Wherin the old and the new intersect

I've been thinking a lot lately about my previous life as an opera singer, and trying to figure out how all that history integrates with the path I'm on now. For a while I've been feeling as if the "new" career is totally independent of the old one, and nothing that I learned in the music world applies to what I do now.

But really, that's not true. I've been part of many different types of organizations. Musical theater productions, operas, conservatory, orchestras, agencies, start-ups, corporations, and now grad school. Each shared some characteristics with some of the others. What I find especially interesting about reflecting on some of those less corporate environments is this: in some ways, they were the most functional and effective teams I've ever worked on. Now don't get me wrong. Performers, directors, conductors, the whole lot of them are notoriously narcissistic nutbags. There are very few exceptions. Impulse control, self-reflection, and other emotionally intelligent traits are not much in evidence. Verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and other misbehavior abounds. But somehow, maybe due to the nature of the endeavor, the show goes on. And it usually goes on alarmingly well. Everyone remembers their lines, makes their entrances, gets the lighting cues right, plays the right notes. When someone flubs, everyone helps to get the ball rolling again. The most assinine, self-centered conductor will help a singer out of a jam - mouthing the words or catching up if they rush. Sopranos who are snitty, petty competitors off the stage work beautifully together during a duet.

So what is the source of all this heroism? How do people who are generally less mature and self-realized somehow transcend the ethical and interpersonal quagmire that is corporate existence? Well, they don't, exactly. Misconduct is pretty common, but the funny thing is it rarely jeopardizes the final product. I think that something about the nature of the organization pre-disposes it to function properly and well, despite all the machinations of the individuals.

Conversely, lots of corporations are filled with people with good intentions, much clearer ethical rules, and subject to far more public and legal scrutiny. And yet, huge ethical lapses are becoming more and more obvious. If you've heard me talk about this before, you know the saw. The structure of the publicly held corporation - the fact that shareholders are not ethically or legally responsible for the actions of the employees - seems to predispose it to violating established ethical and legal norms.

I think this provides a pretty good argument for the foundation of our thesis. The organization has it's own personality, tendencies, and pre-dispositions that are a complicated blend of the collective culture, the values and goals of the founders and execs, and the market pressures. So much of the literature we've read for this program talks about personal responsibility. "Be the change you want to see in the world." Covey, Titchy, many of the others say that if you don't change it yourself, quit your bitching. But there are much stronger forces at play, and while I'm all in favor of setting a good example, there's another saying I tend to believe more: "Culture eats change for breakfast." And I'd like to add to this to the mix: the personality of the organization far supersedes the personalities of the individuals. And the legalistic or even conventional structure of the organization has a huge effect on that personality. Perhaps even an insurmountable effect.

Another thing that occurs to me is that concept of heroism. To be heroic (or to fit the hero archetype) one has to have something at stake - risk of loss, and some kind of transformational process. So a lot of the literature on teams and heroism often have a foundation or at the least a lot of case studies on the military. But in the military, there's a very immediate danger of death or dismemberment. So people have a lot to lose if they don't work together effectively, and the consequences of poor leadership and poor teamwork are dire.

While performing is not life-threatening, it can feel that way. Anyone who's ever had stage fright can attest that your body does not know the difference between that fear and a tiger running towards you. Your brain may say, "no reason to be afraid, just singing for some industry big shots." but your body says, "Tiger!" So again, the stakes are high, immediate, and the consequences of screwing up are psychological death and dismemberment of not only yourself, but your peers (and probably your reputation and career).

In the corporate world, obviously some survival instinct also comes into play, but not with the immediacy of a more time-restricted scenario like a battle or a performance. Maybe that's why dysfunction can creep in unnoticed, fester and grow, and then surprise the shit out of everyone when suddenly they realize that, oh, growth is at -30% and the CEO has been diverting money into his Swiss bank account. I also have a really hard time buying the CEO as Hero myth. No babies are being rescued from burning buildings, and the idea of a CEO making a major sacrifice for someone else (what with those compensation packages) is pretty laughable. So for me, that idea just does not resonate. Maybe we need to look at organizations through a different lens, and stop trying to find our heroes in those with positional power. Maybe the organization will be heroic when it re-defines itself into something more ethical, responsible, and connected to all the people that comprise it.

Just a thought.

The Further Adventures of Literal Man vs. Symbolic Girl

So I asked David, as per usual, if he would call me tonight when he got to his hotel (he's fishing with his dad and brothers), to which he replied, as per usual, "I'll think about it." Or it might have been, "I'll try," which is also interchangeable with "I'll do my best." That's about when my head began spinning around and I started speaking in tongues. Let's look at a translation, shall we?
---------------------
My perspective:
Symbolic Girl says: "I would really like it if you would call me tonight."
Translation: "Call me or I'll start to worry you ran off with the stripper you met at a roadside diner right before your car flipped over and you woke up with amnesia in a hospital in Bermuda."

Literal Man says: "I'll think about it."
Symbolic Girl hears: "I will call if I feel like it, but I really don't want to and you can't push me around, nyhaaa."

His perspective:
Symbolic Girl says: "I would really like it if you would call me tonight."
Translation: "I would really like it if you would call me tonight."

Literal Man says: "I'll think about it."
Translation: "I will call barring unforeseen events that might prohibit me from calling, but I won't say "yes, I'll call you" because that would mean that if said unforeseen events were to occur I would have to bend space and time in order to call and that might not be possible. Hence; maybe."
---------------------

So you see the dilemma: Literal Man hears Symbolic Girl's question literally and gives her an answer that is scientifically and statistically accurate. But Symbolic Girl hears this answer and tries to interpret what it says about Literal Man's feelings towards said request (and herself), taking into account his word choice, tone of voice, body language, time of day, and wardrobe.

