Alissa Wilkinson

Why so negative?

Alissa Wilkinson — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:53:09 -0800

I haven't blogged in a month or so - life has been very busy - but I've been thinking a lot about this ConversantLife blog and what to do with it. I like to have a topic or purpose in my blogging, and I've been a bit aimless and scattered lately. But then I had an idea.

One thing I've experienced through growing up in the church has been an overwhelming negativity toward "our culture", a serious belief that our culture is the least moral, most degenerate, most reprehensible that has ever existed on the face of Planet Earth. This was often taken as proof that Christians ought to basically save as many people as they can and then hole up in a shelter and wait for Jesus to come back.

Over the last few years, it's struck me how arrogant it really is for us to believe that we live in the worst time ever. Yes, the twentieth century was bloody and awful - nobody will dispute that fact, and that a lot of it is due to increased globalization, along with the rise of the kind of evolutionary theories that discount the existence of God. But at the same time, reading history reminds me that men and women of every era have experienced the same issues as we have - abortion, selfishness, sexual promiscuity, worship of deities other than the God of the universe - and others we now can barely conceive of, such as murder for sport. Some of these bad things have even been done in the name of religion. It seems like humans are uniformly evil throughout history.

So with that in mind, I've been rethinking our culture and recognizing that God's common grace is extended to mankind, just as it was in the past. In the midst of the often wicked Roman empire, infrastructures were built (like roads and aqueducts) that provided the ability to develop commerce and spread ideas (such as those that Paul carried around the empire). The Middle Ages - often dark and disease-ridden, with things like the Crusades occurring - still gave rise, eventually, to the Renaissance, the printing press, vernacular Bibles, and patrons who, though often working under wildly self-important pretenses, still managed to support some of the greatest artists and spawn the Sistine Chapel. People who don't fear God still manage to develop cures to diseases and ways to preserve food; non-Christian artists, architects, doctors, scholars, writers, engineers, teachers, businessmen, and plumbers have done great work in the world, and still are today.

So whether or not this is the worst time in history, there's a lot of good going on, thanks to God's common grace. My goal in 2009 through this blog will be to unearth some of those good things, and thereby plant seeds of hope and faith, that God is in charge and working as he will on earth. There is much cause for rejoicing. I hope you'll rejoice with me.

That said, I probably will start writing again regularly in January. Have a merry Christmas!

Poetry Friday - for election week

Alissa Wilkinson — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:54:46 -0700

Election Year
By Donald Revell

A jet of mere phantom
Is a brook, as the land around
Turns rocky and hollow.
Those airplane sounds
Are the drowning of bicyclists.
Leaping, a bridesmaid leaps.
You asked for my autobiography.
Imagine the greeny clicking sound
Of hummingbirds in a dry wood,
And there you’d have it. Other birds
Pour over the walls now.
I'd never suspected: every day,
Although the nation is done for,
I find new flowers.

Poetry Friday: Mark Doty

Alissa Wilkinson — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Mark Doty is one of today's more prolific poets, and he teaches at the University of Houston. I like to think of him crouched in a corner at the gym, scribbling in a notebook, writing this poem.

At the Gym

This salt-stain spot
marks the place where men
lay down their heads,
back to the bench,

and hoist nothing
that need be lifted
but some burden they've chosen
this time: more reps,

more weight, the upward shove
of it leaving, collectively,
this sign of where we've been:
shroud-stain, negative

flashed onto the vinyl
where we push something
unyielding skyward,
gaining some power

at least over flesh,
which goads with desire,
and terrifies with frailty.
Who could say who's

added his heat to the nimbus
of our intent, here where
we make ourselves:
something difficult

lifted, pressed or curled,
Power over beauty,
power over power!
Though there's something more

tender, beneath our vanity,
our will to become objects
of desire: we sweat the mark
of our presence onto the cloth.

Here is some halo
the living made together.

Thoughts on Paul Newman and socially responsible businesses

Alissa Wilkinson — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:12:13 -0700

This article has some great thoughts on the passing of Paul Newman and the generation of socially-conscious businesses he inspired.

