I Can Cello That

In my ongoing quest to become a real life Portlandia character, I've adopted an "I can cello that" attitude.  And I don't mean pulling my bow across some strings to entertain the ears.  I'm talking about throwing whatever I can find into everclear and mixing it with sugar syrup to entertain the taste buds.  Today's victim: green almonds.

Acquired on an unfortunately rare trip to Berkeley Bowl last weekend, these green almonds cried out to me from the exotic fruit isle (which always seems like gilding the lily at a grocery store with seven kinds of mango and at least that many different types of apricot in the "regular" sections).  Green almonds are only around for a couple weeks every year, and when I spotted them my first thought was "you need to get into a 151-proof bath, ASAP, my pretties."  A quick google search on my phone turned up plenty of recipes for infusions of green walnuts to make nocino, but bubkas on using green almonds (other than for syrup, which didn't seem nearly intoxicating enough).  

Fifty-five green almonds came home with me from the store (for a whopping $2.50 - extortion I say!), and, undeterred by lack of internet instructions, I proceeded to cello the hell out of them.  Everclear in mason jar?  Check.  Giant cleaver to cleave these babies in half?  Check.  Half a cinnamon stick, half a vanilla bean, and a few strips of zest from a lemon picked from our backyard to complexify the flavor a bit?  Check, check, and check.  Given that I don't know how or how strongly flavored a green almond infusion will be, I decided to forego the wide array of other flavorings people seem to add to nocino, from cloves to wine.  

And now we wait.  One pleasant surprise after a few days of infusing is the color.  While green walnuts apparently produce a pitch black liqueur, my green almond experiment is still a lovely chartreuse.  If this holds up, I'll be a very happy camper.  Updates to come once infusion, proofing down, and aging have been completed.  

Mangledfont Opines

FUTURE OF THE BAY AREA: DRAFT PLAN FOR REGION SERIOUSLY FLAWED

By: Sam Tepperman-Gelfant, Kit Vaq and the Rev. Scott Denman

San Jose Mercury News, May 24, 2013

Something exciting is afoot in the Bay Area. Hundreds of people, working together across traditional divides, have crafted a plan expressing an innovative vision for our region's future. And last month, we learned this community plan would create a greener, more prosperous and fairer future than the plan created by "experts" in regional government.

The challenge now is getting elected officials in regional agencies to listen.

In July, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Association of Bay Area Governments will decide how to spend $289 billion in transportation funds and plan for 2 million new residents over the next 28 years. Under a new state law, SB 375, this regional transportation and land-use plan must reduce greenhouse gases 15 percent by 2035.

When dozens of community groups gathered at the start of this planning process three years ago, there was real danger that fighting for a piece of the pie would tear people apart. Instead, environmentalists and civil rights activists, homeowners and homeless advocates, faith leaders, public health experts and union members came together to fight for a regional plan that grows the pie.

They learned from each other and developed a shared set of priorities for the region: more money for public transportation and less for new highways; more affordable homes near low-wage jobs and good schools; and stronger protections against gentrification and displacement. These shared principles formed the basis of the "Equity, Environment and Jobs" scenario, a community alternative to the draft regional plan developed by ABAG and MTC. End result? A plan that runs a lot more transit service, puts more affordable housing near suburban job centers and protects families from displacement.

The regional agencies' draft "preferred" plan is in dire need of improvement. It puts 36 percent of struggling renters at high risk of being evicted from their neighborhoods. It wastes billions of dollars that could go to operate more local transit. And the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has expressed concern the regional housing plan may violate civil rights laws.

The alternative scenario offers a better blueprint for moving our region toward the best future for all Bay Area residents, including struggling families. Plus, it's the "environmentally superior alternative." That's according to MTC/ABAG's own analysis.

In embodying the core vision of SB 375 — more people living closer to better transit and jobs — our scenario outperforms the preferred draft in a host of areas. Models show lower greenhouse gas emissions, almost twice as many low-income residents able to stay in their neighborhoods, 83,000 cars off clogged roads leading to 165,000 more trips on public transit every day.

