My kind of 4th

Those of you who’ve read the blog for any length of time know I love birthdays.  I share a (nearly) half birthday with the United States and enjoy celebrating this event in my own special way.  Today’s blog post will take a look at those everyday events in my life that I believe truly celebrate America (not Canada – I like those folks, but they had their day on Friday).

Before we start, I just want to point out that I’m not a fan of fireworks.  When my kids were little, their Dad would drag them off to a fireworks display through which the girl would scream and the boy would either cry or hide while Mom had a peaceful hour at home.  These days the girl takes in KaboomFest in Red Bank … and I’m not quite sure what the boy is doing but that’s nothing out of the ordinary.  I never understood the appeal of fake explosions; if I want fake explosions I’ll watch a Bruce Willis movie in the comfort of my own home.

That brings me to my first way to celebrate America: watch either a Tom Hanks or Bruce Willis movie. You’ll cover every film genre with those two actors with the exception of unintelligible French films and brooding, snowy Scandinavian flicks which aren’t very American anyway.  Watch Forest Gump and you get a nice not quite accurate retelling of modern U.S. history, and take in Saving Private Ryan for some serious patriotism.  Watch any Tom Hanks / Meg Ryan flick and you’ll get this American woman’s ideal romance.  Watch any Die Hard movie and you see Eurotrash given their due and a helicopter killed by a car.  I always feel a bit sorry to see Alan Rickman fall off Nokatomi Tower but hey, he’s a Brit, and today’s our day!  After all, we finally have a president that combines the best of both American actors: Obama kicks ass but is quite the loving husband and family man (and knows who’s really in charge in that household).

Now to the second way to celebrate America’s birthday: Eat a lot, preferably prepared with real fire.  As a vegan, I tend to pass on the fire but did provide a few 4th of July BBQ recipes this week over on @jerseygirlcook‘s blog.  I may not kill my holiday dinner but trust me, I can pack just as much fat into a meal as any omnivore in the 48 contiguous states.  (OK, maybe not Georgia – I think Paula Deen beats my fat content every time.)

Americans like any excuse to eat to excess, and our birthday is no exception. Maybe you can get @shoreflicks to set up his outdoor movie screen at your BBQ so you can combine my first AND second way to celebrate the holiday!  Imagine the taste of that favorite summer dish enjoyed while watching Bonfire of the Vanities, a story replete with Wall Street avarice, tabloid journalism, and opportunistic politics … Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, and everything that makes America great! (I know, it’s R rated, but we don’t do little children at my BBQs.)

To prepare to dine in excess, you should try my third way to celebrate this holiday: visit Walmart!  I know, I too avoided the King of box retailers for years, but recently discovered an incredibly awesome remodeled version not far from my home.  Used to be Target was the kid whose white shirts were still white at dinner time and Walmart was the kid that ate dirt.  Not any more!  My Walmart beats my supermarket prices on just about anything but fresh produce and has everything bread to boot (if Italian bread and an everything bagel had a baby…).  Also, if you need a tshirt to get into the holiday spirit, Walmart kindly uses “American” sizing, i.e. a Large in any other remotely reasonable store is at most Medium here.  You’ll feel so much better about stuffing yourself if you can still fit into that tshirt the day after!

Finally, let’s face it, Americans like to celebrate with liquor.  [Now those of you under the age of 21, look away while the grownups do grown up things.]  As @mswas would say, the obvious choice is beer, but not for me. @sfadem recently treated me to sushi at Klein’s in Belmar (no relation to Ron) and when I ordered a glass of sangria, the server surprisingly asked “red or white?” I was thrilled – a dining establishment that finally gets that white sangria is just as good as red and better in the summer! Alas, it turned out he asked not because Klein’s serves white sangria but because his girlfriend prefers it.  So at your 4th of July revelry, don’t be like Klein’s; try my recipe for white wine sangria and pleasantly surprise your guests!

White Wine Sangria

1 bottle white wine (well, you might as well get 2, it’s a holiday!)

