Salad Dressing For Andrew

3 Tablespoons Tahini-Hummus

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

1/8 Cup of Rice Wine Vinegar

1/2 Teaspoon Sesame Oil

1 Teaspoon Sugar

Fresh Ground Pepper, Dash of Hot Sauce to taste

For you Andrew, my dear partner.

This was a concoction I had created before with varying degrees of success when dishes called for flavors with an Asian influence. It was perfected one late afternoon at a business meeting in my kitchen. Andrew, one of my business partners at the studio is a vegan. I admire him for it. It takes a strong sense of will to take a stand on principle, especially with the pressures of a society that asks him to give in, not to mention two maniac, carnivorous business partners. Anyway, on with the show!

You'll need two small bowls. In one bowl, mix the sugar, vinegar and soy sauce until the sugar is dissolved. Please use good soy sauce and good rice wine vinegar. With the proliferation of the Whole Foods' and Fairway's of the world, it shouldn't be too hard to find. Real brewed soy sauce is so far superior to the salt water with caramel color that some brands try to pass off as soy sauce. A note on hummus. People have different tastes as far as hummus goes but for this recipe, I like to use a hummus with a high tahini concentration. Most hummuses on the market have a little or a lot of tahini in them but for best results I tend to stick with the Sabra brand Hummus & Tahini.

In the second bowl, whisk a thin trickle of the olive oil into the hummus, slowly at first, making sure that the oil integrates into the hummus. Then, with the same process whisk in the sesame oil. Once incorporated, again with the same process, trickle in the contents of the other bowl, constantly whisking. Add the fresh ground pepper. Add hot sauce to taste. You are finished.

This will go great on just about any salad. I often serve it on a thinly sliced carrot and cucumber salad, but any leafy greens would be excellent. It's even good on, sorry Andrew, meats and fish. This goes very well with seared sea scallops, or a nice seared rare tuna, or even on some thinly sliced rare flank steak. As with any recipe, fool around with the numbers. Add a little more of this or a little less of that. As long as you use the technique of slowly whisking in the oils, then the water based ingredients you will have success! Enjoy!

The Linear Nature of Time

The hours seem like seconds

I cannot catch up to the busy hands

of time itself.

She pushes forward, ever faster

She eats our pasts, leaving only the shell

of the essences of what once was.

These empty fragments, echoes of reality

stored in soft tissues, so fleeting

Informing every action, reaction

And we cannot escape them

no matter how we try

We are every moment that led up to this moment

We are made up of these

Cracks in our spirits, 

and yet she softens them with time

except for the unfortunate

with a recall too vivid

she attacks these soft tissues

Her march unyielding

until we are left with nothing

24 Hours Later

As I start writing this, it has been more than 24 hours since the Barack Obama acceptance speech. I don't want this feeling to go away. I haven't been able to put into words, exactly what I am feeling, what I felt last night. I am filled with sincere humility and tearjerking joy at what has happened.

At about 10:57 Chris Matthews on MSNBC began talking about what it might mean if the west coast came in for Obama, if he was the next president. And then 11:00 hit, and they all came in for him, and he was. The enormous exhale, the relief that what we knew would happen, a west coast sweep, had. 

It is an amazing feeling that I have right now, and maybe that is better left un-dissected, only appreciated in an experiential way, but that is not my way, so.....there we all were, in my basement apartment in Brooklyn New York and we were cheering and hugging. And I started to tear up because the struggle has seemed so hard and so long and there it is. We won. But then the TV switches its feed. Chicago. A quarter of a million people cheering and crying. And it was amazing. And the feed changes again, this time to Harlem and a young black girl is crying and another has fallen on the floor in tears, curled up in the fetal position, and I began to cry and then times square, and then....the crowd by the White House. On my block people were in front of their houses cheering. We all ran outside to watch the spectacle. People were screaming from blocks away and in the distance there were fireworks. We heard the strains of John McCain's concession speech through the window and hurried back to watch. 

McCain was conciliatory, his speech, heartfelt, I believe, and was only marred by one or two of his lunatic fringe supporters shouting out slurs and booing when he mentioned Obama by name. It felt good, but the sense of vindication I thought I would have had was muted. I really couldn't believe what I was seeing and the more I thought about it the less sure I was about what I was witnessing. The celebrations outside continued and we went in and out of the apartment, taking turns celebrating with others and watching states come in for Obama. My neighbor, a Tibetan artist came over and said he was so happy. He told me that the rest of the world looks to America. He told me that what we did was amazing. As the time for Obama's speech grew closer, whatever minute thoughts I had for the political ramifications I had thought about so much and followed so closely, melted away. I couldn't understand why I didn't feel what I thought I would feel. And then, his speech began:

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all 

things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in 

our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your 

answer.

"It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in 

numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and 

four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that 

this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

"It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and 

Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, 

disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that 

we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states 

and blue states.