Recommendations:
Symbolic Girl: Ask all questions in the form of yes/no or multiple choice. Be specific. Leave as little room for (your own) interpretation as possible.
Literal Man: Keep in mind that when Symbolic Girl asks you amost any question, be it "Would you call me tonight?" or "How does this shirt look?" or "What time is it?" or "Do you enjoy knitting?" she is usually actually asking "Am I important to you?" Answer accordingly.

General update and further thoughts

General update:
I have a total of 28 weeks of class left before I (theoretically) graduate. How I do thesis research and coursework at the same time is a bit of a puzzle. I'm unrealistically proud of my 4.0 average, but prioritization may come into play during my last two classes and necessitate a B. Which is really counter to my uber-perfectionist-secretly-afraid-I'm-really-a-slacker personality. Hopefully I can pull it all off and also not drive David completely insane. Come December, I will have three, count them, three degrees to my name. Woo! Anyone know where I can get a business ethics related PhD? I keed, I keed. I think.

Further thoughts on the nature of leadership, ethics, and organizational culture:
Most organizations really don't know what they're doing. The things that the founders/leaders are comfortable with or uncomfortable with become conventions, and then they become unsurfaced cultural artifacts - rules of conduct that we generally pick up intuitively and then promptly forget. The problem is most people don't give a lot of thought to the fact that when they form an organization they're creating a mini-society in their own image. And all of our personalities are limited and flawed. So unless our founders and leaders are introspective enough to recognize this fact, some really strange, counterintuitive, and bizarre behaviors can become codified.

I recently finished what I hope proves to be my FINAL paper on my Former Place of Employment, and the most interesting thing I learned was how a really self-referential, self-reinforcing culture can blind people to physical, obvious truths. It's not just about how the culture effects the way you see things, it's about whether or not the cultural constraints allow you to see it at all. And in the case of my former place of work, the espoused (projected) internal culture was so strong, and so embedded, that as long as you can speak the jargon, wear the tee-shirt, and shake the super secret handshake, you can get away with pretty much anything. As you might imagine, this leaves room for some teensy little ethical problems. It means that crafty and unscrupulous people figure out how to work the system, and work it they do. Meanwhile the execs continue to comment on the openness and beauty that is their organization, even when evidence to the contrary has been formally presented to them by people they pay to do just that.

What is it in our makeup that allows us to put our faith in human systems that are by their nature flawed? Seriously. We're human, we're flawed. But we're always holding out for that nirvana-like place where we no longer have to think critically, question, or suspend judgment either way. I'm highly inquisitive by nature, but I do it, too. What gives?

Anyway, those are my Deep Thoughts of the Day. Enjoy.

For Posterity

I decided it was time to post links to some of my favorite blog entries (not mine). I post links to websites I like occasionally, but it seems like all the brilliance of the daily blogs gets lost after a while. Here are a few of my very favorites:

Scott Adams - The Things I Say
The Dilbert guy.

Go Fug Yourself - Evan Rachel Fug
The first entry of GFY that I ever read, and possibly the funniest. David thought I was having a seizure.

Blue Meany - This entry... well, it's kind of a big deal
Very funny lady who is currently serving in Iraq.

Eat My Blog - Zen and the Art of the Sober Drunk
Guide To Street-Preaching: Ministering to the Drunkard
Very funny guy I know, local stand-up

Okay, that was a great idea, but do you know how long it takes to dig through blogs you've been reading for two years to find your favorite posts? Note to self: bookmark them.

bonus blogging

I've been re-watching Joseph Campbell's The Power of Myth via Netflix. It's like church for me. If church was like this, I'd go every week. Campbell's ability to see the forms that project the shadows on the wall, his talent for finding the same metaphor in every culture and every era is amazing. And what has been interesting about watching this the second time around is how many of his themes and metaphors fit naturally into the issues that concern me the most in organizations and modern corporate life.

This set of interviews was done in the late 80s, and talks a lot about how Campbell was a big influence on George Lucas and the Star Wars (original) trilogy. He discusses how in western culture, dragons are metaphor for intellect without body connection - a state which results in unchecked greed and insatiable hunger. He also thinks that Darth Vader, a man who has almost completely disconnected from his body and the natural world in order to maintain power, is a metaphor for oppressive systems that dehumanize us.

While I think Campbell saw this as metaphor for oppressive governments, I think the corporation has become one such system. Though it's made up of people who are probably largely ethical and decent, we all get paid to work for the profit of others, and the concerns of those "others" must transcend our own connection to what is natural and right for ourselves and those we love. I've struggled a great deal in the past year with the fact that what might be the ethical or loving thing to do in a personal relationship is often considered unprofessional in work relationships. Campbell's framing of the dragon or system as that which removes us from our bodies, and so removes us from our eros; our vital, living presence in our own existance, seems incredibly apropos of what the corporate system is doing to our humanity as a society. Why else does company after company, even the ones touted as the most ethical, get caught in governance and ethics scandals?

How can an organization that is structured to subjugate the needs and concerns of those who run it be anything other than dehumanizing, if that which makes us human is that which allows us to have compassion for ourselves and others?

post of normalness

This year is going very quickly, but not necessarily in a fun way. I'm in my second and final (we hope) year of grad school, and so far, it ain't easy. Which is good, I know, I'm paying a lot of money to be challenged, not coddled, but man, a little coddling goes a long way. My job is challenging, new stuff to learn and adapt to every week. The combination of the two is more than a little ass-kicking. I hope that through getting a lot of sleep, managing my time well, and judicious bitching I can just power through it all.

