March 03, 2024
# 1647
International Women’s Day
Post 1647
Poster for Women's Day, March 8, 1914, demanding voting rights for women.
Karl Maria Stadler (1888 – nach 1943) - Scan from an old book
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COVER:
International Women's Day, celebrated on March 8th each year, is both a global day recognizing the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women and a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
The beginnings of International Women’s Day are generally rooted in the early 1900s, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world, booming population growth, and the rise of radical ideologies. The specific originating event is likely 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter hours, better pay, and voting rights.
In 1910, Clara Zetkin, a leader of the 'Women's Office' for the Social Democratic Party in Germany, suggested the idea of an International Women's Day at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen.
IWD was first celebrated in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies campaigning for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, hold public office, and end discrimination.
However, it wasn't until 1975, during International Women's Year, that the United Nations began celebrating International Women's Day on March 8th.
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day 2024 is “Inspire Inclusion.”
Develop a sense of belonging, relevance, and empowerment throughout the world.
Develop a world where every woman and girl can thrive without barriers.
This powerful theme emphasizes the need for collective action to dismantle the systemic inequalities that hinder women's progress in society.
Across the globe, individuals and organizations participate in events, discussions, and initiatives that honor the achievements of women, while also highlighting the work that still needs to be done to achieve gender equality.
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Commentary
My mother was not one for entertaining;
her nerves often got the better of her.
So hosting a lunch for three of her closest friends in our tiny apartment was a once in a lifetime occasion.
But she was a brilliant cook,
able to make the humble Tuna Fish Sandwich fit for a meal to serve Julia Child.
On this special day, mom reserved the final thirty minutes before her guests’ arrival to execute the recipe.
To her dismay, the guests arrived a half-hour early.
My mother tried to smile, offering her guests some feeble excuse for her glistening eyes.
I was only eight but could see her anguish.
Without being asked,
without having had any prior hands-on experience other than
casually watching my mother at work,
I began to gather the ingredients she would be needing
when she finished welcoming her guests, getting them drinks, non-alcoholic, and making them comfortable.
Tuna Fish, can opener, celery, red onion, olives, lettuce, oil, mayonnaise, salt, pepper, a bowl, a knife,
I hope you’re recording this for your own use,
and of course the loaf of fresh, crusty Italian bread out of the oven for a scant hour.
I know. I had gone out to buy it.
I finished the mis en place but
Mom was still entertaining, so I figured to begin the chop.
You get the point.
I prepared then blended the ingredients; and stuffed the sandwiches.
You should have heard the oohs and ahs
when the guests bit into the sandwiches.
I never forgot how good it felt to bring pleasure to people through food.
I was eight and from then on a regular kitchen helper.
Who knew that in the future,
after high school,
after a BA from BU and
an LLB from BC,
after I passed the Massachusetts bar exam,
I would spend the next 30 years of my life operating a restaurant?
Who could recognize the magic in that spontaneous embrace of mother’s apprentice, or
as we called into in the trade, cook’s ass?
Love tuna salad sandwiches
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Kat’s Gen Z Corner
Life on the Ashram
(Trigger warning: woo-woo rants ahead!)
Sleeping Cat
Setting Sun
The Timeless One
Spending a month at this eco-ashram in Mysore will forever be my biggest blessing. I feel like my baseline way of being has softened. Even as I’ve begun the most intense job of my life, I’m more of a witness of myself, observing my body and mind react from a place of stillness rather than embodying their fluctuations. I really understand, for the first time, that peace is available at any moment. It’s a conscious choice, albeit a difficult one, that’s worth fighting for.
Every day began with 5:30am meditation overlooking the river, then 1 hour of pranayama (breathwork practice), 3 hours of asanas (yoga), 2 hours of Ayurveda, anatomy, or yoga lectures, and 1.5 hours of yoga philosophy. Plus a few hours of break to eat veggies from the farm, learn 1-1 with the overly generous and gifted staff, and chat amongst friends.
The woman along this journey with me radically altered my understanding of friendship and love. For 30 days straight, we were in complete communion with one another. Slowly eating curried okra and soy milk tea in silence. Holding hands while soaking up the energy of the full moon. Meditating on a mantra inside a Tibetan Buddhist temple. Swapping stories of life journeys and creating unconditional space for each other. During our time, we all cried, at least once. We’ve now scattered to various corners across the world, many continuing their enviable Eat, Pray, Love-esque memories, and others are finding ways to integrate their learnings back into their homes. I’ve cried so much thinking that I might never see some of these women again.