"We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

"It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be 

cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands 

on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this

date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America."

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer? The chill up my spine was soul altering. The answers rushed to my mind, into my heart, and out of my eyes as tears in a vicious cycle that left me euphoric, then hysterical with laughter, then sobbing like a baby in tight, twisting succession, and nearly completely internalized, as I was still able to concentrate my conscious mind on the words this man was saying. 

"It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their 

generation's apathy ... who left their homes and their families for jobs that 

offered little pay and less sleep. It drew strength from the not-so-young 

people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of 

perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and 

organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the 

people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth."

"Their generation's apathy." it reminded me of RFK's line: "The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society." And yet there was still this swelling, up and down and around inside of me. He continued:

"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in 

one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful 

than I am tonight that we will get there.I promise you, we as a people will get 

there."

"This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for 

generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast 

her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line 

to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon 

Cooper is 106 years old.

"She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars 

on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for 

two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her 

skin.

"And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in 

America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the 

times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that 

American creed: Yes we can.

"At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she 

lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we 

can.

"When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she 

saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of 

common purpose. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

"When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the 

world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a 

democracy was saved. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

"She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in 

Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people 

that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

"A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a 

world was connected by our own science and imagination.

"And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast 

her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and 

the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

"America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much

more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to 

see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as 

Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have 

made?

"This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

"This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of 

opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of 

peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, 

that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we 

are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will 

respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we 

can.

"Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America."

And it was over. But my emotions had not stopped. I was Spinning around this spot I could not focus on, his words in my head, that little black girl crying, My days and nights on the streets of North Philly, knocking on doors and talking to black folks and little black girls just like the one on the TV and there he was, this black man, our next President, embroidering these words, musical, yet sober. And I can't figure out why I feel so strange. And I rely on what tools I have, my reason, my theories, my Ideals and I can find nothing to aid me. And I begin to try and piece it together and....

Do you remember when you were in elementary school and you were taught that in America, anyone can be what they want to be, and that we are free and that America is the greatest country in the world? And you believed it? You believed it with all of the wild eyed innocence of a child, because you were a child. You believed it because you were fresh and clean and new, unstained.

It may have been Junior High or High School, or even College, when anyone with any shred of intelligence realizes that these thing aren't true. Not everyone can be anything they want. We are not a free country. We are not the greatest country on earth. Our undeniable history, a dark, dark history of violence, genocide, slavery and oppression, creeps into the reality of how we see our nation; An adult, mature vision tarnished by the ugly realities of how we came to be, and what we have done; what has been done in our name. We lose our faith. We fall from grace, and like all the apples from trees of knowledge, we cannot get it back. We cannot regain that innocence, cannot believe in the unbelievable. We hope for a small change in the glacial battle of evil against less evil. We discuss our political choices as lesser of two evils scenarios. The reality of America and the American dream do not jibe. The reality of America is a far cry from the American dream. But I am still spinning, and I don't know why and there are his words and that little black girl and there's a black man on The Television and he's our next president.

And I know that's impossible because this is America, and in the real America a black man with a funny name can't be president. And I think about that little girl, and how for her, there is going to be a black person in the White House, and he won't be a servant or a slave. A person that looks like her. And it comes over me in waves. that the reality has shattered. And the jokes made, that after the worst presidency ever, only the Democrats could fuck it up for everyone and lose the election by putting a black man or a woman up as president, because it was a fact. Because that can't happen. Not a woman president. Not a Black president. Not in America. But there he is on TV and the people out on the street are cheering. 

I had tried to help. I started to believe the numbers. I began to believe that Obama would win. I thought about how cool it would be. But when it became official, that spinning, those tears, were not tears of victory for my candidate, or for my ideals. I was in shock because I was realizing what had really happened, as an American as a human being, as a citizen of earth, the hurdle that was being overcome. And I thought of Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy. I see the tears streaming down Jessie Jackson's face on the TV as they stream down mine and then John Lewis is on TV, a Representative from Georgia who was beaten during Civil rights marches with King and still has scars is puffy faced from crying and so am I, and I think about all of the blood, shed for this to happen, the sacrifices and the pain of lives erased or ruined so this night could be a reality.

And Obama's words are ringing in my head, "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." And as my throat closed and I cried again I realized that I believed in America again, like I did when I was eight, in elementary school and the books said we were free and the teachers said we were the greatest nation on earth and anyone could become anything they wanted to be and a half black kid with a wacky name could be president and there he was on TV telling me to believe and I believed. Telling me it was real and it was real and I was eight again.

No black mother or father will ever have to tell their son or daughter that they will never be president because they're black. No black mother or father will ever have to think they are lying to their child when say that they can be president, because it won't be a lie. Because America is the greatest country in the world, where anyone can grow up to be anything.