Unfortunately, MTC and ABAG commissioners may ignore the evidence and barrel forward with their flawed draft. Why? Some cite "fatigue" with the planning process. Others are unnecessarily concerned about a vocal minority shouting that climate change is a hoax and regional planning a United Nations conspiracy. And others think the current draft is "good enough."

Bay Area residents deserve more than "good enough." MTC and ABAG can turn a flawed draft into a final plan we can all be proud of, by incorporating three key elements of our alternative scenario: 1) maximize funding for public transit operations and provide a regional free youth bus pass; 2) strengthen incentives and policies to protect struggling families from displacement; and 3) reallocate housing more fairly throughout the region.

The voting members of MTC and ABAG are our local elected officials. In July they'll decide whether to adopt a plan that reflects the broad community consensus, or one that comes up short. We're asking them to make the right choice.

Sam Tepperman-Gelfant is a senior staff attorney at Public Advocates Inc. Kit Vaq is chairperson of ACCE Riders for Transit Justice. The Rev. Scott Denman is president of the Genesis Interfaith Regional Project. They wrote this for the San Jose Mercury News.

Happy Fifth Birthday, BookClubSF!

Inspired by a book group I was in back in Philadelphia, I started BookClubSF shortly after moving to San Francisco five years ago.  The idea was to connect with friends, connect friends with each other, and keep myself reading interesting books - and that's exactly what happened.  Over the past five years, a couple dozen rotating members have read and discussed 30 books. While readers have come and gone as they moved in and out of San Francisco, passed in and out of busy periods at work, or had kids (3!), some truths have remained constant: reading is always rewarding (even when the book is bad); discussing a book usually deepens your experience of the text, the friends you discuss it with, and yourself; wine, bread, and cheese go great with literature; benevolent informed dictatorships can work out OK.  Over the next five years I look forward to more great books, more probing discussions, more new members, and perhaps even welcoming back a parent or two.  

Here's our reading list.  It includes some exceptional highs (Kafka on the Shore, Appointment in Samarra, Cloud Atlas, White Noise) and some unfortunate lows (Evidence of Things Unseen, I'm looking at you!).   

The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson, February 19, 2013

A Working Theory of Love, by Scott Hutchins, December 13, 2012
Telegraph Avenue, by Michael Chabon, November 1, 2012
Under the Volcano, by Malcom Lowry, August 28, 2012
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, by Italo Calvino, May 22, 2012
The Untouchable, by John Banville, October 20, 2011
A Single Man, by Christopher Isherwood, September 6, 2011
Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer, July 26, 2011
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, by David Foster Wallace, June 9, 2011
The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett, April 7, 2011
Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell, January 20, 2011
Kindred, by Octavia Butler, October 28, 2010
Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner, September 9, 2010
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot July 1, 2010
Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann May 6, 2010
Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro, March 11, 2010
The Women of Brewster Place, by Gloria Naylor, February 4, 2010
Darkness at Noon, by Arthur Koestler November 17, 2009
A Wild Sheep Chase: A Novel, by Haruki Murakami, September 17, 2009
Appointment in Samarra, by John O’Hara, August 6, 2009
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz, June 25, 2009
White Noise, by Don DeLillo, March 19, 2009
Ficciones, by Jorge Luis Borges, February 12, 2009
Then We Came to the End, by Joshua Ferris, October 30, 2008
Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami, September 23, 2008
Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan, August 5, 2008
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, June 25, 2008
Dreams From My Father, by Barack Obama, April 10, 2008
Evidence of Things Unseen, by Marianne Wiggins, March 2, 2008
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, January 27, 2008

Mangledfont in the News

Every city must do its part to make housing available to people of all income levels.  That's what I told the Palo Alto Daily News/San Jose Mercury News last week:

Sam Tepperman-Gelfant, a senior staff attorney for the nonprofit Public Advocates, which sued both Menlo Park and Pleasanton, said the group's intention was to ensure housing for lower-income residents.

"When it comes down to it, it's incredibly important that there are affordable housing opportunities in every city in the state," he said.

Peninsula Cities Feel the Heat to Produce More Homes 2/15/13