What I hope to take with me, however, is a more true understanding of yoga. The practice, really, is to increase energy, focus attention, and heighten awareness. Yoga is not competitions of flexibility or strength, although those can be positive externalities of the practice. (The west is largely lost on this point.) Yoga is about becoming in tune with God within you and deeply knowing that with right intention and effort, the universe has your back. Creating a life out of satiating our desires, running after sense gratification and away from ourselves, is not the right way. We must interrogate why we do the things we do and are the way we are. It’s not easy business, but it’s our only real chance at sustainable contentment. Reminding myself of this as often as I can is the essence of the practice, and I hope to remain committed.
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Tucker’s Corner
In honor of International Women’s Day I wanted to dedicate my column this week to some of the world’s greatest filmmakers. Women are responsible for some of the best films we have and often are the driving force behind many great male directed films as well. Women are rarely given the same opportunities as men and that’s true in the film world too unfortunately. Thankfully this list of women account for some of best artists humanity has ever produced and I encourage anyone reading this who is curious to take a look at their work. You will be better for it.
Here’s my list of favorite female directors, a link to a catalogue of their work as well as my favorite of their films.
Chantal Akerman - Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles
Claire Denis - Beau Travail
Jane Campion - The Piano
Penny Marshall - A League of Their Own
Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird
Agnes Varda - Cleo From 5 to 7
Debra Granik - Winter’s Bone
Kathryn Bigelow - K19: The Widowmaker
Lilly and Lana Wachowski - The Matrix
Sofia Coppola - The Virgin Suicides
Lynne Ramsay - You Were Never Really Here
Elaine May - Mikey and Nicky
Mary Harron - American Psycho
Ava DuVernay - Selma
Chloe Zhao - The Rider
Julie Dash - Daughters of the Dust
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Trouble the Living
by my granddaughter
I loved it the first time I read it.
I loved it again last week when I reread it.
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Ist of month health report: March 3 issue of existentialautotrip
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MONTHLY HEALTH REPORT CARD: of an 81-year-old male.
March 3, 2024
Natural Physiological Change
Nothing out of the ordinary.
Grade: A- down from an A
Hamstrings are a great bother.
Weight-lifting
I missed too many days in February due to hamstring issues.
Grade: C, down from a B
Walking
February was not a good walking month. The cold makes it very unpleasant for me.
My hamstring issues making things worse.
Grade: C, two months now
Illness
All well. Got another treatment for a common and not worrisome skin cancer. Had a biopsy that came back as benign.
Grade: B, down from A
Injury
In January, I had the worst muscle cramping in my life.
My hamstrings seized up on me late in the evening and i had to slide to the floor to stretch them out.
Past seizures were over in five minutes.Not this night.
Fifteen minutes, the seizure lasted.
At 11.15pm, alone in my apartment, feeling vulnerable, my body in a profuse sweat, the pain a severe 7 of 10.
I sent the details of the event to my caregivers and got an appointment.
Like other similar issues, the doctor listened politely but said there was nothing they could do.
Frustrating.
Grade B+, down from A+
Weight
(Using only weight as a measure of health is simplistic. I know. Health care specialists consider an entire range of metrics. Two commonly used indicators are the Body Mass Index that takes into account a person's weight and height. And Body composition, considering the distribution of body fat and muscle mass rather than solely focusing on weight. But this analysis of the state of our health is meant to be doable in our regular day’s living. We’ll use simple body weight and take other steps when we feel things going really poorly.)
My weight is pretty good.
Grade B
Oral Health
I have no teeth or gum issues.
I brush and floss regularly.
Get a cleaning twice a year.
Grade A+
Substance Abuse
My morning coffee is now 10oz of a half-caffeine free and half regular. I am drinking two glasses of wine at dinner time and never other.
This grade is based on the total absence of stimulants and mind-bending substances. My grade stays unchanged.
Grade: B+, no change
Stress Management
Being retired and living alone I am deprived of the joys of gainful employment and daily social intercourse. But, on the other hand, I have the pleasure of a multitude of happy relationships.
I took three nights and four days to and from Cancun. Relaxing.
Grade: B+, no change
Sleep
My sleep is excellent compared to my past life. Am taking no sleep aids whatever, and I always get between 5 and 5.5 hours sleep.
Continuing for me.
Grade: A-
Regularity
I maintain a decently balanced diet which is not only good for my weight-control, but also for my regularity.
Grade: B+
Memory
I do a lot to stay mentally active. One of my primary activities is writing. I recently published a book I edited, I work on this magazine, a website I am constructing for the North End is in its alpha testing phase, and I have completed my novel.