On the home front, I’m working on a partial re-design of the bedroom, pictures to come soon. I really enjoy doing home stuff, it’s nurturing and appeals to both my nesting tendencies and my need to be creative. I do feel like I’m missing out on my creative/artistic outlets with my current schedule of madness, but I think it’s to be expected. Somehow I’ll get back to the dancing/painting/singing/embroidery/creative writing/cooking when this grad school thing is over.

David and I have stuck with the yoga, which has been really beneficial for me. It’s nice to do together, our newly re-done living room is very well adapted to our practice, and it’s just plain good exercise. Rodney Yee kicks my ass.

David and I celebrated our three year anniversary at Hudson’s on the Bend last week. We had the Chef’s Tasting Menu, and my oh my was it good. Highly recommended.

Besides yoga, one of my only remaining outlets is cooking, and I’ve been using and adapting recipes from Cooking Light. Most of them are really good. If you go to the recipe and run a search on an ingredient, re-sort the results list by rating. I stick with the five-star recipes, and it pays to read a few of the reader comments to see if there are any consistent suggestions.

Ho-hum. Not much funny or introspective to say at the moment.

Things I Have Learned: Unsolicited Leadership Advice for Everybody

Thing #1: Get to know yourself really, really well

I am the kind of person who takes EVERYTHING personally. You could sneeze, and I would think that somehow my presence had caused dust eddies to be stirred up that would not have otherwise been there, which may lead you to have a sinus infection which will eventually cause you to die horribly of hemorrhaging. I can blame myself for totally unrelated, incongruous events. But as an occasional teacher, and as a brand-spanking new manager, I know that the behavior of the people I have some small amount of power over is NOT an indication of my qualifications or basic intelligence. It can, however, be a reflection of my level of competence with and/or comfort level in whatever area I am providing leadership. If one of my students or employees is giving me a hard time, then it might be an issue they're having, but if several of them are unhappy or unproductive guess what? I am bound to be at least partially responsible.

This leader thing is relatively new for me. I have been in the follower position far more in my life thus far. And when I have felt victimized, belittled, abused, intimidated, or even just challenged by a boss or teacher, I have spent a goodly amount of energy trying to tease apart the dynamic and understand what part of my (generally disproportionate) negative reaction is my own crap, and how much of that crap belongs to someone else. It's rarely an all or nothing proposition, folks. So while I continue to be on the neurotic and hypersensitive side, I also have a pretty clear picture of a number of my strengths and weaknesses. Now when I have to deal with an authority figure who doesn't seem to have their shit together, I can keep it in slightly better perspective.

But here's the thing I know from having been in the down position for most of my life (and seems really obvious to me as a newbie leader):

Thing #2:
If you are in a position of relative power over someone else DO NOT take their perceived failures or inadequacies personally.

This is very important. If you take your students' or employees' or children's weaknesses personally this means that you feel (usually unconsciously) that their poor performance is a reflection on you and will make you look bad to your superiors or peers, then you will probably blame your employees or students or children for your own sense of inadequacy. You will then be likely to behave in a way that is less than objective when giving feedback or criticism. In short, your negative emotions will inhibit your ability to do your job, which is to support, help and teach the people you're serving as a leader or teacher or parent.

Let's have an example, shall we?
My last voice teacher was amazingly talented. His singers had substantial careers and my technique improved significantly during the two years I studied with him. But he wasn't objective. When I had a big performance or audition coming up, he would start to freak out. I could almost see the thought bubbles over his head, "What if she gives a bad audition, and the judges know she studies with me, and everyone thinks I'm losing my edge and taking on poor students?" So he would go from a demanding but nurturing and supportive teacher, to an abusive, autocratic bastard. He would make disparaging comments, force me to repeat passages over and over again (screaming out a high C ten times in a row generally does not make it get any better, trust me). My favorite comment ever came during one especially grueling sessions. He said, "It's really a testament to my teaching that I can work with a problem voice like yours."

Yeah, he really said that.

I had to explain to him gently (yelling is gentle, right?) that that type of comment made me feel hopelessly inadequate, and did not motivate me to do anything except perhaps throw my metal music stand at his head and leave. And it did not make me sing better. He told me he'd meant it as a compliment.

It's basic, folks. You discourage and degrade people, they give up or they have less energy and less hope. None of those things make people productive, competent, or successful. Don't do it. You can tell me about tough love, about pushing people to excel, but tough love is not abuse. Humiliating or denigrating people does not make them better performers or humans, it just makes you an abusive bastard.

Thing #3
Forgive yourself for being an abusive bastard, and move on.

If you have power, you will inevitably abuse it at some point. It will probably be unintentional, and it will hopefully be minor. So if you realize that you've been attacking an employee or student because you're secretly afraid that they're going to make you look bad, or your son's habit of shuffling around with his shoes untied makes you feel like a bad parent and you're a little too hard on the kid, recognize your own flaws, make amends, breathe deeply, and move the fuck on.