1/4 limoncello liquer (I know, it’s Italian, but this IS Jersey)

1/4 orange juice

1/8 cup lemon juice

1/4 white grape juice

1/2 cup vodka

1 cup halved purple seedless grapes

1 lemon sliced then cut the slices in half

1 orange cut into slices then cut the slices in half

Put it all in a pitcher and chill.  You can add a little soda water but I tend to add either a splash of Fanta (because Fanta just says summer to me) or sparkling water for just a little bubbly.  Pour yourself a glass, grab a seat and a veggie burger on a plate from Walmart, sit back and enjoy an all American movie starring Tom, Bruce, or both!

A Backpack in Paris

I love serendipity, both the concept and the movie.  Within a 48 hour time span, I watched Up in the Air and Midnight in Paris for very different reasons.  The former I chose to watch with my 6 eCommerce students as their last assignment in an effort to put some of the pressure of graduating and going off to college in perspective.  The latter I was lucky enough to see for free with @sfadem because, when your daughter works at the movie theater, you get to see movies for free.  I’ve been a Woody Allen fan since the mid 70′s when it seemed like he released a movie a year.  We all know how he fell out of favor, and his Mia period never did much for me, but this European discovery tour he’s been on the past 5 years or so has been lovely.

The Cloooney film surprised me when I first saw it.  I heard the author of Up in the Air interviewed in NPR before the film’s release.  When the interviewer asked Walter Kim his opinion of the movie, he immediately stated that it was much different than the book but equally as good.  The film retained the inherent message of the novel, and the main character, played by George Clooney, immerses himself in business speak and motivational culture.  Less satirical than the book, the film explores a world where being fired is now called a “career transition” and the people and things we accumulate in life weigh down the metaphorical backpack we drag behind us as we move along, racing towards death.

Pretty apropos for college bound teenagers, huh? As I watched it for a third or fourth time, I recognized that the smooth and suspiciously handsome Clooney was perfectly cast as the character Ryan Bingham.  Ryan’s efficient and lightweight approach to life worked on the surface but lacked any meaning beyond traveling light and racking up those frequent flyer miles.

When Ryan takes the attendees of his motivational seminars through the backpack exercise – put all your stuff in and see how heavy the backpack is, then take it out only to put all the people in your life in there and see just how heavy that is – I initially imagined the relief of not carrying my house, cars, computers, and all the other crap I’ve accumulated in the almost 50 years I’ve been alive.  How bad would it be not to work to support things? Then of course when Ryan asks us to fill up the bag with friends and family, I realize how much effort I make to maintain those relationships and support my children.

Yet as the character attempts to connect with the people around him – his young colleague, his sisters, and another business traveller – we realize that an empty backpack isn’t as desirable as it initially appears.  Using real people who’ve been through layoffs in the most recent economic slump rather than actors to express their feelings about the experience throughout the film only underscored their statements at the end: each one of them keeps going not to pay the mortgage but for their husbands, wives, children, and family.

Their backpacks are full and they enjoy the pull of the straps on their shoulders; it’s what gets them up in the morning and puts a smile on their face when they walk in the door.

The afternoon after watching that movie I tweeted that Midnight in Paris was playing at the movie theater where @sfadem works.  She immediately responded with an invite to see it the next night.  I’d heard only good things about this film, and let’s face it, Owen Wilson in a Woody Allen movie? I just had to see that!  The English major in my also loved the idea of Allen’s portrayal of all those artists and expat writers from the 20s.  His movie The Front is one of my favorites, dealt with blacklisted writers in the 50s, and hey, who doesn’t like Paris?

I won’t give away too much of the plot since everyone reading this should go see it, but this film deals with similar issues. Wilson’s character Gil found success as a Hollywood screenwriter but wants to be a novelist. He’s engaged to Inez, a woman who’s obviously wrong for him.  At the start of the film, the couple run into American friends and start exploring Paris together.  This part of the film is a long riff on the scene in Annie Hall where a man in line to see a movie loudly expresses his opinion about a Fellini film and then Marshall McCluhan when oddly enough, Woody produces McCluhan to debunk the fatuous and pendantic opinion of that movie goer.  (You can find the scene here if you’re interested.)

As Gil becomes more immersed in the residents of 1920s Paris and tries to tell Inez that he’d rather give up all that material wealth in California to write in Paris, I recalled that backpack.  Facing marriage, Gil’s backpack could carry around those antique chairs from Paris that cost a whopping 18,000 Euros.  On the other hand, he could pack it with his manuscript, his experiences with Hemingway, Picasso, a delightful Dali, a frantic Zelda, and the lovely frenchwoman who runs the “nostalgia store”.