My other major memory activity is meal preparation, from the planning of the menu, the shopping, and the preparation which sometimes involves me in writing recipes.
Yet, despite all I do, memory loss is real and a nuisance: I am the subject of those 1,000 jokes about walking into a room and wondering what I’m doing here.
Grade: B+.
Beautiful panorama of the traditional medical profession. Notice the doctor in the foreground contemplating his patient, intrigued, trying to scrutinize the pathophysiology to achieve an effective therapy. We also see the sick girl, possibly victim of some of the terrible incurable infectious febrile diseases in the preantibiotic era, pale, weak, asleep. Deep down we see the dismayed mother, worried, hoping for the best. Also notable is the expression of the father, who cannot contain his concern about his daughter's illness, but who has to remain calm to give comfort to the grieving mother.
Luke Fildes - Unknown source
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Food
PASTA CARBONARA
1lb bucatini or other strand pasta
Tracking the pasta
Cook the pasta al dente. Just before draining, reserve a cup of the starchy water. Toss the drained pasta in the pork fat and pieces.
Tracking the pork
6oz guanciale or other similar smoky fatty pork product rendered in fry pan large enough to hold the just drained pasta so you may toss it with the rendered pork and liquefaction. Catch every bit of the pork flavor.
Tracking the egg mixture
Break 2 whole eggs and 2 egg yolks into a bowl and whisk them together. Stir in the cup of reserved starchy water, the 1/2t freshly ground black pepper, and a cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano freshly grated.
Last Step
Pour the egg mixture over the pasta now coated with the pork fat and stir the pasta and sauce vigorously for 30 plus seconds or until the mixture has turned creamy. An effective stirrer is the handle end of a wooden spoon.
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Chuckles and Thoughts
"I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done."
Steven Wright
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Six Word Stories
Fragile hearts, strong bonds, unbreakable love.
A man writing at his desk, 1784
Jan Ekels II
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts, including links.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
text to 617.852.7192
I got this poster from dear friend and fellow North Ender, Dr. Jessica Dello Russo, Ph.D. Her father, Nicholas Dello Russo, is a renowned historian of Boston’s North End. Jessica is following his footsteps. I had the great pleasure of being in the audience a week ago when she spoke for an hour on the history of Jews in the North End. The library was packed, SRO and that was packed. And she was great.
Lots to look at on this poster, from the Book Launch in St Leonard’s Church to the NEHS to the Noble Journey.
And this one from daughter Kat. I sent her a 20-yeat-old picture of her first classmates and asked her if she remembered.
Yumeno! Of course I remember. Maybe one of my first friends I still remember.
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Last Comment
Run, Nikki, Run!
Restaurants that support the North End website we edit and publish: questonorthend.org
Bricco - Our talented kitchen team creates “boutique” Italian food, so-called because it is unique, personal and created for a select and sophisticated diner. The food is complemented by an enoteca (wine bar) with an exceptional selection of all-Italian wines. Our chic and energetic bar serves up great one of a kind cocktails as well as brick oven pizza with gourmet toppings such as prosciutto and fresh mozzarella from Italy in addition with appetizer selections.
Umbria - This classic Italian Steakhouse features rustic cuisine of the region of Umbria as well as a wide selection of Italian-style steak cuts. In addition to the rustic cuisine, guest can also enjoy food and beverages on the rooftop lounge Mia which opens shortly.
Mare - A modern Italian seafood restaurant and oyster bar in Boston’s North End, offering a plentiful variety of options from the sea.
Quattro - Inspired by Italy’s passion for high quality foods prepared with fresh ingredients, Quattro brings delicious foods from simple locally grown ingredients. Frank DePasquale does something few restaurateurs have every tried, melding a full service restaurant that serves wine, beer and cordials with a kitchen equipped with a rotisserie, a char broiler and an authentic Neapolitan brick style pizza oven.
Trattoria Il Panino - Located right down the main vein of Hanover Street is Trattoria Il Panino, “Boston’s first original trattoria.” Our famous pasta dishes are best enjoyed on our covered patio area, open to the breeze and the sidewalk which is prime for enjoying the ambiance of the North End. Our menu combines traditional Italian cuisine with only the freshest of ingredients.
Aqua Pazza - Charming neighborhood hideaway serving cuisine-jumping Mediterranean small plates.
Assaggio - Intimate bi-level eatery for romantic dining, offering Italian-American classics & a full bar.
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