MONTHLY REVIEW: May

Those May flowers were a bloomin' here at ZONINO!

MUSIC
- Laura Pausini & James Blunt's duet "Primavera Anticipada (This Is My Song)"
- The album Rattlin' Bones by husband and wife duo Shane Nicholson and Kasey Chambers.
- "My Sweet Song," a sweet song by Toby Lightman.
- An oldie but a goodie: Sting's song "Shape of My Heart."
- Vamos a Puerto Rico! Enjoy some south-of-the-border spice with the single "Buenos Dias San Juan" by the Domino Saints.
- Keith Urban's newest album, Defying Gravity.

MOVIES
- Sean Pean's Oscar-nominated bio-pic Milk.
- The yet-to-be-released (future Oscar winner) Precious.
- You've never heard of Purple Violets? Too bad it went straight to DVD...

BOOKS
- Sold, a story, written entirely in prose, about the child-trafficking problem in India and Nepal.
- The war in Sierra Leon as told through the real eyes of one of the tragedy's many boy soldiers in A Long Way Gone, a memoir.
- High school never seemed so fresh and true as it does in Prep...without the whole living on campus part, of course.

RECIPE
- Bring some coconut banana bread to your next potluck!
- Munch on some of Jenny's Apple Apps while watching a ZONINO! movie (see above)!
- Whip up some mango chicken stir-fry for dinner!
- Treat yourself to a delicious gourmet grilled cheese sandwich! Invite some friends too!

YOUTUBE & WEB
- Say what!?!? Check out Overheard In New York
- Fred Figglehorn is the most spastic six year old you'll ever meet...or not want to meet.
- If you like LOL Catz, Can I Haz Cheezburger is for you.
- More of the kitty-love from Christian the Lion.
- Yes, you did send that...and worse, the whole world now knows about your Texts From Last Night. Bummer...for you!
- Want to change your name? Check to make sure its kosher at the SS Baby Names archive.
- American Idol contestant Adam Lambert may have been runner-up but without a doubt he doesn't ask Is Anybody Listening?
- There's no way your Awkward Family Photo was this bad.
- Hey Smartass! Go here: TED
- Susan Boyle wishes she could be George Sampson.

WORD
My lexicon is now pregnant with new vocabulary, I may go apoplectic with joy! ZONINO!!!!

WORD: Apoplectic

I came across this word in a book I recently finished called Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. It is my goal to use this twist on "apoplexy" sometime in the next few days. I just have to work being able to say them damn thing without chocking on it...

Literally, the aforementioned noun version of the word refers to a stroke or hemorrhage of some sort. Therefore, the adjective, "apoplectic" can be used to describe an action that is sudden, striking, and vigorous in nature.

The normally docile hippies became apoplectic when they learn their hash fields had been burned.

An apoplectic roar erupted from the crowd after the concert headliner played two songs and left the stage.

Sergio del Limonar

RECIPE: Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwich

After awakening from the haze that had been one heck of graduation party for a few friends in college one May day several years ago and surveying the damage, I remember both the strong desire for food and the need to salvage what was left over of the buffet table from the night before. By this point it consisted of a few baby carrots, forgotten slices of salami, and crusted over spinach dip. Then, almost miraculously, we discovered an unopened platter of cheese in the fridge! A potentially horrid morning was saved!

Why you ask? Because we had the ingredients to make delicious "gourmet" grilled cheese sandwiches! These are the best any time you have an assortment of cheeses to select from. It's kind of like the adult version of "make your own pop" at the local fast food joint soda fountain.

Ingredients:

Variety of thinly sliced cheeses (2-3 types)
2 slices of bread (I enjoy whole grain but rock the Wonder brand white if you like)
oregano
butter
other add-ons (tomato, meats, onion, etc.)

What to Do:

Mix and match a couple (I don't recommend any more than three at a time) different cheeses, place between two slices of bread that have been previously lightly buttered on one side. Sprinkle some oregano on the buttered sides of the bread before grilling. Grill slowly on low so all the cheese melts together into one flavorful taste sensation without burning the bread to a blacked crisp. Don't screw up, that's smoked swiss in there!

Sergio del Limónar

MUSIC: Defying Gravity

I've been a fan of Keith Urban ever since he began appearing on my radio dial years ago. I gained respect for him as a true artist when my brother gave me his "The Ranch" album from his days in a country band back in Australia. I still love that album but I think he finally topped it.