I see light

As of today, I'm feeling much less submerged. I got through my horrendous annual report analysis project with a respectable grade, no less. I would have just settled for "done". Starting to find my groove at work, learning how to communicate and respond in a very, very different environment than I'm used to. Michelann does not like it when she cannot control her environment, other's perceptions of her, and her own sense of inadequacy. All those things that you just really can't control. Of course, the best way to deal with it would be to GET OVER IT, as my boyfriend has lovingly suggested on several occasions, but I prefer to stress out, cry, feel bad, mope, talk about it far to much, and then get over it. And then find something else to stress out about. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Remember the pictures I posted of the house a few weeks ago? Of course you do. Well, now we're featured on our designer's website:

http://www.roomfu.com/gallery83.html

Great pictures, no? It's a very nice room to hang out in. Next on the agenda is the bedroom. It's going to be hot pink with purple stripes. Just kidding, David. Oh, wait, David never reads my blog. It really is going to be hot pink, shhh, don't tell him!

One of the unintended outcomes of my finance class, is my sudden realization of my total financial incompetence. From understanding basic terms, to having the first clue about investment and retirement savings, I have been operating at about a 5th grade level. Except I thought I was a fairly financially savvy adult. I was wrong, so wrong.

I have to spend the weekend writing a research paper for my class, which seems like a happy vacation after the last project. Actual prose! No ratios! Comprehension of what I'm writing! After class, we're all going drinking. Amen.

I'm a Busy Bee

My life has changed pretty dramatically in the last month or so. My new job is good, but challenging and very, very different. I go to meetings, and we talk about things. Actual things. No posturing, no circular conversations about something completely different than what is being discussed. Actual problem-solving. This is a good thing, but it also calls into sharp relief how comfortable I was with my rapidly atrophying brain in my last work situation.

Add to that the first class at school that has thoroughly kicked my ass. Not that the other classes weren't challenging, they were. But I've recently been reminded of the difference between a challenge and a struggle. This is no fault of my own or anyone else, the class is good, the material is good, the teacher is good. When it comes to most academic learning, I tend to work hard, but hit kind of a groove where I know I'm working with most of my mental capacity. When it comes to finance, it's an incredibly uphill battle.

This is great stuff to know, but I feel completely illiterate, and as if I have no talent for understanding it at all. Which I probably don't. Doesn't mean I can't learn some of it, but this is definitely not a "follow your bliss" type of topic for me. It's more like a "trudge unwillingly after your degree requirements" type of topic. I feel like I've worked harder and actually learned less than in any class so far. In reality, I have probably learned a great deal, but it's kind of like someone telling me I don't know how to read English at age 35. A wee bit disheartening. In 3-6 months I will have a much better idea of what I learned and will feel the beginnings of comfort with the topic, but seven weeks is never enough, even when I have an affinity for the subject.

Winter in Austin (all two months of it) seemed really cold, mostly because I'm a wimp. But it's in the low 80s this week, so it should be full-on spring by March 1.

In other news, two of my long-time girlfriends gave birth to baby girls halfway across the world from each other at approximately the same time. I get to meet one of them in a few weeks.

I hope all my millions of readers are having a prosperous and happy year so far. I'll write more when I find where I stashed my clever.

Desk Food, Part the First

I'm going to start reviewing portable food for those of us who often eat at our desks and want tasty, reasonably healthy food. These items will fall into three categories: meals, snacks, and sweets. I'm not going to focus on price since it's almost always going to be less than going out, and probably healthier too.

I've become a big fan of Amy's frozen meals. You have to take a good look at the nutrition information, as some of the more traditional selections can be pretty high-fat. But they offer a large selection of meals that come in around 10 grams of fat and 400 calories or less. Here are a few that I've tried:

Indian Mater Tofu - This dish includes a variation on mater paneer, a curry with peas and soft, mild cheese chunks. In this version, tofu is substituted for the paneer, and it's quite tasty. It also comes with a nicely flavored rice and a yellow dahl. It's filling and tasty, and at 8 grams of fat and 280 calories, makes quite a nice, healthful lunch option. Most of Amy's other Indian meals are quite good, I also like the Palak (spinach) paneer. The Vegetable Korma is a bit bland.

I'm not a big fan of brown rice, but Amy's Teriyaki Bowl is quite nice. Perfectly cooked vegetables, tofu and a flavorful sauce balances the heaviness of the rice flavor, and this is also one of the healthiest options at 4.5 grams of fat and 290 calories. Other bowls I enjoy include the Santa Fe Enchilada Bowl and the Ravioli Bowl.

Redesign!

David and I have been re-doing several rooms in the house for the last few months. We hired my friend Robin to consult on colors and do a design plan for the living room, and we finally finished it yesterday. I took a few pictures - I'm a crap photographer, hopefully Robin will take some good ones and put them up on her website. In the meantime, here's some eye candy for you.

In other news, I have a really crappy cough. The only thing that seems to be working for it is a homeopathic remedy I found online. Apple cider vinegar simmered with cayenne pepper and honey, diluted with a litte water. Tastes foul, but can render me cough free for an hour or two. I probably smell like a salad.

My new job is great. Tons to learn, I am not going to lack challenges in this position. School starts on Weds, and thus begins the ball-buster year that is 2007. Wish me luck.

Austin Food Bytes Archive, 4

I'm adding my unpublished Austin Food Bytes articles back up for posterity, as I no longer work for the place that published them. Enjoy!

Austin Food Bytes
A Weekly Column on Eating and Cooking in Austin
By Michelann Oster

This week we're featuring a new column on what makes Austin a great town for food shopping, cooking and eating. Each week we'll spotlight a restaurant, store, event or recipe. If you're new to the Austin area you'll glean information on where to get the best grub, and if you're a long-timer you might learn something new!

