First Person Singular by Wendy Braitman

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? A Vegetarian

My Christmas Eve dinner menu was set until yesterday, when I learned that one of the guests is a vegetarian. Actually, he’s a pescatarian, but that didn’t let me off the hook, since the main course I’d planned was filled with meat. For about a minute, I considered racing off to Santa Monica Seafood, which is hands down, the best place in L.A. to buy fish. But the idea of waiting in a frantic line was more than I could deal with. I quickly flipped through my most reliable cookbooks, and came across a delicious spanakopitas recipe that I’d served the last time vegetarians came for a meal. The Christmas miracle? I had most of the ingredients on hand.     Continue reading »

Slouching Towards Bethlehem

It’s the perfect last minute holiday gift, since everyone needs a copy of Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion’s remarkable collection of essays from the 1960’s. Her prose are spare, yet packed with so much intelligence and sly wit that depending on my mood, I am either deeply inspired to write, or think, why bother to mess with perfection. Here’s an excerpt from her piece On Self-Respect (originally written for Vogue) in which she talks about coming to terms with the end of innocence:

I lost the conviction that lights would always turn green for me, the pleasant certainty that those rather passive virtues which had won me approval as a child automatically guaranteed me not only Phi Beta Kappa keys but happiness, honor, and the love of a good man.

(Photo: Joan Didion in Hollywood, 1970, by Julian Wasser for Life Magazine)

Go Hug a Dog

When friends fall madly in love, I invoke my 3-month rule, to make sure I give them adequate space for the “gaga” phase. But after 3 months, if a newly coupled friend doesn’t have quality time for me, I start to get huffy.

One of my closest single buddies is occupied with a promising new romance, and I’m thrilled for him. With the pressure of the holiday season in full swing, I’m also feeling sorry for myself. I checked out a previous post, 7 Ways To Dig Yourself Out of a Bad Mood, and realized I must’ve been in a really good mood when I wrote that, because right now, NONE of those ways are working. I’m going to try hugging my dog.

Thanks to all who entered our first CONTEST, Surviving the Holidays When You’re Single. Winner(s) will be announced on Christmas Eve.

(Image: My beautiful and huggable Rose)

My Idea of a Good Time

The workaday world is grinding to its seasonal halt. You can feel it in the air and see it in the restaurants and streets spilling over with people who refuse to go back to work. Today when I heard the gezillionth Christmas Carol on the radio, I found myself relaxing into it, knowing that soon enough this time of year will be over, and Valentines Day will be staring me in the face.

Despite my plea on the importance of holiday planning, my personal game plan for Christmas Day (and Eve) are still fuzzy. But I’m determined to have fun. Over the weekend, I will carefully read through everyone’s comments from our first annual, Surviving the Holidays Contest (polls close shortly) and settle in to some expert advice.

(Image: Gary Taxali, Fun, 2009)

Whatever Happened to the Briefcase?

I have a gorgeous Il Bisonte briefcase tucked away in the closet, that doesn’t get used anymore. I first spotted the bag in a San Francisco shop window, and lusted after it for a whole year, before plunking down my hard-earned cash and taking it home. I thought of the purchase as “investment” shopping, never imaging it would one day become a relic, replaced by a less expensive, and far less beautiful (though much lighter) tote. Does anyone still carry a briefcase?

This image is an art piece by Michael Johannsson called Pack Daddy’s Suitcases, or in his native Swedish, Packa Pappas Kappsäck. It is 100″ x 120″ x 100″.

Getting Beyond the Bias: A Dove in Afghanistan

With restraint, I’ve kept my political views to a minimum here, except when the outrage is so fierce I can’t control the spill. As the debate on sending more American troops into Afghanistan has intensified, I’ve envied the certainty that many of my friends have about the subject. I can’t seem to put my hands on enough information to know what’s right.

It was a relief today to discover Confessions of a Dove in Afghanistan, a vivid account by the writer Sara Davidson of her recent visit to Kabul with a group of women put together by the “peace” organization, Code Pink. Here’s a sampling:

After eight days, our presumptions were turned upside down, splitting us into camps with conflicting opinions. Some still wanted an exit strategy, but one woman who’s spent 40 years in non-violent peace work reversed her lifelong stand, believing the military should stay and more troops might be helpful. “It shocks me to admit this,” she said.

(Image: Dove, 1949, by Pablo Picasso)

Tis the Season!

I don’t don costumes for the holidays, nor do I dress my pets in gay apparel. But then again, I’m no Tim Burton. This festive 1997 Polaroid taken by filmmaker extraordinaire, Tim Burton, is part of a major exhibition at MOMA showcasing the breadth of his art and other-worldly filmmaking career. Now through April 26, 2010 in New York. (This just made it to my list of holiday plusses.)

What Doesn’t Drive Me Crazy About Xmas*

I’m a holiday grouch. In the interest of finding some seasonal grace, I’m taking a verbal fast from the sentence (…fill in the blank)  is driving me crazy? For example, the long wait at the post office is driving me crazy. Or, the fact that I can’t find a spot in the parking lot of the movie theater because it happens to be in the same place as the shopping mall is driving me crazy. *Using Xmas as an abbreviation for Christmas is driving me crazy. I’m touchy. You get the point.

To turn around my mood, I’m compiling a list of the nice things about this time of year. As of today, I could only come up with five. PLEASE ADD YOUR OWN.

1. People donating money and time to charities
2. More chocolate truffles than usual
3. Cooks really giving it their best shot
4. Truly unexpected gifts
5. Between Christmas and New Years, there’s a lot less traffic (in L.A.)

Don’t forget to enter our first CONTEST. Deadline for comments is December 18, 2009.

A Night for the Perfect Food

Cooking latkes (the Yiddish word for pancake) wreaks havoc on my kitchen, turning the floor and stovetop into an oily mess. But once a year, it’s worth it, to bite into the crispy potato cake infused with grated onion and salt (and to be the one with a stash of leftovers in the freezer.)

I’ll be serving them to a few friends this evening in honor of the first night of Chanukah. And though I can’t yet vouch for this recipe from Arthur Schwartz’s Jewish Home Cooking (after the jump) I’m going to give it a try. I appreciate that he allows for some leeway to reheat the latkes in a 425 degree oven, hours (or even days) after they’ve been fried, rather than insisting we serve them immediately from the pan. I am not of the generation of women (like my Latvian-born grandmother) who were happy to toil over a hot, messy stove, while their guests sat down to eat.     I want to join in the fun.     Continue reading »

Now Showing in New York

I feel lucky to live in Los Angeles and its proximity to good art. But, ah, to be able to stroll through the galleries of NYC…

The last few times I visited Manhattan, I made a point of going to the Lower East Side, which was a part of town I never dared venture to, when I actually lived in New York. Last week’s Times, had a good overview of what’s showing in some of the exhibition spaces there, and I was drawn to this photographic print, Black Teddy, by Barb Choit. The artist buys 80’s era fine arts posters by Patrick Nagel online, and then partially fades them using a tanning bed, lamps or bleach. Choit’s work will be at the Rachel Uffner Gallery until December 20, 2009.