Poetry Friday: Charles Simic

Alissa Wilkinson — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Charles Simic is a Yugoslavian emigrant to the United States. He is prolific and decorated, but one of his major accomplishments was winning the Pulitzer in 1990 for his book of poetry, Prose Poems. He teaches at the University of New Hampshire.

In the Library

There's a book called
"A Dictionary of Angels."
No one has opened it in fifty years,
I know, because when I did,
The covers creaked, the pages
Crumbled. There I discovered
The angels were once as plentiful
As species of flies.
The sky at dusk
Used to be thick with them.
You had to wave both arms
Just to keep them away.
Now the sun is shining
Through the tall windows.
The library is a quiet place.
Angels and gods huddled
In dark unopened books.
The great secret lies
On some shelf Miss Jones
Passes every day on her rounds.
She's very tall, so she keeps
Her head tipped as if listening.
The books are whispering.
I hear nothing, but she does.

How to figure out what's going on with our economy, and have a (little) fun along the way.

Alissa Wilkinson — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:17:57 -0700

As the sky falls on Wall Street, are you confused about what happened? Not sure how this complicated chain events was started? Here's a few, interesting, and (dare I say?) entertaining resources that will help you become informed about what in the world is going on.

Written long before the crisis even began, Michael Lewis' book Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street is by far the most interesting explanation of how mortgage-backed securities were created on Wall Street in the 1980s. I read this book several years ago and it scared me - apparently, not without basis. (Lewis has a new book coming out in December, called Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity.)

I can't rave enough about NPR's This American Life; they ran a show late last year called The Giant Pool of Money (you can stream it free from that link) that explained the sub-prime mortgage crisis in a clear, interesting format with stories from those on the inside. Last week, they ran a follow-up show called Another Frightening Show About the Economy, which explains the current crisis - or at least up to last week. Each show is about an hour long and well worth your time.

Lastly, the creators of those two shows have started a podcast called Planet Money, which is about half an hour long and will help you understand our rapidly changing global economy in as painless a way as possible.

Because as they say, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Poetry Friday: Edna St. Vincent Millay

Alissa Wilkinson — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:00:00 -0700

If you don't know of Edna St. Vincent Millay, then you should - one of the New York literati during her lifetime. I used to live a block away from several places where she lived in New York's beautiful West Village. Autumn is gorgeous here, and it's no wonder that she wrote this poem.

God's World

O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!
Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!
Thy mists that roll and rise!
Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag
To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!
World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!
Long have I known a glory in it all,
But never knew I this;
Here such a passion is
As stretcheth me apart. Lord, I do fear
Thou'st made the world too beautiful this year.
My soul is all but out of me, let fall
No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.

Poetry Friday: Billy Collins

Alissa Wilkinson — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Today's poet is Billy Collins (again). Collins was on the cover of Poets and Writers' September/October issue. He also will be at the IAM conference here in New York in February.

Introduction to Poetry

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

Poetry Friday: Denise Levertov

Alissa Wilkinson — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Today, poetry from the celebrated American poet Denise Levertov. You can find out more about her and read more poems (including this one) on Poets.org.

This poem stirs my soul. It's an excerpt from a larger work.

Mass for the Day of St. Thomas Didymus [excerpt]

ii Gloria

Praise the wet snow
falling early.
Praise the shadow
my neighor's chimney casts on the tile roof
even this gray October day that should, they say,
have been golden.
Praise
the invisible sun burning beyond
the white cold sky, giving us
light and the chimney's shadow.
Praise
god or the gods, the unknown,
that which imagined us, which stays
our hand,
our murderous hand,
and gives us
still,
in the shadow of death,
our daily life,
and the dream still
of goodwill, of peace on earth.
Praise
flow and change, night and
the pulse of day.

Meal planning for the digital age

Alissa Wilkinson — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:08:17 -0700

I love my husband, and I like to make sure he has good food to eat. I also like to save money, but I want good-quality food and appreciate a relaxed grocery shopping experience, so I shop at places like Whole Foods (since we've moved out of the neighborhood with the wonderful food co-op). I like to bring my lunch to work each day, to avoid eating nutrient-deficient and/or expensive lunches out all the time. I also have very little discretionary time.

