Rachel Manija Brown's Blog, page 92
April 16, 2020
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April 14, 2020
The Great Influenza, by John M. Barry. Part 1: The Warriors
He was every bit a warrior, and he hunted death.
Barry has a very distinctive, bombastic style. The introduction in particular feels like it should be scored with Beethoven's Ninth. It tells a compelling story, of the beginning of the pandemic, and asserts, bolstered by Goethe quotes because why not, that the pandemic transformed medicine and science worldwide but especially in America.
Barry then plunges into a summary of the entire history of science and medicine in the western world, especially post-colonial America, before plunging even more enthusiastically into an account of the founding of Johns Hopkins and one of its founders, William Welch, on whom Barry seems to have a massive crush.
These hundreds of the world's leading scientists had measured him as coldly and objectively as they measured everything and found him worthy.
His legacy was not objectively measurable [I guess except to those scientists] but it was nonetheless real. It lay in his ability to stir other men's souls.
Barry then goes on and on and on about how charming Welch was. It doesn't really come across, unfortunately. His best friend apparently fall unrequitedly in love with him, they had a huge fight, and Welch never got intimate or even emotionally close to anyone ever again.
Also, he studied in Germany at a time when American medical schools were basically totally useless, unregulated diploma mills. He returned to teach at the newly founded Johns Hopkins, which was the first academically rigorous American medical school, where he charmed everyone in his path - again, this is told not shown. He sure charmed Barry, though!
Barry is clearly a member of the "Great White Men" school of historians.
Takeaways: Johns Hopkins transformed American medicine from completely backward to comparable with Europe. Germ theory at this time was beginning to take precedence over the competing "miasma" and "filth" theories. (Filth theory was so close! Disease really was spread by sewage, rats, fleas, etc. It was just caused by bacteria or viruses carried in filth, not directly by the filth itself.)
Also, Welch was the best. THE BEST.
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History[image error]
[image error] [image error]
comments
Barry has a very distinctive, bombastic style. The introduction in particular feels like it should be scored with Beethoven's Ninth. It tells a compelling story, of the beginning of the pandemic, and asserts, bolstered by Goethe quotes because why not, that the pandemic transformed medicine and science worldwide but especially in America.
Barry then plunges into a summary of the entire history of science and medicine in the western world, especially post-colonial America, before plunging even more enthusiastically into an account of the founding of Johns Hopkins and one of its founders, William Welch, on whom Barry seems to have a massive crush.
These hundreds of the world's leading scientists had measured him as coldly and objectively as they measured everything and found him worthy.
His legacy was not objectively measurable [I guess except to those scientists] but it was nonetheless real. It lay in his ability to stir other men's souls.
Barry then goes on and on and on about how charming Welch was. It doesn't really come across, unfortunately. His best friend apparently fall unrequitedly in love with him, they had a huge fight, and Welch never got intimate or even emotionally close to anyone ever again.
Also, he studied in Germany at a time when American medical schools were basically totally useless, unregulated diploma mills. He returned to teach at the newly founded Johns Hopkins, which was the first academically rigorous American medical school, where he charmed everyone in his path - again, this is told not shown. He sure charmed Barry, though!
Barry is clearly a member of the "Great White Men" school of historians.
Takeaways: Johns Hopkins transformed American medicine from completely backward to comparable with Europe. Germ theory at this time was beginning to take precedence over the competing "miasma" and "filth" theories. (Filth theory was so close! Disease really was spread by sewage, rats, fleas, etc. It was just caused by bacteria or viruses carried in filth, not directly by the filth itself.)
Also, Welch was the best. THE BEST.
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History[image error]
[image error] [image error]
comments
Join me in a FOOD flashfic fanfic fest!
Flash in the Pan is a 300 word-minimum flashfic fanfic exchange centered around FOOD, with an excellent opt-in system for common DNWS.
