Frivolous Friday

 

Sometimes I keep track of random odd notes and things that catch my eye. So, today being a frivolous Friday, I thought I’d share some of these notes with you. Such as did you know there’s a hippopotamus crisis in Venezuela? I know, I hear you saying, “Wait a minute. Hippos live in Africa, not South America.” You’d be right—and wrong. In the eighties, a drug lord important four females and one male for his private zoo. As hippos will do, they mated and proliferated. Today the estimate is over a hundred of the beasts are roaming the countryside in a certain area, and they are a problem. There have been a few instances of them attacking humans, at least once doing serious damage. But beyond that, they ruin crops and their waste is polluting land and water.

Officials have tried sterilizing them—not an easy task—and there is talk of killing them. But here’s the funny part—locals have grown fond of the animals and a bit protective of them. They vociferously reject any eradication program. So I guess the hippos are happily wandering, extending their territory. And officials are wringing their hands in uncertainty. I think officials do that a lot.

Rye bread may seem like a petty thing to complain about, but I have a message for the Orowheat people: fix your seedless Jewish rye or else. I’m a big fan of not just any rye (though I like the deli rye at Carshon’s best of all) but from the grocery I want the Orowheat product. Only there’s been a flaw with the last several loaves—the top crust doesn’t stay attached to the whole slice, though it sometimes takes a bit of the upper slices of the bread with it. It’s as though there’s a faultline running through the loaf. Makes for a mess in the toaster and is impossible for a tuna salad sandwich.

Speaking of food, I saw a notice online recently for a class in writing the food memoir. Apparently that’s a hot new hybrid literary genre. Which means I was years ahead when I wrote Cooking My Way through Life with Kids and Books, almost fifteen years ago. The cover features Jacob in a toque and chef’s jacket that his pre-school put him in for pictures. You should have heard my other children howl. They photoshopped the cover in weird ways and bragged that their own children were just as cute. “They weren’t wearing toques,” was my response. The book was fun because each of the kids contributed. A standard line was, “Remember when you fixed ….green noodles, beef and bean, Doris casserole.” All their favorites.

Are you a Jessica Fletcher fan? Murder, She Wrote and Cabot Cove? You can now access a website called Exploring Jessica Fletcher’s Closet. It seems Jessica—or Angela Lansbury—was a pretty conservative dresser but with a fondness for scarves. You can also visit her house and, of course, the town of Cabot Cove. A writer/colleague of mine is the new co-author of that series, and I’m a bit jealous. I think that would be lots of fun to write. I bet she knows all those websites by heart.

Did you read about the Army that descended on the White House this week? That’s what the fans of BTS are called—Armies—and there are a lot of them, most teenage girls of color. I confess that I am so out of it I never heard of BTS, the boy septet from South Korea. Apparently they are a worldwide hit, have won awards, given endorsements, and are a strong influence for good causes. They were at the White House to talk to the president about preventing hate crimes that target Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

And speaking of President Biden, I watched his gun speech last night and was tremendously impressed with his sincerity, honesty, compassion. I wonder if others were. I know he does not have a strong reputation as a public speaker—between the gaffes and impulses he’s prone to and the stuttering problem he fights—but I think his aides are wrong to keep him from speaking to the country. Seems to me if we saw him like that more often, his ratings might go up—as he deserves. I’m thinking of FDR’s Fireside Chats and how influential they were. Hmmm, Biden even has the requisite dog. ….