Recently, I sat back and took a good, hard look at the way I manage our food, and realized that I needed to start planning meals and grocery lists each week. But the idea of carrying around yet another notebook was daunting.

So what does a twenty-first century girl do? I pulled on my thinking cap and decided to put a few digital resources to work: the internet, and my iPhone. Here's how:

Throughout the week, as I find recipes online that I want to try, I log into Chef's Little Helper and add them to my recipe box there (you'll see why in a moment), being careful to re-word and edit recipes to fit my needs and preferences and to avoid copyright infringement. Some of my favorite resources for new recipes involving fresh, healthy ingredients are Whole Foods' website, Whole Living magazine, and the Nourishing Gourmet. I try to pick recipes that are easy and include some ingredients that I generally have on hand.

Each weekend (Saturday, usually, or sometimes Sunday afternoon), I log into Evernote and make a list of the meals for the weekdays - breakfast, lunch and dinner. I leave Saturday and Sunday largely up to discretion, as we like to go for brunch one or both of those days (brunch is a New York staple, and much cheaper than any other meal at most restaurants). I also try to pick at least one new recipe per week to try, if possible, so that we get some variety. The list is rough, but includes any entrees for dinner, as well as a note for sides (vegetables, whole grains). This also helps me know which days I'll have leftovers to bring to work and which days I'll need to come up with another option.

Evernote, brilliantly, syncs to my iPhone, so if I need to reference it in a hurry, I just pull up the list and edit at will.

Now the best part: I loaded the Chef's Little Helper application onto my iPhone. This is a free application that syncs with my Chef's Little Helper account and pulls down my recipes. I choose the recipes that I'm using that week, then tap the "Add to Shopping List" option. The application automatically adds all the ingredients to its grocery list. I can then go over to the grocery list, remove any ingredients I already have with a quick tap, add any extras and household staples such as granola, yogurt, frozen foods, and snacks, reorder the list to fit the floorplan of the store, and then I'm ready to go! (The lower-tech version of this would simply be to go through the menu and make a list of everything I need; this is just the version that works for me!)

I try to keep a healthy frozen pizza or two on hand, as well as some frozen burritos (Amy's and Whole Foods' 365 Every Day are two delicious, healthy versions), a bag of frozen veggies for days when the kale has wilted, a couple of Clif bars, and a bag of whole wheat pasta. This ensures that I can make a very quick meal if we need it, and that I have something to throw in my bag if I don't have time to pack a lunch the night before.

A note on saving money when shopping: there's a lot of talk about how shopping at Whole Foods and other natural food grocery stores is prohibitively expensive. I don't think that's necessarily true, for a few reasons:

- A few weeks ago, I ventured to our local conventional grocery store, figuring that I could save money by shopping there. Unfortunately, I was appalled at the quality of the produce, frazzled by the time I left, and my bill was twice as much as it normally is, for nothing out of the ordinary. I suspect New York City is not the exception. No savings there.

- I've noticed Whole Foods has been rolling out more products in their "generic" brand recently (365 Every Day), the price of which is easily comparable to generic brands at the conventional grocery store and a whole lot better for you. I've started buy everything from frozen foods to dish soap to grains and yogurt in this brand, and the quality is top notch.

- Whole Foods and places like it (such as food co-ops and natural food stores) generally have a commitment to providing natural, unprocessed food, often with a focus on ethical relationships with their suppliers. They provide local produce options, and have a foundation dedicated to helping people in poorer countries pursue entrepreunership. I feel more comfortable supporting a company that at least tries to espouse these values.

- Planning my grocery lists like this helps me avoid buying impulse items, food that we can't eat before it spoils, and things we shouldn't be eating anyhow - thereby saving money.

Planning meals and shopping carefully helps me feel confident that I am feeding my family (just the two of us for now) well, while being a faithful steward of the resources God has given me and reducing my strain on the world's resources.

What do you do to pursue faithfulness in feeding yourself and/or your family?