Tags are open for nominating, but sign-ups end TONIGHT. Flashfic exchanges have short writing periods - they're like the last-minute scramble to get a story in before the Yuletide archive closes.
Sign-up Closes: Tue 14 Apr 2020 11:59PM ADT (07:59PM PDT)
Assignments Due: Sat 18 Apr 2020 12:50AM ADT (08:50PM PDT)
Works Revealed: Sat 18 Apr 2020 01:50AM ADT (09:50PM PDT)
Creators Revealed: Mon 20 Apr 2020 12:00AM ADT (08:00PM PDT)
Check out the delightful freeform tags!
A Preposterously Juicy Mango
Adventures with sourdough starter
Character(s) Keep Cultural Tradition Alive Through Cooking
Choking Down Terrible State Dinner
I Must Trust You If I'm Eating Something That Could Be Poisoned
Mortal Food is Surprisingly Edible
Orchestrating An Elaborate Heist To Steal The Only Copy Of A Secret Recipe
The Pot-Luck From Hell
These Food Cans Don't Have Any Labels So Dinner Will Be Whatever We Find When We Open Them
Two Characters Who Don't Like Each Other Must Grudgingly Work Together To Cook A Feast
Fantasyland Characters Discover That Cooked Giant Spider Tastes Like Crab. This Changes Everything
Please join me to write about my favorite thing, FOOD. The minimum word-count is only 300, and will be a delightful distraction.
ETA: My own requests are currently at the top of the page here.
comments
Tags are open for nominating, but sign-ups end TONIGHT. Flashfic exchanges have short writing periods - they're like the last-minute scramble to get a story in before the Yuletide archive closes.
Sign-up Closes: Tue 14 Apr 2020 11:59PM ADT (07:59PM PDT)
Assignments Due: Sat 18 Apr 2020 12:50AM ADT (08:50PM PDT)
Works Revealed: Sat 18 Apr 2020 01:50AM ADT (09:50PM PDT)
Creators Revealed: Mon 20 Apr 2020 12:00AM ADT (08:00PM PDT)
Check out the delightful freeform tags!
A Preposterously Juicy Mango
Adventures with sourdough starter
Character(s) Keep Cultural Tradition Alive Through Cooking
Choking Down Terrible State Dinner
I Must Trust You If I'm Eating Something That Could Be Poisoned
Mortal Food is Surprisingly Edible
Orchestrating An Elaborate Heist To Steal The Only Copy Of A Secret Recipe
The Pot-Luck From Hell
These Food Cans Don't Have Any Labels So Dinner Will Be Whatever We Find When We Open Them
Two Characters Who Don't Like Each Other Must Grudgingly Work Together To Cook A Feast
Fantasyland Characters Discover That Cooked Giant Spider Tastes Like Crab. This Changes Everything
Please join me to write about my favorite thing, FOOD. The minimum word-count is only 300, and will be a delightful distraction.
ETA: My own requests are currently at the top of the page here.
comments
April 13, 2020
Help me make butternut squash edible to me
I have two butternut squashes (hard-skinned yellow squash), delivered to me as an emergency substitution for something I actually like. I can't return them because coronavirus, I don't generally like squash, and my neighbors don't want them.
My exception to the squash hate is when it's a savory dish that tones down the sweetness. The only time I've ever liked pumpkin was a savory dish I had at a banquet in Taipei with, I think, dried shrimp. Please suggest to me a savory dish, ideally some kind of Asian, which I can make with this squash.
I do not have dried shrimp, but I do have fish sauce and furikake. I don't have pureeing equipment.
comments
My exception to the squash hate is when it's a savory dish that tones down the sweetness. The only time I've ever liked pumpkin was a savory dish I had at a banquet in Taipei with, I think, dried shrimp. Please suggest to me a savory dish, ideally some kind of Asian, which I can make with this squash.