Sandwiches with a Twist

Some of us already know and love Vietnamese food, while others relegate it to the “exotic foods” category, and stick to their BBQ and Tex-Mex. If you're famililiar with Vietnamese food, you probably think of “pho” -- savory soup with rice noodles, thinly sliced beef, and a variety of garnishes from fresh basil to sliced jalapeños. If you're more adventurous, you might like “bun” -- a big bowl layered with lettuce and cucumbers, rice noodles, and grilled pork, shrimp or egg rolls. These are standards available at most of the fine Vietnamese restaurants in town. But when you think about having Vietnamese food for lunch, do you think of BBQ sandwiches?

Vietnamese sandwiches, or Bahn Mi, are made with French bread rolls, fresh vegetables, and grilled meat -- usually pork. My favorite Bahn Mi is at Tam Deli and Café on north Lamar. Just a quick hop down 183 gets you there -- call ahead if you're in a rush and would like your meal to-go.

Tam Deli's Bahn Mi consists of a warm French roll, perfectly cooked BBQ pork, julienned pickled cucumber, carrot and jalapeños, cilantro and mayo. It's a simple, filling, and most importantly an inexpensive ($3.50) lunch. And if you need a little pick-me up to get you through the rest afternoon, get some Vietnamese iced coffee to go with it. Espresso-style coffee is mixed with sweetened-condensed milk over ice. This highly concentrated combination of caffeine and sugar guarantees that you should be able to peel yourself off the ceiling right around quittin' time.

Whether your tastes are traditional or adventurous, give these sandwiches a try. You won't be disappointed!

Tam Deli and Cafe
8222 North Lamar, 834-6458
Wed-Mon, 10am-8pm

Ba Le Vietnamese Bakery and Deli
8624 N. Lamar, 491-9188

Austin Food Bytes Archive, 3

Austin Food Bytes
The International Soup Tour of Austin

Leaves are changing, mornings are chilly, and summer seems to be long gone. I love fall, I love being able to wear my sweaters for the two months of cool weather in Austin , but I don't love head colds. Yet they seem to be a fact for me and many other this time of year. Still, one way I endure my yearly bout with congestion is through the ingestion of a great many soups. I'm not talking about Campbell 's Chicken noodle, I'm talking the variety of savory and spicy soups that can be found all over Austin.

Asian Soups

As you may have guessed from my first column, I'm a huge fan of Asian food. I mentioned pho last week - it's a clear broth, rice noodles, and thinly sliced beef with a variety of herbs, chilies and veggies on the side as garnish. When I have a head cold, I take full advantage of the jalapeños. Be warned, too many of these floating in your soup can render it inedible, so add them gradually until you find the right amount. I like Tam Deli (featured last week) for pho, I also like Triumph Café on Spicewood Springs.

Another great Asian soup is the “Just Wonton” soup from Noodle-ism on 5th street . “Just Wonton” is a little joke -- this soup has pretty much everything in it. It contains lots of wontons, chicken, beef, shrimp, veggies, and a whole lot of garlic and chili. Ask for the spice paste on the side, and adjust as necessary. The broth is slightly salty, but the garlic and spice give it a lot of extra body. I love this soup on cold evenings.

When I lived in San Francisco Thai food was all the rage, and I got seriously addicted to it. A staple at most Thai restaurants is Tom Ka Gai. It's a lemongrass and coconut milk soup with chicken and mushrooms. It's tart and slightly creamy, and often quite spicy with strong ginger accents. I like the Tom Ka Gai at Thai Kitchen on Guadalupe.

If you'd like something healthy and savory but not so spicy, try a bowl of udon. Udon noodles are thick wheat noodles, and the broth is usually chicken based, or sometimes dashi, a broth made from kelp and fish flakes. If you've ever had miso soup, dashi is the broth sans the miso (the cloudy stuff). The udon at Wiki Wiki Teriaki is healthy and delicious, and you can have it with your choice of tofu, chicken, shrimp, beef or shrimp tempura.

Mexican Soups

The two types of this soup I'm most familiar with are Tortilla Soup and Posole. They're both available several places, and each restaurant has it's own take on them.

For posole, I go to Taqueria Arandas. They have posole on the weekends. It's a spicy broth with chunks of juicy roasted pork and hominy - large, soft corn kernels. It's usually served with a side of tortillas -- corn, flour or crispy tostada, and shredded lettuce, lime wedges and chopped onions.

For a fancier, spicier and more New Mexico style of posole, try South Congress Café. Their posole is very dark and rich, and has a stew-like texture. Be warned, it's very, very peppery.

Tortilla soup is usually a kicked up version of them more traditional chicken soup. It can have vegetables or not, cheese or not, and usually includes some tomatoes. Curra's has a great tortilla soup that features lots of vegetables and a whole roasted chipotle pepper. You can adjust the spiciness level by smashing it into the soup a little or a lot.

For a tasty and fast tortilla soup, pick some up in the Café on the Run section of Central Market. It's flavorful, basic, and they don't stint on the chicken. They also have a special soup they only carry occasionally called Chicken Guajillo. It's kind of like the tortilla soup but without the tortilla. It's very rich, very spicy, has a distinct red chili flavor. I like to add my own tortilla chips and a little cheese for a very kicked up version of tortilla soup.