Urban's newest album, Defying Gravity, released in March of this year, brings his unique brand of music to a new level. His vocals are strong, healthy, and heartfelt. The lyrics (Urban wrote or co-wrote eight of the eleven tracks) and deep, creative, and inviting. The album is simply amazing; I expect this one to be on many lips come awards season.

Right now iTunes has the album on sale for $7.99, though it's worth the full price. If you're tentative and want to try a few tracks, my favorites are "If Ever I Could Love," "I'm In," and "Hit the Ground Runnin'," which prominently features Urban's signature growl and phenomenal guitar skills. While there is no title track on the album, the title is unquestionably appropriate.

Sergio del Limónar

YOUTUBE: George Sampson

George Sampson is the 15 year old street dancing (seems similar to break-dancing) winner of last season's Britian's Got Talent. I recently saw him perform on Oprah when she did a show highlighting the smartest and most talented kids, and I must say, he certainly is!

After winning Britian's Got Talent, he told Oprah that he used some of his earnings to pay off his mom's mortgage, and hasn't touched the rest. He's got the greatest little British accent, and coupled with that adorable face, if he were 5 years older, I'd date him. Who am I kidding, 4 years older.

Anyway, check out the performance that won him first place, the Mint Royale version of "Singin' in the Rain."

Mrs. Fitz 2

BOOK: Prep

Remember moving far away from the comforts of home to a part of the country you knew nothing about, socially, to go to high school? Remember dormitory living at 15 years old, the ins and outs or formal dinners, and how to tell the differences between the different types of "rich" amongst your peers? Me neither...

But I still found Curtis Sittenfeld's 2005 novel, Prep, about an ambitious girl from South Bend, Indiana, from a middle class family who's dad runs a mattress factory, who gets accepted to a prestigious boarding school in Massachusetts on (gasp) scholarship. The book is divided by parts of the academic year beginning with the heroine, Lee's, Freshman Fall semester and follows her through her time at the institution.

What impressed me most about Ms. Sittenfeld's writing (yes, "Ms.") is how accurately she wrote the internal dialog and thought process of a high school student. Hanging around them all day long, I can vouch that she was spot on. High School can be an interesting and challenging time for a kid, especially one attempting to both just survive and simultaneously discover who they are. Sittenfeld nails both, finding ample time to sprinkle in plenty of humor that will make anyone, whether still in high school or years removed laugh out loud at how some things never change.

Sergio del Limónar

WEB: TED

Have you ever wondered how that guy who sits in the cubicle next to you knows so much about things he will never need to have any knowledge of? Well it's time you blew him away with your own incredibly intelliget, current and random tidbits of information. TED: Ideas Worth Spreading is the ultimate one stop shop for entertaining academic talks about everything from science to orgasm to the art of juggling.

One particularly interesting talk is all about hyperbolic geometry and how women's handicraft evolved the mathmatics as late at 1997. Even if you don't follow all of the information, but you will, it is such a well delivered and entertaining speech that it seems a crime to miss.

Alright, go on. Click the link and learn something new and interesting. At your friend's next cocktail party you'll be the one everyone wants to listen to. You'll be more popular than the chips and salsa!*

AmErica

*AmErica does not guarantee popularity for anyone. This is just an estimation based upon personal study and having dorky friends.

WEB: Awkward Family Photos

Everyone hates the oft-yearly or seasonal tradition that is the family photograph. A time to document how the kids have grown and to ensure that years from now, when the wall going up the staircase is filled with a pictoral timeline of the hideous fashions we voluntarily stepped out of the house in. All through my youth (who am I kidding, it still happens) every holiday - Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving - all the kids were rounded up before the "play clothes" were put on, formed into one or two straight lines, and the paparazzi flashes of our parents' cameras began.

The site Awkward Family Photos takes reader submissions of such forgettable yet enshrined moments in our collective familial past and posts them here, for all to see. (It's funny when it's not you.) Everything is fair game: the standard photo-studio portrait to the high school dance couple shot with the holiday lights dangling in the background, the vacation group shot to the wedding party poses.

This is definitely a site to bookmark and visit during those slow moments at work. Or, you know, to send in awkward pictures from your own family's past!

Sergio del Limónar

MUSIC: Buenos Dias San Juan

Every week the good people at iTunes "give away" a few songs for free out of the goodness of their hearts (or new age version of payola). Most of the time the selections of mediocre but when it's free, it's free; the "beggars can't be choosers" adage rings true.

