Voted Off the Island

FLOTUS in the ATL

Phil Skinner, [email protected]

First Lady Michelle Obama was in Atlanta yesterday to talk about Let's Move! her initiative to restore healthy food choices for school meals and to inspire American families to fight childhood obesity.

Her speech at North Point Community Church (Andy Stanley's congregation) was terrific.  Read it and remember the days when you could really BE a free range kid who stayed outdoors until called home for dinner. 

And she quoted my friend Aaron Mark, proud dad of Murray!

Aaron Marks, a father from Decatur, Georgia, wasn't happy when he found out that his four year-old son was eating pizza for breakfast at school...and donuts and cookies for snacks. So he talked to the school administrators. He joined the school's nutrition committee. And he helped raise money to plant a garden. As he put it: "You just can't take no for an answer. You have to be tenacious." So it's never easy.

I'm Not Dreaming -- A White Jewish Christmas!

The setting:  Oriental Pearl Restaurant (famous for dim sum), 6:45 pm on Christmas. 

The expectation:  Jammed with Jews like us, lining up to chow down after a movie.

The reality:  The place is empty.  Seriously empty.
A couple of Asian families with kids, and a handful of gringoes like us.

The reason:  Not merely snow, but fluffly snow that was actually sticking.

The reaction:  Pure Panic!

The waiter:  "Chinese people scared to drive in snow."

Joe College Is Home

Joe College is home...and all is right with the world.

Boughetto

 

Boughetto. Fabulous word.  Hilarious word. Bougie + Ghetto = Boughetto. Heard it from Kandi, one of the Atlanta Housewives, describing Phaedra's over-the-top baby shower.  Figured Kandi made it up, and laughed my head off. What the hell do I know.

Nothing, apparently, because "Bughetto" is not only part of the language, it's a rap song from the album Heavy Starch featuring Murphy Lee.

According to the Urban Dictionary

1.	boujetto (boughetto)
	Combination of bein bougie (snobby) and ghetto. invented by Ali and Murphey Lee a couple years ago by their song 'boughetto'. "If you got an expensive weave - That's boughetto! Spend six hundred on weed - That's boughetto! Benz while ya sittin on D's - That's boughetto! Tell em what's boughetto - Bougie and ghetto!"

Wonders of the South: Porch Swings @ the Capitol

I've been to Atlanta's s-called "Twin Towers" many times, but honestly never noticed the porch swings out front.  Today they looked so lovely I stopped to sit and then just had to take a picture.

This building, known as the James H. "Sloppy" Floyd Building, is ground zero for Georgia's governmental offices. I was there because it's home to the Georgia Department of Education, where I hang out professionally these days.  There's a big room up at the top where meetings and luncheons are held called "Top of the Slop."

It's pretty sweet to have a human thing like a porch swing in a venue that's all about bureaucracy (at its worst) and about democracy (at its best).

What is now the site of Atlanta's Twin Towers was originally the Atlanta Steam Flouring Mills, operated by W.G. Peters and Company. And after that, a pistol factory.

"It consisted of wood frame buildings with good solid stone foundations and enclosed with a good fence consisting of one large framed house with three stories and one story office, storehouse and smith shop. The building was leased by Spiller and Burr to be used as a pistol factory in June 1862. It operated until January 1864, when it was purchased by the Confederate States and the operations moved to the Macon Armory."

Swing on, oh wheels of progress and government!

Turn Your Weber Into a Pizza Oven

Saw this today on Serious Eats.  Brilliant.  "Need" this.  After dreaming of a wood-fired pizza oven, this may have to do. Pricey at $79.95 + shipping, but it comes with a thermometer, which would be handy even when grilling other things. 

The Pizza Kettle ($79.95) is an aftermarket insert that turns your Weber Kettle grill into a sort of coal-fired pizza oven. It basically "extends" the height of your grill enough to give it an oven mouth that you can slide pizzas in and out of. The lid stays on, with the idea being that the temperature stays high enough inside to cook the pizzas under the same intense heat that the best wood- and coal-fired ovens reach.

Massachusetts inventor Al Contarino makes the Kettle Pizza Oven and sells it from Main Street Hardware in North Andover, Massachusetts. It's $79.95. You can also buy it online via eBay.

Bye Bye Baby. . .Goin' to College

His bags are packed.  We're ready to go.  I'm standing here outside his door.  I hate to wake him up to say, "let's go." But the Jetta's waiting, his flight's at 2:00. . . what's an empty nest mom gonna do?"  

I knew this day would come, but not so fast, not so fast!

Memorial Day

I met an actual Tuskegee Airman in Atlanta last week. The airmen were the first squadron of African American military pilots in the United States armed forces.  They came from all over the United States, trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field (TAAF) in Tuskegee Alabama and fought in World War II. This handsome, pepper-haired gentleman was attending a session on educational funding for children of color who now comprise the majority of students in public schools in the American South.  His entire life has been one of service, leadership and stewardship.

He told me about his distinguished and well educated children.  I told him about my Brooklyn-born, Jewish father, a child of immigrants, who fought in the Pacific.  We shook hands and I thanked him for defending our country and setting an example for generations to come.

Remember them.

A Peek Inside Jane Fonda's Loft

Ah Jane, your talent is immense and you face lift must have really done the trick.  You're leaving Atlanta, going to L.A. to be with a new boyfriend and make more movies.  Cool for you. Sad for us. 

Everyone knew where your Atlanta loft was. I even have a friend who had dinner there.  I always wondered what it looked like inside.  Jane, you probably don't remember, but my former husband actually bid on you at a school auction and you drove over in your Prius and ate dinner at our house.  

Well now before you go, we can all have a peek at your pad.

King of Pops

Happy happy joy joy.  Steve Carse, The King Of Pops, a hip-flavors popsicle guy who sells from a cart, has now parked himself more or less permanently at the corner of North Highland and North Avenue.  Sadly and gladly for me, this is right smack on my route home.  Steve's luscious popsicles are a perfect little snack when I've skipped lunch and don't really have any plans for dinner, but they're a tough street food temptation on a day when I've already maxed out on carbs -- which is most days actually.

So far I've sampled grapefruit & mint (4 stars), and blood orange (4 stars), and pineapple ginger. (31/2 stars).  All were fresh and bright and clean tasting. Just delish. By the time I roll in at the end of the day, some flavors are already sold out.  

See the website for a list of other stores that carry these yummies.