this case was a bonus. It holds up well to the cheesy  béchamel sauce and the crunchy breadcrumb topping, by is not overpowering. My big disappointment was in the texture: the noodles seemed overcooked and mushy, almost gelatinous. I'm not sure if they did not hold up to baking in a casserole, if they needed to be rinsed, or what. Disappointingly, the noodles fell apart.

Next time, I will follow the rice pasta’s cooking instructions more carefully, cooking the pasta over a lower heat and rinsing in cold water after cooking. Then, I will report back. As for now, I will consider this rice pasta as a viable option for our mac and cheese.

When Cats Attack

Ok. According to my Facebook and Twitter feeds, it's Shark Week. And I'm pretty sure I'm not going to watch anything related to sharks, this week, or any time in the future. I have noticed that of late posts about sharks, Shark Week, Sharknado and the like have crept into my news feeds. It is clearly amusing my friends near and far, so why should I care?

Today's post is more about what else is creeping into my news feed. And I did it to myself. All these pictures of cats started popping up. First, it was a little random. Some friends posted pictures, cute and strange, of their own kitties. And I clicked the like button. Hey, I'm a cat person. I have two kitties of my own. I don't judge.

Then I decided I wanted more. I liked whole pages of cats like Catbook and And My Cat. Both have provided regular posts with cute pictures of kittens and cats or memes that make me laugh. Take these for example.

Just when I thought I couldn't squeeze anymore cats into my facebook news feed, I found something truly amazing. It's called Unadvertize.me. It's an app for Chrome that will take those stupid promoted posts in your news feed and replace them with an instagram feed of your choosing. It's amazing. Now my feed is full of #cats, #catsofinstagram, and #caturday pictures instead of sales from stores I don't care about. It is pure kitty bliss.

Talk about convenient! Fewer ads and more cats! Of course, you could use other streams, but why?

Gender Bending Monday

What's a good way to spend a Monday? Breaking gender stereotypes will always put a smile on my face. How about you? Check out these great smiling gender benders:

I saw this great video posted on Facebook and just had to share it.

If you're not bopping around in your chair from that one, don't worry, there is more to make you smile. There is also a really interesting tumblr feed with things like this and this.

But not everyone is as into this theme as I am. In May, a Milwaukee school district caused some controversy by planning a gender bender theme day during spirit week. The optional day would allow girls to dress like boys and boys to dress like girls. Some parents raised concerns that this was somehow promoting homosexuality. Who knew something so fun could be so thought provoking? But yes, controversial too.

What makes your Monday?

An open letter to Senators Jeff Klein, Diane Savino and Dean Skelos

Dear Senators:

I admit I am a busy activist for several issues. I care about health care, the environment, equality, poverty, and more. You probably hear from me a lot during the year in relation to actions I have taken my several organizations urging you to vote yes or no on different proposals. You likely hear from hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, so I highly doubt you remember my comments. I still send them to you.

I apologize for the length of this note. However, your inaction leaves a lot of issues unresolved.

This year, you all have the opportunity to really make a difference for a lot of New Yorkers. There are several legislative proposals on which the Senate has not yet taken action. For some, these proposals could me life or death. So I am urging you to put your differences aside, face your fears, and let the Senate vote on them. I could just quote this, but I have more to say. Below is a list of some of the proposals on which I urge you to act:

Hydraulic Fracking Moratorium (S4236A): This is important. We know there have been fracking problems in other parts of the country. We are not sure how to prevent these problems should drilling begin in our state.  The health impact assessment being proposed is consistent with the CDC's best practices, unlike other studies underway or being proposed. 

Your public statements say you are waiting for action from Governor Cuomo. You need to take a stand and protect New Yorkers. If drilling begins and there are problems, it will be on you. You have the chance to put a halt to drilling until we have all the facts. Protect our water, protect our health. Make it happen. Vote.

Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (S.195 ): Transgender, gender queer, and individuals perceived to be, face daunting, categorical discrimination statewide. Not only are these individuals face with everyday violence, but they face discrimination in housing, employment and other public accommodations.

Every New Yorker deserves the dignity and full opportunity that allows them to be full participants in their community and to live to their ful potential. It's a people thing. Make it happen. Vote.

Women's Equality Agenda (Governor's Program Bill #9): This legislation contains 10 provisions which would protect and advance equality for women in New York State. It includes provisions impacting reproductive health, pay equity, sexual harassment, domestic violence, sexual assault, credit and housing discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, human trafficking laws, and more. This is an excellent, comprehensive package that will really make a difference in the lives of women and their families. 

You made public statements noting you will not vote on it because of an abortion provision. I do not buy it. If you do not like the abortion provision, do not vote for it. Either way, make it happen. Vote.

New York Dream Act (S2378): Children brought to New York who are undocumented are not at fault for their status. They grow up in New York State and should have the same access to opportunity that I have. They deserve access to higher education and financial aid so they too can fulfill their potential.

I know Dreamers cannot vote, and maybe that is what holds you back from action. I appreciate that you put voters first. However, these individuals work hard and can make a difference in our communities, if you just give them a chance.  Make it happen. Vote.

Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reform (S4705): Most importantly, and something that no doubt impacts all of these measures, I support fair elections legislation. I can see how one might believe that the above measures are being held up because of special interest donations from big lobbyists, big business, and wealthy individuals with a stake. ALL New Yorkers have a stake and the amount of money one can contribute to your campaign should not have an impact on how much power they hold over you.

It is bout time you are able to legislate and not have to spend so much time fundraising. Sure, the events can be fun, and it makes you feel important and special. But aren't you tire of it all yet? Don't you wish you could go home and not have to go to three events before dinner? Make it happen. Get it done. Vote.

I support all these measures 1000 percent. Why? Because I believe that equality and justice are not something for which one must ask, but it is required and must be protected. Every New Yorker deserves to be safe from harm, have equal opportunity to achieve one's full potential, have autonomy to make informed health decisions, and know that their interests are being equally protected by the State. All these measures do that.

At the very least, New Yorkers deserve to know where their elected officials stand on this issue. Regardless of whether or not the measures can pass with a majority vote, legislators should have the opportunity to vote their conscience. If they fail, we know the opposition is stronger. If they succeed it should be on their merits.

So I urge you to take a true step in governing and allow votes on these proposals before the end of the legislative session this week.