Once in awhile a gem pops up though. This week's Spanish-language "Cansión de la Semana" is such a tune. The group, called Domino Saints, is from Puerto Rico and the song, "Buenos Dias San Juan" is off their eponymous album. It's funky and you don't need to know any of the Español to feel the groove. It's free and worth it until Tuesday...and then it will just be worth it.

RECIPE: Mango Chicken Stir-Fry

A nice light fruity satisfying almost-summer meal for today!

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

1 mango
1 large red pepper
1-2 onions
3-4 large carrots
2 chicken breasts
pepper
salt
olive oil
soy sauce
orange juice
honey

What To Do:

1. cut the red pepper, onions, carrots, and chicken into thin strips (well, onions not so much but don't mince them)
2. in a stir fry pan, cook the veggies with some olive oil and soy sauce on medium heat (season to taste with pepper and salt)
3. season chicken strips with pepper
4. cook chicken in a separate pan with a splash of olive oil and drizzling of honey
5. once veggies are softening, cut the mango into strips and add to the mix, turning the heat to low
6. when chicken is cooked, add it and a splash of orange juice (1/2 cup) to the stir fry pan
7. mix well and serve!

Sergio del Limónar

MUSIC: Sting - "Shape of My Heart"

I didn't think I really liked Sting - thought I could take or leave him (also I think I was forgetting exactly what music he does) but I was wrong. When I was in the great state of Iowa last weekend recording, my step-bro played this video for me and my dad.

It's so smooth and perfect. The guitar line and the harmonies are so tight. It's strong but quiet. The song is breathtaking. Enjoy!

Mrs. Fitz 1

YOUTUBE: Is Anybody Listening

Perhaps you've heard of a little show called American Idol? No? Well, basically people sing songs on the world's biggest karaoke stage, put up with often-times asinine and contradictory comments from a panel of "judges," and attempt to win a popularity contest. The show has been in desperate need of a descent winner since season 4's Carrie Underwood. It seems this season, the 8th as it were, finally had some respectable, honest talent, in contrast to the past few years filled with accusations of producer-placed contestants.


As the season finale was last night, and the inevitable winner will be crowned tonight, it is obvious that the show could have it's third success-story in either Kris Allen or Adam Lambert. However, only one of these guys can blow like this: the song "Is Anybody Listening" from the short-lived wannabe Broadway musical "The Ten Commandments," as sung by the character of the slave Joshua.

Damn. How could you not be listening?

Sergio del Limónar

MOVIE: Purple Violets

How this movie went straight to DVD (or iTunes movie release) is both tragic and understandable. For most people, a movie about a couple successful writers who were once lovers finding each other and searching for their "voices" again might not be a big box-office draw.

I felt differently. Purple Violets was about growing up and looking back. Realizing who you are, where you came from, how you've changed, and how you actually haven't. It's about how deep down inside, those characteristics that give someone their spark, never really go away; they may morph a bit but who a person truly is, not what they've done, is who they are.

Led by a phenomenal cast including Selma Blair, Patrick Wilson, Edward Burns (who also directed), and the always surprising Debra Messing, the movie moves through this self-discovery at a pleasant and yet still intriguing pace. The writing is great and the dialog and wit is both true and amusing.

One of my favorite exchanges occurs between Messing, who plays a teacher, and Burns, her ex-boyfriend from college and now successful litigator. After she tells him he's taking her to someplace nice and expensive and he inquires to why, she retorts, "Because I'm a teacher in New York and you just bought a $3 million apartment." Truer words have never been spoken.

See this movie and see a little of yourself. Put in on a shelf for a few years, watch it again, and I bet you'll see a little more. That's what I'm going to do.

Sergio del Limónar

WORD: Lexicon

A little ironic that the word "lexicon" is in the "word" category, since it refers to the extent of a or someone's vocabulary. The noun, used to describe the inventory of a person's language, can also be used in regards to a book, such as a dictionary, which contains definitions of a language.

Use this word in conversation when discussing someone's verbose way of speaking or writing. It's a great way to make yourself sound more reasonable, as well as intelligent, while lessening the subject's perceived or deserved intellect. "Sure, he has a large lexicon, but is there any substance to it?" That's right...Burn!!!

Sergio del Limónar

MUSIC: My Sweet Song

I live for those moments when you discover a song when you least expected it. Walking through a store, at a friend of a friend's party, on an elevator (heaven forbid). I was watching the movie, "PS: I Love You" recently and during one of those time-is-passing sequences in the film the featured song clip caught my ear.