Taqueria Arandas #3
6534 Burnet
452-9886
Austin 78757
Hours: Daily, 7am- midnight, No credit cards at numbers 1 and 4

CURRA'S GRILL
6801 Burnet Rd.
451-2560
Austin 78757
Hours: Sun-Sat, 9am-10pm

614 E. Oltorf
444-0012
Austin 78704
Hours: Sunday-Thursday, 7am-10pm; Friday-Saturday, 7am-11pm

CENTRAL MARKET
4001 N. Lamar
206-1000
Austin 78756
Hours: Daily, 9am-9pm

4477 S. Lamar
899-4300
Austin 78745
Hours: Daily 9am-9pm

SOUTH CONGRESS CAFE
1600 S. Congress
447-3905
Austin 78704
Hours: Brunch Daily, 10am-4pm; Dinner 5-10pm Daily

TRIUMPH CAFE
3808 Spicewood Springs
343-1875
Austin 78759
Hours: Mon-Thu, 7am-7pm; Fri, 7am-11pm, Sat, 8am-11pm

NOODLE-ISM
107 W. Fifth
275-9988
Austin 78701
Hours: Mon-Thur, 11am-10pm; Fri, 11am-11pm;
Sat, 12pm-11pm; Sun, 12-9pm

Wiki-Wiki Teriyaki
Arboretum
10000 Research Blvd. # 139 Austin, TX 78759
Mon -- Sat 11:00 AM -- 9:00 PM

Thai Kitchen
3009 Guadalupe
474-2575
Austin 78705
Hours: Sun, Noon-12am; Mon-Thu, 11am-12am; Fri, 11am-2am; Sat, Noon-2am

Austin Food Bytes Archive, 2

Austin Food Bytes
Coffee: You can sleep when you're dead.

Americans love their coffee. Austinites love it even more. This week, I'm featuring three of my favorite java-stops in north-central Austin .

Austin is choc-full of coffee houses, and I don't mean the Starbucks on every other corner, or the Seattle 's Best, or even Peets (RIP). There are a plethora of locally-owned cafes that do brisk business and have a dedicated clientèle. To me a good coffee house needs to have more than just coffee -- it needs atmosphere and individuality. Good food doesn't hurt either. These are just a few of my favorites:

Flightpath Coffeehouse
5011 Duval St
Austin , TX 78751
(512) 458-4472
Mon-Fri 8am-12pm;
Sat-Sun 8:30am-12am ;

Flightpath is one of my favorite places to curl up in a comfy chair with a cup of coffee and a good book. Located on Duval street at 51 st, it's spacious on the inside with a variety of seating, and has a patio as well. They provide free wireless, and it's a favorite grad-student hangout, laptops abound. The walls are painted a lemony-yellow and often feature local artists. They have a few snacks, a variety of juices, beer and wine, and the normal array of coffee and espresso drinks. They also have a frozen blended coffee that kicks the frappucino's ass. It's called the Carrollton , and it's made with New-Orleans style chicory coffee. The perfect blend of caffeine and sugar, it tastes like the light version of an espresso-vanilla shake.

Pacha Coffee House
4618 Burnet Rd.
Austin , TX 78756
512-420-8758
Mon-Thu 7-7, Fri 7-9, Sat-Sun 8-7

Known mostly to Allendale locals, Pacha Coffee House on Burnet (just north of 45 th) is a lovely little gem. The interior is decorated in a South American style, and features imports from the region for sale. They have a great food menu, featuring locally made tamales, empanadas, muffins and scones, and other house made items like pasta salads, soups, and quiche. The food is always fresh and tasty, and the coffee is excellent. I especially like the rich and spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate. Pacha has a small back patio with four tables where you can sit if you have a canine friend with you. Pacha kindly provides a water station for it's four legged patrons.

La Dolce Vita
4222 Duval St
Austin , TX 78751
9-12 Everyday
Happy hour 4-7

For a swankier, more continental coffee experience, try La Dolce Vita on Duval, a few blocks south of Flightpath. While essentially a coffee house, La Dolce Vita features house-made gelati (Italian-style ice cream), sorbetti, pastries, and a full bar with one of the best liqueur selections in town. The inside has tightly packed, candle-lit tables, there's a more expansive patio in the front and to the left of the café. If you're feeling especially decadent, try your gelato Legato style - drenched in a shot of the liqueur of your choice. One of my favorite touches, you get a tasty little almond biscotto with your coffee. La Dolce Vita is a great place to wrap up your evening after a fancy dinner out or a trip to the theater.

So, next time you need a quiet moment alone with your coffee, eschew the chains and try some local joe.

Austin Food Bytes Archive, 1

Austin Food Bytes
"All things in moderation, including moderation"

No one likes to diet during the holidays. My department abounds with goodies, it seems as if there's at least one party every weekend, and then comes the actual holidays. Who wants to miss out on all that good grub?

Still, sooner or later, we have to pay the piper, and I prefer to pay him now rather than when my clothes suddenly don't fit in January. It's far easier to eat salads and other fresh fruits and vegetables when the weather is balmy. Hot, rich foods are far more tempting when the weather starts to cool. But there are lots of healthy alternatives to normal cold-weather fare, making it less calorically costly to indulge when the indulging is good. Here are my favorite calorie crunching comfort foods:

Don't neglect the grill
I know it's a nippy 50 degrees outside, but don't let your grill gather dust during the off-season. Don a sweater and brave the chill, or get a plug-in indoor grill or stovetop grill and stay inside.

Quick and easy grilling can save you time and carbs. Central Market has a wide selection of pre-marinated skinless-boneless chicken breasts and pork tenderloin, both of which have low fat content. To really control what goes into it, use a dry rub instead of a marinade and serve with your choice of sauce or garnish. Most BBQ sauce is fat free.