I do not have dried shrimp, but I do have fish sauce and furikake. I don't have pureeing equipment.
comments
April 12, 2020
Pandemic Book Club
I fully expect that only me and Oyce actually want to do this, but just in case anyone else is interested and wants to read along, we're doing an informal pandemic book club.
We're going to start with The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History[image error] by John M. Barry. It's fairly long/dense, so we'll read and post in sections. After that, we'll read some other pandemic books (mentioned in the first link).
No strict timeline, no actual rules. Basically we're just interested in learning more about pandemics. If you want to read other pandemic books, go for it and please link me. If you want to rec other pandemic books, please do!
[image error] [image error]
comments
We're going to start with The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History[image error] by John M. Barry. It's fairly long/dense, so we'll read and post in sections. After that, we'll read some other pandemic books (mentioned in the first link).
No strict timeline, no actual rules. Basically we're just interested in learning more about pandemics. If you want to read other pandemic books, go for it and please link me. If you want to rec other pandemic books, please do!
[image error] [image error]
comments
April 9, 2020
Why is this seder different from every other seder?
1. It's a zeder (Zoom seder).
2. Everybody's video worked but mine.
I have no idea why that happened. My Zoom was fine the day before. We tried using different browsers, different invites, even different computers - I tried on both of mine. No matter what, Zoom said my video was working, but my camera light didn't turn on and I appeared as an audio-only black square. Very frustrating.
On the plus side, I really leveled up my cooking skills. I made matzah, matzah balls from my matzah, crisp-skinned braised duck with root vegetables, huevos haminados, and improvised charoset from what I had (pistachios, apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, red wine).
Everything came out good, and the duck and charoset came out GREAT. A+, will definitely make again. You can see pics on Instagram.
Next year in Jerusalem. Or better yet, in person.
comments
2. Everybody's video worked but mine.
I have no idea why that happened. My Zoom was fine the day before. We tried using different browsers, different invites, even different computers - I tried on both of mine. No matter what, Zoom said my video was working, but my camera light didn't turn on and I appeared as an audio-only black square. Very frustrating.
On the plus side, I really leveled up my cooking skills. I made matzah, matzah balls from my matzah, crisp-skinned braised duck with root vegetables, huevos haminados, and improvised charoset from what I had (pistachios, apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, red wine).
Everything came out good, and the duck and charoset came out GREAT. A+, will definitely make again. You can see pics on Instagram.
Next year in Jerusalem. Or better yet, in person.
comments
April 8, 2020
Matzah!
Look, I made my own!
ETA: You can follow my adventures on Instagram, I'm updating live.
I attempted to do it in 18 minutes while having a Zoom chat with friends. This was beset by a number of technical difficulties. But I emerged with both the chat and the matzah!
My neighbor left a bottle of wine for me, hidden on her doorstep between two planters. Today I am going to attempt matzah ball soup (with the homemade broth she also left for me), charoset (I crushed pistachio nuts yesterday with a rolling pin while watching Mr. Robot), and crisp-braised duck legs with all the root vegetables that have been sadly lurking in my fridge or cabinets for much too long.
This pandemic combined with my chest freezer has made me WAY better at not wasting food. Previously I didn't have room to freeze much, and also had a lot more distractions. All the same, I selected the duck recipe specifically to use up beets, etc, which are otherwise going to go bad.
The turnips are a lost cause - everyone says they become very bitter once they start sprouting, and they look like a forest. I think I'm going to plant them instead, and get turnip greens.
Chag sameach!
comments
ETA: You can follow my adventures on Instagram, I'm updating live.
I attempted to do it in 18 minutes while having a Zoom chat with friends. This was beset by a number of technical difficulties. But I emerged with both the chat and the matzah!
My neighbor left a bottle of wine for me, hidden on her doorstep between two planters. Today I am going to attempt matzah ball soup (with the homemade broth she also left for me), charoset (I crushed pistachio nuts yesterday with a rolling pin while watching Mr. Robot), and crisp-braised duck legs with all the root vegetables that have been sadly lurking in my fridge or cabinets for much too long.