The song, "My Sweet Song," by Toby Lightman, is a jazz-tinged melody about a once forgotten love that has returned unwanted. It can be found on both the soundtrack to the aforementioned film as well as her 2006 album, Bird on a Wire.

I don't know much about Lightman, except that she did a beautiful duet with Marc Broussard on his SOS: Save Our Souls album that I really over-played. I think this is a good sign I need to check out more of her stuff. Future "Toby Lightman" themed Zonino...?

Sergio del Limónar

BOOK: A Long Way Gone

I'm not generally a fan of non-fiction stories. You also won't find me reading much fantastical fiction either. I enjoy a story about a person or people that could conceivably happen, but didn't. Which is why I think I enjoyed A Long Way Gone so much; it shouldn't have happened, but unfortunately, it did.

The story, subtitled "Memoirs of a Boy Soldier," by Ishmael Beah, is about Ishmael's trials and experiences during one of the many civil wars in Sierra Leon's bloody history. During the early 1990's, Ishmael's hometown was destroyed by rebel forces and he is forced to flee, in the process losing everything that was his old life: house, friends, family...history. In his wanderings through the once friendly, now distrusting country, he eventually becomes one of many child soldiers the world never hears about. A great injustice to childhood in general, Ishmael is forced to grow up quickly and becomes one of those whom he had previously despised.

Ishmael and I are about the same age and, as I read the book, kept thinking about what I was doing and thinking about when he was hiding in the bush or holding his first AK-47. It also saddens me that I didn't even know there was a war going on in Sierra Leon, let alone the fact that people my age were fighting it. I wonder what would have been different if the general population of the U.S. had read this story, or a similar account, when it was happening instead of 10 years later.

This is definitely a story I would recommend to anyone regardless of their genre preferences. I think it is a good reality-check that the world does not stop at our shores and there are bigger problems than that fender-bender you got into this morning or the number of hours the boss is making you clock.

I wish it hadn't happened, and it did, but I'm glad I am aware of it now.

Sergio del Limónar

MOVIE: Precious (trailer)

My ignorance on this film is going to shine through like a beacon so here is what I know:

Someone named just Sapphire wrote a book in 1997 called Push. It is now a movie called Precious, about a pregnant teenage girl living a difficult life in some large city with her apparently single mother. It also appears that the film won a bunch of awards at the Sundance Film Festival this past winter, Mo'Nique is Oscar-bound, and Mariah Carey can indeed act.

It is positive, however, that the trailer will give you chills and might bring tears to your eyes. I can not wait to see this movie. Unfortunately, it looks like we'll have to wait until this fall. There will no doubt be an "I told you so" ZONINO! around that time.

Sergio del Limónar

EAT OUT: Izzy's Icecream

Every city has their independently owned ice cream parlors that, on hot summer days, have lines out the door onto the sidewalk and around the corner. The dessert is always fantastic and comes in an abundance of unique flavors you would never find in a Kemps bucket at the supermarket. Everyone swears that "their" ice cream place is the BEST and you HAVE TO GO THERE!!!

Izzy's Ice Cream Cafe, is no different...except it is. This St. Paul, Minnesota, staple, located at 2034 Marshall Avenue near the University of St. Thomas, makes a point at being socially and environmentally conscious without preaching. The entire shop is powered by some 200 solar panels, ironic when you think about the mixing of ice cream and the sun! The business is also charitable in many ways to the community and has frequent tasting events to raise money for various organizations and causes.

If that's not enough to set Izzy's apart from the rest, then consider this: each cone comes with an "Izzy," a melon-ball-sized scoop of whatever flavor you want, right on the top of your main order, totally free! It's great for that curious taste of "pomegranate pizzazz" or "irish moxie" you've been intrigued by, but not enough for a full cone of the stuff. Way better than a sample scoop from one of those tiny medicine spoons.

Sergio del Limonar

WORD: Pregnant

Obviously, the word "pregnant" most often refers to a woman carrying a child in her womb. Why would this be a Zonino!, you ask?

Use it as an intriguing descriptive word for something other than a fecund female and impressive your conversation mates with your creativity.

"She was pregnant with emotion!"

"The L train this morning was totally pregnant with people!"

"The apples at the market were definitely of the pregnant variety."

Sergio del Limonar

MUSIC: Rattlin' Bones

Who says Keith Urban is the only Australian who can do country music? Husband and wife duo, Shane Nicholson and Kasey Chambers, show off all the gritty heartfelt country angst and admiration in ever note of their September 2008 debut album, Rattlin' Bones.