Central Market also has some lovely pre-marinated fish -- I really enjoy the salmon and catfish. You might consider skipping the rice or potatoes some nights and just serving your main course with a steamed veggie, garnished with some lemon or orange juice and a little salt and pepper. Or, you could roast a couple of sweet potatoes which are much higher in nutrients than regular potatoes.

If you're craving that cheeseburger, try some grilled chicken instead. North By Northwest not only has some of the best burgers in town, they have a couple awesome chicken sandwiches. If you have the willpower, you can opt for a side salad instead of fries. NXNW also has a pizza topped with a spring green salad and smoked salmon. Garnished with capers and a little goat cheese, it's flavorful and filling, and significantly healthier than your average pizza.

Both Zen Japanese Food and Wiki-Wiki Teriyaki have teriyaki bowls of excellent quality. Your have your choice of grilled meat, vegetables and rice. At Zen, you can choose brown rice, white rice, or udon noodles for your teriyaki bowl. Brown rice is much lower in carbs and higher in fiber and nutrients than white rice. I'm not usually a fan, but the flavor of the sauce is strong enough that I actually prefer the brown rice at Zen.

Tex-Mex Lite:
Tacos can be surprisingly light and awfully tasty. Taco Deli, just up the road, has some great combinations. The grilled fish tacos are delicious and cheese-free. The vegetarian options are also quite nice. Most of the authentic taquerias in town, including Arandas and Taqueria Vallarta Jalisco have a good selection of grilled-meat tacos you can order with tasty dressings such as lettuce and tomatoes or chopped onions with cilantro. Add a little salsa, and you've got a spicy, healthy, quick meal. For extra caloric savings request corn tortillas instead of flour, and avoid the cheese.

Soups
See my previous article “"The Soup Tour of Austin"”

By making a few, not too painful adjustments when you're not in the midst of holiday festivities can help make your holiday enjoyable and healthy.

Further Adventures of Cone-Dog

Simon loves to play with/chew/bury and unbury rawhide bones. With the cone, this presents all sorts of new possibilities. The whole point of the cone is to keep him from being able to reach his front foot with his mouth. So grabbing things involves positioning them in such a way that they are sandwiched between the cone and the floor. When he tried to playfully grab his grungy rawhide bone this evening, he ended up chasing it all over the living room - every time he grabbed for it, the cone would push it underneath him or away from him. He did eventually manage to secure it, but as soon as he dropped it, it started all over again. David learned an interesting trick - place the bone inside the cone, but as far to the side as possible and watch Simon manuver his head around until he can reach it. Tomorrow I'm going to try it with doggie treats.

One moment of sadness, sometimes his ears itch, and he can't reach them, so he scrabbles his paws helplessly against the cone. I try to scratch his ears whenever I remember.

In general Simon's spirits are much improved, and the paw is improving, though I think it will need a few more days before Simon can be cone-free.

The Sad Saga of Simon

Don't you love alliteration?

Simon has been through some trauma lately, and as a result he's confined to a cervical collar, or head-cone for a week. It's very sad, but the comedic potential is endless.

Tonight I took Simon for a walk for the first time since the advent of the cone. Normally he gets really excited and grabs the leash in his mouth and pulls me towards the door. This time he was forced to jump up in the air in order to grab the leash through the cone, but missed repeatedly. On the walk, he ran into trees and bushes with his cone when he'd try to sniff them before marking. Around the house he usually follows at my feet, occasionally nudging me with his nose. Now I know he's there when I'm gouged repeatedly in the calf by the sharp plastic edge. It's kind of like having a little plastic robot dog, like in the original Battlestar Galactica. Simon usually curls up in the corner right outside our bedroom after we go to bed. Last night he kept slamming into the wall and whimpering.

Light a candle for my brave little dog, and maybe I'll post more pictures

Belize Wrap-up

So we're back from Belize, after the harrowing couple of days described in the last post. Much relaxation was had, I even had my first hot rock massage. When I told David this, he envisioned people hitting me with hot, jagged rocks. Actually, I didn't know what to expect, but it turns out they use the (very smooth) warm rocks as massage tools during your massage. It's very, very nice.

This guy is future Ceviche, he just doesn't know it yet. Ceviche is the national dish of Belize, I think. Every restaurant had it, and it was usually the cheapest thing on the menu. Every place's ceviche was different, but they were all really good. I'm pretty much spoiled on fresh fish now.

This is the front of our modest hotel, Corona Del Mar. It was adequate, though in the tropics you rarely get the amenities of a Motel 6 at the more pricey places. I was in shock in our $50 Amerisuites room in Dallas. Shampoo! Kleenex! Wireless Router! Couch! These would have been luxuries indeed in our small room. We were hoping to do yoga while we were there, but there was too little floor space for one, let alone both of us. Still, the staff was very nice, and there were no hidden charges, so they get a thumbs up. Word to the wise however, don't get the dive package from them, they book with the worst dive operation on the island. Use Ecological Diving. We found out too late.

Here's the view from the Hotel's private wharf. I spent a lot of time on it in a hammock. One of the nice things about San Pedro, most of the tours/dive boats/water taxis will pick you up from the dock of your hotel (eventually). The view was very lovely, and there was usually a nice breeze.