Ok, so maybe I gave a bit of the plot away there, but you get my point.  A good reminder for me that on their deathbed, no one wishes they spent another day at work, and adversity really does provide opportunity.  So, at this almost half year mark in 2011, recent (and to some extent past) experience prompts me to rethink where my efforts are best placed, and what I think my priorities should be.

I’m taking out what weighs me down and putting in what lifts me up! … and carrying the backpack through Paris again at some point would be perfect!

Everyday Vegan: Restaurant Plan B

Birthday parties can go either way, either fun and festive or dark and maudlin.  As we get older, the chance of the latter grows and the former may become forced or fueled more by drink than food.  When one of my favorite people and good friends, JVV, announced the date of her birthday fete this year, we all knew we’d go to Asbury.

Asbury’s become our first choice destination whether the night is planned or impromptu.  With more and more venues to choose from, how do you select the perfect place for large group of friends to spend a few hours relaxing and celebrating?  Some restaurants in the area have a specialized menu, others great locale, and a few entice with cheap drinks and bar fare.  When JVV ran into trouble finding a place that could seat and serve omnivores, vegans and those odd gluten free folks, she asked me to make a recommendation.

I chose Restaurant Plan B of course!

I discovered Plan B about two years ago when I organized the first AsburyPop event at Parlor Gallery just a few doors away.  Jeffrey Haveson, the owner, wandered into the gallery a few times when I was either planning the use of that space or freaking out that no one would show.  That Christmas, a group of teachers had a casual Christmas dinner there before one of our number went off on her (first) maternity leave.  I brought my parents there for brunch, my kids for buffet, and friends for dinner.  Last summer, Jeffrey turned the restaurant over to me and a good friend on the one day it’s closed so we could shoot scenes for our @projecttwenty1 film entry.

Restaurant Plan B has been good to me and came through once again for JVV!

“The food and atmosphere were excellent.  Jeffrey and the staff at Plan B did a great job of accommodating the needs of everyone in attendance at my party,” said JVV, the guest of honor.

The always delicious vegan options impressed diners once again.  I split the arugula salad sans cheese with another friend, thoroughly enjoyed the grilled curried tofu and cous cous, and relished my fruit crisp with vegan ice cream for dessert.  JVV enjoyed the Black Angus burger (always a favorite whenever I bring omnivore friends to dine), and the table was abuzz about the spaghetti squash, cranberry and cream cheese ravioli.  One diner even leaned over and asked me to see if the chef would share the recipe with us!

Another guest summed up the night for all of us:

“Plan B was the best overall experience I have had in a long, long time! The food was amazing, the atmosphere is homey chic, and the staff is amazingly friendly.”

letter.ly

I discovered letter.ly through @gwenbell.  I don’t subscribe to her letter.ly; this teacher can’t affort New York Times home delivery, so sadly Gwen’s posts aren’t in my budget. Intrigued, however, I investigated what exactly this service provided and pondered the benefits of my own account.

Writing is a passion, and I’ve come to accept that a subscription blog service in addition to this blog will meet the needs of both my readers and myself. With an easy signup interface for readers, letter.ly allows them to opt in for more in depth content.  One click publishing makes it easy for me to get my posts to a specific group of readers.  letter.ly also gives me the opportunity to see who reads my posts, the discussions they promote, and adapt my writing accordingly.

I’ve been asked for quite some time to provide specific ways to use social media in the classroom; that’s certainly one topic I’ll explore, and I won’t rule out providing actual lesson plans to teachers interested in adapting my approach to their classroom.  For those readers who enjoy my take on Pop Culture, deeper musings on books, TV shows, and movies will appear now and then.  Of course, general observations and suggestions regarding social media will make up the “meat” – or should I say “tofu” – of my letter.ly posts.