The two have produced several albums as solo artists in Australia, Nicholson in the rock genre and Chambers in the hippy-chick earth mother genre (at least that's what it sounds like to me in the iTunes samples), but this is their first project together. My favorite track is "Sweetest Waste of Time," but I've found that after owning this album for several months my favorites are constantly changing; there isn't a phoned-in song in the bunch.

If you like Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Tift Merritt, or the recent Alison Krauss/Robert Plant collaboration album, "Raising Sand," you will definitely enjoy this exceptional piece of work!

Sergio del Limonar

WEB: SS Database of Baby Names

A government website for a ZONINO??? Really...?
Trust me, this is interesting and a GREAT time waster...

Every year about this time the good people at the Social Security Administration finish compiling the 1,000 most popular names from the previous year. Conveniently, released around Mother's Day, the list shows the top names for both boys and girls, points out trends and potential reasons for them (this year "Barack" and "Miley" increased significantly in popularity), as well as breaks popularity down by state.

My favorite part of the site is at the bottom where users can enter their own name and track it's popularity since the tracking began, as long as the moniker made the top 1,000 of course. Sergio, for a humble example, has been in the top 1,000 consistently since 1945!

Now, go and see how unique you are!

Sergio del Limónar

WEB: Texts from Last Night

I don't really think much even needs to be said, as it is a very simple website.  With no fancy formatting or special features, Texts from Last Night, is just that.  Texts sent and received from the evening before are submitted to the site with only area codes to identify the senders and receivers.  Typically updated every day, the site is chock full of pretty hilarious (and sometimes downright outrageous) one liners that are sure to keep you entertained during a slow day at the office.  Enjoy! 

Mrs. Fitz 2 

SNACK: Jenny's Apple App

this is a yummy afternoon snack introduced to me by the beautiful jenny long

ingredients:
sliced apples (red or green)
cream cheese(whipped is suggested)
vanilla extract
brown sugar

directions:

hmmm i guess i'm not sure of exact measurements . . depending on how much you want to make they will vary :) lets say one small container of cream cheese, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix. add extra at your own risk.

mrs. fitz 1

MUSIC: Primavera Anticipada (It Is My Song)

I might have been one of the only people in the world who wanted to vomit every time I heard James Blunt's warble on "You're Beautiful" three years ago. That hasn't changed; don't bring that song anywhere near my ears, please.

For this reason, however, I found myself confused how I could fall for this duet between Blunt and Spanish singer Laura Pausini. Maybe because it's a good song? Possible. I don't care to waste any more time thinking the possibilities over; a good song is a good song, right?

"Primavera Anticipada (It Is My Song)" is off Pausini's most recent album, from November of 2008 by almost the same name, Primavera Anticipada. If you don't speak the Español, it just your typical unrequited love song between two hurt and prideful ex-lovers, but you don't really even need to know that to love it.

You can also find it on iTunes but be careful to get the correct version. Pausini has a non-duet track as well.

Sergio del Limónar

YOUTUBE: Christian the Lion

This short video (clips to the amazing "Armageddon" soundtrack tear-jerker) will renew whatever confusion you ever have had in the importance of depth of real friendship. If ever you feel unimportant or are unsure about a connection to folks that you may have drifted from, this will erase that doubt. Also, allow me to say that this video confirms the undeniable bond between animals and people. (In this case, KITTIES!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btuxO-C2IzE

Mrs. Fitzsimmons 1

WEB: I Can Haz Cheezburger?

The website I am directing you to could possibly be the greatest collection of funny cat pictures on the planet, but perhaps it is much more than that. We're talking full on impossible-to-resist-even-if-you-hate-cats hilarity. However, these photographs are not your run of the mill shots with funny captions. Oh no! In fact today there is a hover kitty on the homepage. Which brings me to my first point about the intrinsically wonderful value of the site.

Photography is a skill. Many of the photos on this site required the photographer to know exactly how to adjust his/her f-stop or film speed to capture moments of movement or compensate for poor lighting in a basement. The shots are amazing and although I realize that if you take a blue million pictures one is bound to turn out, you've got to enjoy that millionth pic. The pictures would be cute without the captions, but when you combine great shots with silly captions and people don't laugh, well then, grits ain't groceries. (shout out to Grandma L)

The cats on I Can Haz Cheezburger are given fake accents. Sometimes captions are written in plain English, but often words become letters or jumbles of letters. It's a total gas to see which one of your friends will need a translation! For the most part, though (98%) they are easy to get. But there is an unmistakable personality created for each cat, each one funnier than the last.