This pandemic combined with my chest freezer has made me WAY better at not wasting food. Previously I didn't have room to freeze much, and also had a lot more distractions. All the same, I selected the duck recipe specifically to use up beets, etc, which are otherwise going to go bad.
The turnips are a lost cause - everyone says they become very bitter once they start sprouting, and they look like a forest. I think I'm going to plant them instead, and get turnip greens.
Chag sameach!
comments
April 7, 2020
If you like Hamilton...
Watch this, it will make your day. A little girl gets a quarantine surprise. I basically was that girl while watching this video.
comments
comments
Next year in Jerusalem
Improvised from limited materials, scattered and separated, in a time of plague, living under an evil pharaoh, deciding whether to go with the word or the spirit of the law: this is going to be the most Jewish Passover ever.
I'm doing mine myself for the first time, over Zoom with the friends whose home I would normally be at. I'm not very observant, so I am not being strict AT ALL. Here's my plans and thoughts - please feel free to make suggestions.
I've emailed a neighbor to see if she can give me a bottle of wine, as I only have whiskey, beer, and sake.
I do not have matzo. I'm planning to make my own. In 18 minutes, just to see how that works out.
I have chicken broth and vegetables, but only AP and bread flour. I have eggs and also noodles. Should I attempt to make matzo balls from flour, or do noodles instead? (I think I'd lose my mind making enough matzo to grind into flour, especially as I have neither a food processor nor a mortar.)
I have apples and pistachios, from which I plan to make charoset.
I think I have horseradish sauce somewhere in the fridge. If I don't, what's a good substitute? I have fresh garlic, lots of fresh herbs, and powdered spices.
I have eggs. Has anyone ever tried roasting rather than boiling them?
I have a confit duck leg that I'm going to use for both my main dish and the shank bone. Or I could roast a carrot for the shank bone.
I have parsley and many other herbs.
Please feel free to make suggestions in comments. I'd also love to hear your plans and thoughts on your own Passovers!
ETA: Neighbor is buying me wine (she's hitting Trader Joe's tomorrow morning anyway) and is also leaving me a jar of homemade chicken stock she made yesterday!
comments
I'm doing mine myself for the first time, over Zoom with the friends whose home I would normally be at. I'm not very observant, so I am not being strict AT ALL. Here's my plans and thoughts - please feel free to make suggestions.
I've emailed a neighbor to see if she can give me a bottle of wine, as I only have whiskey, beer, and sake.
I do not have matzo. I'm planning to make my own. In 18 minutes, just to see how that works out.
I have chicken broth and vegetables, but only AP and bread flour. I have eggs and also noodles. Should I attempt to make matzo balls from flour, or do noodles instead? (I think I'd lose my mind making enough matzo to grind into flour, especially as I have neither a food processor nor a mortar.)
I have apples and pistachios, from which I plan to make charoset.
I think I have horseradish sauce somewhere in the fridge. If I don't, what's a good substitute? I have fresh garlic, lots of fresh herbs, and powdered spices.
I have eggs. Has anyone ever tried roasting rather than boiling them?
I have a confit duck leg that I'm going to use for both my main dish and the shank bone. Or I could roast a carrot for the shank bone.
I have parsley and many other herbs.
Please feel free to make suggestions in comments. I'd also love to hear your plans and thoughts on your own Passovers!
ETA: Neighbor is buying me wine (she's hitting Trader Joe's tomorrow morning anyway) and is also leaving me a jar of homemade chicken stock she made yesterday!
comments
April 4, 2020
On reading the news
If there is one piece of advice that is as omnipresent as "wash your hands," it's "limit your exposure to the news."
In general, this is excellent advice. If it works for you, and it seems to work for most people, great! Definitely limit your news exposure!