Here is me in not anything resembling my natural habitat. Notice the look of panic and the awkwardly splayed fins. We took an all day sailing and snorkeling trip on Thursday. I am fairly useless in the water, but David was kind enough to tow me along when I couldn't keep up, or swim in the right direction, or see because my mask kept filling up. Still, I saw a lot of really cool fish and a couple of rays, and that was pretty fun. We swam (and I use the term loosely - I floundered, David towed) through an alley between two coral reefs, and it was teeming with life, and I don't just mean the 200 snorkelers.All in all, I'm glad I semi-conquered my fear enough to do some snorkeling, it was very cool.





I'm running out of witty commentary, so it's mostly going to be pictures from here on out. Here's a ray David photographed.












David got to spend some time in an octopus' garden on his night dive.







Huge school of fish, photographed by David. David took all the underwater pictures, as I was too busy clinging to my floaty thing for dear life and swallowing sea water.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for my next piece, an expose on a growing international problem, bad punctuation and how you can help stop it before it's too late.

Travel Hell

I'm back from Belize, but before I continue with travel accounts and photos, let me say a not so brief word about the Ass that is American Airlines.

David and I ended up being two of those poor bastards stranded by the closure of DFW due to a rainstorm. Our itinerary was as follows:

12/29
12pm Leave hotel via taxi and go to tiny airport in San Pedro to take tiny plane.
1pm Tiny plane ride to Belize City
1-5 pm Wait for plane (scheduled 4:15) to Dallas Fort Worth
5-9 pm Fly to Dallas, circle Dallas for 1.5 hours, miss flight to Austin which was cancelled anyway
9-10:30pm Immigration, Customs, and a huge ass line to be told that we couldn't be rescheduled until 9:45 the next morning, and that they wouldn't pay for a hotel, but they could book one.
11:30pm Arrive at hotel (David went to sleep, I did a load of laundry and then dreamt that I couldn't sleep all night, woke up at 5:30am on...

12/30
6:30am Taxi back to DFW
6:45-10:15 Waited in a huge fucking line to check our bags back in, because the morons who booked us on the flight the night before didn't un-check our bags. Don't ask.
10:15-12:30 Waited for our flight to Austin (scheduled for 9:45) to leave - it was grounded because the flight crew was delayed
1:15pm-2:30 Waited at the luggage carousel in Austin for our bags to arrive. They sent about 5 down at at time.
3:00 Got home, collapsed.

I figured we spent about 8 hours standing in lines over the last day and a half. American Airlines sucks beyond the telling of it. They were understaffed, under prepared, and largely unhelpful. I overheard a few employees talking, and they were pretty much as disgruntled as the passengers. I tell you, they are not at the top of my list of companies to work for, own stock in, or ever frequent again, if at all possible. I could add my complaint to the hundreds or thousands lodged in the last month, but the ineptitude and lack of accountability seems to be epidemic throughout the company, and as my studies in leadership over the past year have shown, probably starts at the top.

The frustration level of the crowds waiting in endless lines was palpable, even when I wasn't consumed by my own. AA didn't make announcements or give much personal attention to the people waiting, but security guards walked up and down, presumably for crowd control.

Honestly, it's hard to write anything witty or even biting about this experience, it was so exhausting and irritating. I'm just thankful that David and I are home safe, and so is our luggage.

Next time, I'm renting a car in Dallas and driving the fuck home.

Blogging on Boxing Day in Belize (with pictures!)

Yes, I am officially an Internet Weenie. I'm sitting in another (sweltering) internet cafe, blogging away. But this time, dear readers, you get pictures as well!

Turns out our hotel has wireless, but it's bloody slow. Bloody slow is the best way to describe most services on this island. Things do not happen at New York City kind of speed. I know, we're on vacation, but waiting 1.5 hours for your damn food when your starving starts to bug. I'll say no more.

Just kidding.

Here we have a picture of the species Davidus Quimbius in his native habitat. As you can see by his protruding eye sockets, he is naturally adapted to his environs.

David has been having a nice time diving, though the morons who run his diving company "forgot" to pick him up yesterday morning. Such is the disadvantage of not staying at a tidy, American-run dive resort. The advantages are making more of a contribution to the island's economy, being able to eat a variety of food, and not having our passports confiscated at the door. Less convenience, but also less Big Brother.

David took a picture of me snorkeling but I refuse to publish it, or allow all those stupid ones and zeros to remain in existence. Not. Pretty. Also, I suck at snorkeling, and the water continues to be murky. I've found my niche in wandering into town, buying stuff for people (yes, you), and falling asleep in hammocks while reading. Not a bad way to spend a week. We're doing an all day snorkeling/sailing thing on Thursday, our last full day here, so that should be fun, if I remember to take Dramamine and we don't go too fast.
All the pictures in this lot are underwater, but stay tuned, I'm planning a photo-journalistic expose for tomorrow.

Yes, that's a shark.

Having a million cable channels in our hotel room has not proved to be helpful in keeping me outside, but what is vacation for if not slacking? I'm just slacking on my slacking, is all.

We've had a couple good meals. Lobster is prevalent and good, though expensive. My mom asked what the food was like at Capricorn, so I'll try to remember. Let's see, abject boating terror, two shots of tequila.. I think I had fish of some kind. We had a spicy but soupy ceviche that was pretty nice. There's sort of pseudo-Mexican food here, but none of it has been that great so far. Honestly, I totally can't remember what I had for dinner, other than it was fish-based and tasty. We had rum-soaked chocolate cake with a candle in it for dessert - the waitstaff sang to me and had to hold a hurricane lamp around the candle so the wind wouldn't blow it out for me. Then the terror filled ride back. Did I mention I'm not a boat person?

This is a cool sponge of some kind.

I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday and staying warm and malaria-free, like us.

Love,
Michelann