Happy browsing!

AmErica

YOUTUBE: Fred

For the record, I am almost embarrassed to be posting this for the daily ZONINO...but I can't help it. In a week, I'm sure I will hate it, but for today it is worthy. We're a fickle bunch here...

The character of Fred Figglehorn is a six-year old boy who documents his daily trials of dealing with life as an early elementary-aged kid, except Fred is pretty messed up. His man-voiced mother who seems to always be hung-over, drunk, or not present; the girl of his dreams, Judy, who refuses to give him the time of day; and the kindergarten class bully, Kevin, all make up the supporting characters in these little vignettes of Fred's life.

Apparently extremely popular for some time now, the "Fred Channel" has been one of the most viewed ever in the history of YouTube. The creator, and character of Fred himself, in a teenager from Columbus, Nebraska, named Lucas Cruikshank (thank you Wikipedia!) who evidently has a lot of time on his hands and a good amount of spastic creativity.

Some videos to get you started, if you can handle Fred's voice, randomness, and screeching:
Fred Goes Swimming (the most viewed of all the Fred series)

Fred Gets Detention

Fred's Mom is Missing

Sergio del Limónar

BOOK: Sold

Written entirely in prose, Sold, by Patricia McCormick, is the story of a Nepali girl, Lakshmi, who is sold into prostitution in India by here step-father. Although fictional in narrative, the constructs of the book are completely real; according to the endnote, around 12,000 children are sold to become sex slaves in Indian brothels by their extremely poor families, many unwillingly.

A National Book Award Finalist in 2006, the book follows Lakshmi, a "hill girl" from Nepal. It begins as she cheerily goes about her daily life dreaming of one day saving enough money to buy her mother a tin roof for their house, a sign of prosperity in her village, to her voyage to a strange new city aboard busses and amongst tall buildings after her step-father tells her she is going to work as a maid for a rich family far away from her home.

Although I had mixed feelings about the story being told in prose-form, I can not imagine hearing Lakshmi's tale any other way. Some "chapters," only a few lines long, are more powerful in this medium.

While it is not a subject matter many of us would like to think about, an awareness of the atrocities that affect the world's children is necessary for our society. Check out this book and then pass it on; the lexile is not difficult, it is easy to start and stop, and its impossible to forget.

Sergio del Limónar

WEB: Overheard In New York

This website is a great time filler at work, and when you procrastinate as much as I do, there's a lot of time to be filled! It's called Overheard in New York and it's made up entirely of submissions from randoms on the street (or wherever) who, as the site name suggests, overheard something in New York City. Not just your everyday, run of the mill conversations, but really ridiculous exchanges everywhere from Broadway to Barnes & Noble, Columbia University to Central Park.

There are other tabs to the site (Overheard at the Beach, Overheard in the Office, etc) but the NYC rendition is by far my favorite. I haven't submitted anything to it yet, but have been a loyal follower since my intern days at Fox News. You can't make this stuff up...check it out!

Mrs. Fitz 2

MOVIE: Milk

Sean Penn deserved every bit of his Oscar for this performance. The movie was heartwrenching and informative and raw. It's funny (not haha) that it was only 30 years ago when they were fighting Proposition 6 (trying to get gays and those supporting gays out of teaching jobs etc) and here we are, decades later, no better off as we try to undo the last 8 months of legalized gay marriage in California. Definitely a movie that makes you think and consider what you stand for and what the world we live in stands for. SEE IT!

Mrs. Fitz 1

RECIPE: Coconut Banana Bread

Give your boring old banana bread an amazing kick! My friend Sarah, AKA "Betty Crocker," made this version of the delicious treat and passed on the recipe to me so I'm not sure of it's exact origins. My oven sucks and even with the uneven cooking and forgetting to evenly mix in the baking soda, it still turned out tasting pretty good! Well, the middle did anyway. I'm sure you'll have better luck. (Remember, even if it burns and you completely ruin it, there's always the rest of the bottle of rum...)

INGREDIENTS

1 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. mashed banana (2 or 3 bananas)
1/4 c. plain yogurt
3 tb. dark rum
1/2 t. vanilla
2 c. flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. coconut

WHAT TO DO

Beat the sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time - I beat the batter for about a minute after adding each. Add the banana, yogurt, rum, and vanilla. Then add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the coconut. Bake in greased bread pan at 350 for one hour, más o menos. Cool on a wire rack.
For the glaze, mix 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 1 tb. coconut and 1 1/2 tb. lime juice.

Sergio del Limónar