coffee break 2, originally uploaded by dorywithserifs.

I went to New Orleans in January, leading a Hillel group through Jewish Funds for Justice to work with Rebuilding Together.

What that means is that me, my rad co-leader Getzel, and 24 CUNY undergrads went to New Orleans and rebuilt some houses. We heard from speakers, took tours, wandered the city, held reflection sessions, and learned to use power saws and what “fireblocking” is.

I’m going back this week. New group of participants, new building project, same city. Same issues.

I’m reading Hell or High Water this week to get ready. It’s unpacking what we mean when we say that Hurricane Katrina was a racial disaster. The chapter I’m on now is about the history of disaster management and why FEMA was so unable to really respond. It will feel good to have more answers, and more things to discuss on this upcoming trip.

I have a new favourite: the Smitten Kitchen’s Broccoli Slaw. It’s a salad of broccoli and cranberries and almonds and red onions, with a dressing made out of buttermilk. As a devoted mayonnaise avoider I love the idea of slaw that is mayo-free. I’ve used the dressing on other things too, most recently quinoa salad (made while Zach was making chicken salad–we used all the same additional ingredients: celery, apples, pecans, cranberries, but diverged in our paths when it came to dressing. He opted for mayo and I balked and grabbed the buttermilk).

But buttermilk comes in one-litre containers and I don’t really need that much. So I’ve been making other things with buttermilk, including Lemon Poppyseed cake (taken from the Smitten Kitchen again, her lemon cake but with poppyseeds added–why would you ever make lemon cake WITHOUT poppyseeds?), and this morning, buttermilk pancakes from the joy of cooking.

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So while we’re talking about food, I want to highlight just how fascinated I am with Fed Up With School Lunch, the blog of an elementary school teacher who is eating the school lunches everyday. It’s very simple, usually a photo and a short reaction, and the constant reassurance that this is not some big political statement from someone’s who’s been doing food and nutrition campaigning for a long time. It’s a simple project–the blog’s description is “Eating school lunch just like the kids every day in 2010″–and the author is very clear that she’s no expert in nutrition. The’s a naive aspect to this that makes the project have a lot of impact.

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Also, on monday I’m taking a cooking class at the Brooklyn Kitchen Labs! It’s the chinese takeout class, taught by Cathy Erway who writes Not Eating Out in New York, and I’m very excited about it.

I love cat and girl, originally uploaded by dorywithserifs.

more bikes, more billboards

(by Dawn Landes)

And then today I read that Lululemon is doing just that, with their line of clothes called the “Cool sporting event that takes place in British Columbia between 2009 and 2011 edition.”

Of course, this isn’t enough for VANOC! They claim that lululemon has “broken the spirit of Olympic trademark regulations.”

Their commerical rights management dude says:

“We expected better sportsmanship from a local Canadian company than to produce a clothing line that attempts to profit from the Games but doesn’t support the Games or the success of the Canadian Olympic team.”

It just totally makes me crazy to hear them use words like “spirit” and “sportsmanship”–like they’re pretending this is about anything other than money.

If trademark people really believed in the “spirit of trademark regulations” rather than the letter of the law of trademark regulations then we wouldn’t have events like when Starbucks made Puddleduck, a kids clothing store, take away the sign that said “starducks” on the table where they offered free coffee to customers. There are a million other examples.

Also apparently the International Olympic Committee has trademarked the word “winter” and the number “2010,” so if you use either of those to promote or sell anything between now and the end of the olympics you’re breaking the law. (Via BoingBoing)

“By these boots! They are for the season between fall and spring that is cold and snowy! The year between 2009 and 2011 models now in store!”

This really is monolithic totalitarian greed.

New York City is striving to become more bicycle friendly, and to this end you may recall that Transportation Alternatives recently held a PSA contest (in which I served as a juror) in order to promote smugness in the streets. Well, the winners have finally been announced, and I’m pleased to report that I didn’t vote for any of them.

I don’t know why I didn’t think to use the word “smugness”–it pretty aptly describes how I feel about the whole thing.

The Bike Snob details, scene-by-scene one of the videos (dude pushes his car into the river, turns around to reveal a “one less car” t-shirt), hating on it all the way. What bugs me most about that is that the shirt doesn’t say “one FEWER car.”

Also, he points out that the word “livability” doesn’t really mean anything. (”And what is a “livability revolution?” It sounds like forcing people at gunpoint to make their living rooms more comfortable.”). I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that way.

It is wonderful. It makes me happy to read these things.

The American Journal of Public Health Research and the Journal of Planning Research and Education do not have pretty pictures though.

But this week there is new Maira Kalman in the New York Times! And it is about thanksgiving and food and bounty and cities. It is lovely, twee & smart at the same time.