And the world is watching too. And maybe my neighbor is right. Maybe this is amazing. And maybe this changes everything everywhere, because America is the greatest country in the world because anyone can grow up to be anything. Maybe the world does look to us. Maybe This feeling, this spinning, these tears mean more than I could possibly fathom.

And I know that in a few days or a few weeks this will pass and we'll have to come down to earth and deal with the huge issues we have, pay for the horrible sins we have committed but right now I don't have to think about that because I'm an eight year old inside and I believe in the American dream. And I'm not a child, but I feel like a child and it is even sweeter to have overcome, to overcome our history, to recapture that child like love. He is only a man. Nothing has fundamentally changed about the place we find ourselves in but everything has changed because we have a black president and that is impossible in America but it's true because there is a black man who is the next president of the United States telling me it is true. And I believe it because I feel innocent, fresh, clean, and new again. And if, what I know to be impossible has happened, then anything is possible.

And I know I don't want this feeling to end.

A New Day in America

Today we woke up in a new America, one where anything is possible, if you believe enough and work hard enough. I wept like a baby, last night watching the first African-American President make one of the best speeches I've ever heard. I'm still in shock. The best of what we have to offer as a nation was on display last night. I am proud to be an American. And though my pride now is more profound now than It has ever been in my country, I know there is still work to be done. In 1968, two great men were cut down by assassin's bullets, putting into motion some of the darkest parts of our history as a nation. I never thought that the absence and loss, left by the violent deaths of these two men would ever be overcome, and though it would be over reaching to say it has, I can say that the gauntlet these men laid down to us, blood stained and damaged has been picked up. Imagine If Martin hadn't been taken from us, his reaction to last nights event. And then there is Robert. These men spoke of social justice, economic justice and an end to an unnecessary, unjust war, and I believe thay were executed for these dreams and Ideals. As Obama spoke I was Reminded of Ted Kennedy's eulogy for Robert Kennedy. It has taken us 40 years to return to the work, the dream of these two men, and I wanted to share that eulogy with you.

And the Text:

"What he leaves to us is what he said, what he did, and what he stood for. A speech he made to the young people of South Africa on their Day of Affirmation in 1966 sums it up the best, and I would like to read it now:

'There is discrimination in this world and slavery and slaughter and starvation. Governments repress their people; millions are trapped in poverty while the nation grows rich and wealth is lavished on armaments everywhere. These are differing evils, but they are the common works of man. They reflect the imperfection of human justice, the inadequacy of human compassion, our lack of sensibility towards the suffering of our fellows. But we can perhaps remember -- even if only for a time -- that those who live with us are our brothers; that they share with us the same short moment of life; that they seek -- as we do -- nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

"Surely, this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely, we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men. And surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our own hearts brothers and countrymen once again. The answer is to rely on youth -- not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. The cruelties and obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to the obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. They cannot be moved by those who cling to a present that is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger that come with even the most peaceful progress.

"It is a revolutionary world we live in, and this generation at home and around the world has had thrust upon it a greater burden of responsibility than any generation that has ever lived. Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation; a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth; a young woman reclaimed the territory of France; and it was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and the 32 year-old Thomas Jefferson who [pro]claimed that "all men are created equal."

"These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. *It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.* Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

"Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. And I believe that in this generation those with the courage to enter the moral conflict will find themselves with companions in every corner of the globe.

"For the fortunate among us, there is the temptation to follow the easy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before those who enjoy the privilege of education. But that is not the road history has marked out for us. Like it or not, we live in times of danger and uncertainty. But they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history. All of us will ultimately be judged, and as the years pass we will surely judge ourselves on the effort we have contributed to building a new world society and the extent to which our ideals and goals have shaped that event.

"The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend vision, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals and great enterprises of American Society.* Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. It is the shaping impulse of America that neither fate nor nature nor the irresistible tides of history, but the work of our own hands, matched to reason and principle, that will determine our destiny. There is pride in that, even arrogance, but there is also experience and truth. In any event, it is the only way we can live."

"That is the way he lived. That is what he leaves us.

"My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

"Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.

"As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him:

'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.'"

Barack Obama Is the Next President of the United states, and though I volunteered for him on the scarred streets of north Philadelphia, and I hoped, I didn't realize my inadequacies. As he Spoke last night, my disbelief was unnerving. I only now realize that my incredulity, stemmed from my own lack of vision. That I am still in shock, that I never thought I'd see a black man elected to the Presidency of the United States in my lifetime speaks to how long it has been since those dreams of Martin and Robert, those dreams that they hoped would "come to pass for all the world," have languished. So as we pick up the challenges set forth two generations ago by men taken from us too early, I hope; I hope to transform how I see things, how I percieve the world; how I dream. I was the former, a man who saw things and said why, but perhaps now, we all can try to see things, "Dream things that never were and say why not."

Yes We Can.