However, even the best advice regarding mental health, as opposed to public health, is not going to be right for everyone. And if the universal advice doesn't work for you, then you end up not only struggling with the issue the advice was supposed to help, but feeling like it's your own fault for failing to take it and that you're Doing It Wrong.
I'm definitely not in the category of people who are floating through this time totally unaffected in a enlightened cloud of peace. I'm finding it very difficult to concentrate on anything. With all the time in the world to read and watch Netflix, I haven't been doing much of that. I'm writing some, but it's not easy. I've baked bread exactly once since this all began.
The problem, of course, is that so much of my mental space is occupied by pandemic, there isn't room for much else. This is exactly the problem that is supposed to be solved by limiting my exposure to pandemic news. However, I find that if I stop reading pandemic news not because I want to stop, but because I think it's good for me to stop, the result is not that I go do something peaceful and/or productive. Instead, I putter around doing nothing at all while thinking about the news I'm not reading. I look up, and the day is gone. For me, this is not a better alternative.
Yes, ideally this is not what would happen. Ideally I would occupy the no-news space with something else. But that is not what is actually happening.
So I have decided to read all the news I want. If that means a couple hours in the morning before I go on to to other things, fine. If it means all day, fine.
This is a unique, world-changing, life-changing event. It's not weird or wrong to be struggling. It's not weird or wrong to want to know what's going on. And in terms of your own coping mechanisms, there's no right or wrong way to react to it. Yes, we should be doing what we can to preserve our mental health, but pressuring yourself to be mentally healthy can just mean you're pressuring yourself.
I am more relaxed obsessively reading news than I am blaming myself for obsessively reading news, or by having to exert stringent willpower to not read the news, or by staring at a page of a book for hours while wondering what's on the news. I spent a couple days doing nothing but reading the news, and today I read it for a couple hours, and now want to spend the rest of the day gardening.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for your mental health is to give yourself permission to not do the thing everyone says is the mentally healthy thing to do.
comments
In general, this is excellent advice. If it works for you, and it seems to work for most people, great! Definitely limit your news exposure!
However, even the best advice regarding mental health, as opposed to public health, is not going to be right for everyone. And if the universal advice doesn't work for you, then you end up not only struggling with the issue the advice was supposed to help, but feeling like it's your own fault for failing to take it and that you're Doing It Wrong.
I'm definitely not in the category of people who are floating through this time totally unaffected in a enlightened cloud of peace. I'm finding it very difficult to concentrate on anything. With all the time in the world to read and watch Netflix, I haven't been doing much of that. I'm writing some, but it's not easy. I've baked bread exactly once since this all began.
The problem, of course, is that so much of my mental space is occupied by pandemic, there isn't room for much else. This is exactly the problem that is supposed to be solved by limiting my exposure to pandemic news. However, I find that if I stop reading pandemic news not because I want to stop, but because I think it's good for me to stop, the result is not that I go do something peaceful and/or productive. Instead, I putter around doing nothing at all while thinking about the news I'm not reading. I look up, and the day is gone. For me, this is not a better alternative.
Yes, ideally this is not what would happen. Ideally I would occupy the no-news space with something else. But that is not what is actually happening.
So I have decided to read all the news I want. If that means a couple hours in the morning before I go on to to other things, fine. If it means all day, fine.
This is a unique, world-changing, life-changing event. It's not weird or wrong to be struggling. It's not weird or wrong to want to know what's going on. And in terms of your own coping mechanisms, there's no right or wrong way to react to it. Yes, we should be doing what we can to preserve our mental health, but pressuring yourself to be mentally healthy can just mean you're pressuring yourself.
I am more relaxed obsessively reading news than I am blaming myself for obsessively reading news, or by having to exert stringent willpower to not read the news, or by staring at a page of a book for hours while wondering what's on the news. I spent a couple days doing nothing but reading the news, and today I read it for a couple hours, and now want to spend the rest of the day gardening.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for your mental health is to give yourself permission to not do the thing everyone says is the mentally healthy thing to do.
comments