By now, you might be worried that this blog will cease to exist.  Don’t Panic!  I’ll still post about books, animation, exploring IPhone app development, my worries about NPR’s future, knitting successes and failures including the Summerhill Farm yarn project, politics (but not too much), and of course Everyday Vegan will still appear on Wednesdays.  So if you enjoy this blog, you won’t be left out, and if you’d like more, send me your email address via DM on Twitter, a message on Facebook, or to lgesin (at) lauragesin (dot) net.  letter.ly allows me to provide free subscriptions if I supply the email address (otherwise you must pay a fee); if you contact me in either of those three ways, I’m happy to give you free access!

Disclaimer: Current students cannot have access to letter.ly in the same way I don’t friend you on Facebook. Enjoy this blog and contact me when you graduate if you’re not sick of all I have to say by then!

Drama

My parents live in Plano, Texas, and each summer my mother, my daughter and I go to the community theater to see a play. We began when Sarah was in elementary school with selections like Cinderella. More recently, we enjoyed Footloose. During the intermission, my mother confessed to my daughter that she always thought Kevin Bacon had a great butt.  The tickets were dirt cheap, but the look on my daughter’s face was priceless!  Talk about the family drama when we returned to my parents house, and my daughter repeated what Grandma said to her Grandpa and brother.

This past year, we saw Dilemmas with Dinner, a play I later discovered is popular around the country with local theater. Set in the 1980s, the cast went all out with shoulder pads, lycra, big hair, and bow blouses. Requiring only one set, a combination living room/dining room complete with a Patrick Nagel painting, this easy to stage play kept the audience focused on the action.

Rising executive Brooke invites her boss to dinner to impress him and hilarity ensues.  Hilarity, that is for the audience. It’s a play of coincidences, awkward circumstances, obvious misunderstandings, and extreme mishaps that have the audience rolling in the aisles as the characters try to react to all the mayhem.  Fun for us, not so much fun for them.

Maybe that’s why we like this type of play.  Life is full of drama, and for most people who like to plan and know what to expect from the day when they wake up in the morning, living Brooke’s evening would be hell on earth.  We know just how she feels, and while we’re laughing at the antics on stage, some part of us is really happy it’s not us coming to realize that the night she thought would make her career is actually the one that ended it.

Drama in a play, movie or book is essential to enjoying the story.  Drama in real life is, for most people my age, less so. Maybe that’s why I enjoy going to the theater rather than living my life as a stage play.  I guess you could say prefer the role of Writer / Director in my own life story.

Birthday

Today’s my birthday so of course I think I should write a blog post about it.  This would work really well if my birthday were in, say, a month far removed from one with the birthday celebration of a major deity or a night spent imbibing the bubbly you bought after your daughter drank the champagne snow meter.  A month devoid of record breaking snowstorms and union rules that say you can’t take the day after school vacation off without a doctor’s note.  A month like, say, July.

I love July! It still holds the promise of summer without the overcooked excess of August.  I’d share my birthday with America because, as my sleepy students know when I yell at them to stand and “be citizens” every morning for the Pledge, I do love the USA.  My date with dark o’clock goes on hiatus; I can get up at noon if I want to and write code at 2 a.m. (really, the best time to write code for me).  Born in July, I’d be a Cancer not a Capricorn, a compassionate eccentric rather than workaholic adventurer.  In traditionally Gesin fashion, I could start the party on the Fourth of July at the shore, then fly down to Dallas for a family celebration.

You’d think at my age, this wouldn’t be such a big deal.  It is.  Birthdays are the only day that are yours, where everyone wishes you a good day, you can reflect on where you’ve been, and plan where you’re going. Presents aren’t bad either but these days food and wine tend to take precedence.

My kids are on vacation in the Caribbean for a week, I have to work on my birthday, and really, no one wants to head out to party on the Monday after the holidays.  Even my vegan birthday cake will have to wait! So my birthday will be delayed a bit, dinner on Wednesday with @mswas, family celebration next weekend, and a joint commisseration dinner with another January baby, @jmediamaven, later in the month.  I did say in an earlier post that I should value friends like Joanna more, and a dinner celebrating two fabulous January babies is a great way to start (ok, she’s not a Capricorn, but I forgive her … and really, two capricorns at one table is never a good thing).

So on my birthday, this workaholic adventurer will settle in for the long haul of teaching until Spring Break, plan her summer trip (more on that in another post), make herself dinner, enjoy some bubbly with no need to share, and look forward to the birthday celebrations to come in the next few weeks!