WIne and the Microbiom - Part 2

I am aware that I live in beautiful Sonoma County, wine country. I have always loved the taste of a good Cabernet Sauvagnon or Zinfindel. For a couple of years I was a partner in making some small batched of California wine. I remember the processes well. At the point where the juice is squeezed out of the grapes, the sulfite is added. Sulfites are antibiotics, and they kill virtually every living thing in the juice. The reason for this is to eliminate a fermentation process where the winemaker does not have control over all of the natural bacteria in the grapes. After that the "good bacteria" are added, and the fermentation process begins, turning sugar in to alcohol.

The bacteria succeeds in fermenting the wine, but the sulfites are never removed. I wish that I knew more about the chemistry, and perhaps an enologist can comment. My understanding is that although the bacteria introduced converts the sugars, there is still enough sulfite in the to destroy bacteria. For one who drinks wine very moderately, it may not have an effect on the stomach. I have have been known to 2 or three glasses at home after I come home from work. It has often upset my stomach, and given me acid reflex.

Upon thinking about the microbiom and the introduction of sulfites to the stomach, I reasoned that perhaps the wine that I was drinking was killing the good bacteria in my stomach. I remembered that winemaking did not always use sulfites. In fact I know that winemakers of France rely on the bacteria natural in the vineyard. The argument goes that after hundreds and even thousands of years of growing grapes, the natural fermenation is well adapted to the fields of France. In this way I have become a drinker and lover of these French wines.

It is possible that these wines contain a positive bacteria. Since I have been drinking them, I have virtually eliminated my stomach difficulties. Also even on the rare occasion where I have had too much, I feel no hangover in the morning.

I will give a plug to my local Grocery Outlet that has been carring a wide variety of drinkable and some even delictious Bordeauxs. Prices generally range from $6 to $12- Well worth it.

The Microbiom- Part 1

One of the more important biological and physiological discoveries of the past ten years or so is the discovery of the pervasiveness of the Microbiom. Simply put the Microbiom is the vast number of bacteria that over millions of years that made their homes both inside and outside our bodies. The subtext of this finding is enormous in scope. Plants and animals including insects have a enormous store of their own beneficial hitchhikers. I choose to focus on the Microbiom of the human stomach- more specifically my stomach, as for years I have had painful heartburn, more recently helped by the overthe counter medication, omneprezole.

Just a side point is that I recently heard on the radio that omneprezole is associated with the early onset of dementia. It suppressed the production of vitamin B 12 which is critical in the formation of myelin bainas neurons in the brain. I need to use something different. 

I have made more discoveries in my reading about the Microbiom and have introduced some changes  in my eating habits to improve the condition of my stomach. The simple fact is that there are many traditional foods that have been staples in foods around the world. When I was in Russia, kvas is one of the beverage staples there. I was never fond of it, but it apparently contains many beneficial bacteria for digestion.

Among the other foods are aged cheeses, yogurt, kiefer, Chinese black beans, Apple vinegar, pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, and many other fermented food. Since I found out about this revolution in thinking about the biology of the gut, I have introduced several of these foods into my diet to great effect. I have always loved cheese. The runny stinky cheeses, the sharp aged cheeses, the bries with thick crusts are all my favorites and I have increased my intake of those. I have come to love kimchi and fortunately have a good supplier in the area. I have always loved pickles. Unfortunately I cannot bring myself to finish the kiefer and Greek yogurt in the refrigerator. It is likely the bacterial will only increase as they age.

I write this as an introduction to the next blog. You may know that I love wine, but it has not helped my digestive problems. I think that I have gained a major insite into the consumption of wine. I will be theorizing, and it will not make me a popular figure in the area where I live. I hope that this teaser will urge you to look forward to my next blog.  I know that I will make some friend and some enemies.

Henry Inman "Staking the Trees"

I have a number of fairly valuable paintings in my possession. I am ready to make a little traveling money and try to sell some of them off. I researched art appraisers and the one that seemed to come out on top was ValueMyStuff. I liked that they also gave an online opportunity to show and sell the work. Unfortunately when I tried to put it up for sale, it said something like- at this time this piece does not qualify for sale. Perhaps because they are in UK they are not able to see it and actually assess that it is authentic- but it is.

I like also that they gave it a name. It mentions that many of his paintings were used for illustrations in contemporary publications. I wonder if that found the actual work in an old newspaper or magazine. I would find that interesting. There are only a handful of Inmans in museum. The same five come up over and over. When I visited the Philadelphia Art Museum, their catelog said that they had two in their possession. Unfortunately they were in storage. Probably not a good sign for the public appeal of the artist. I know that he is pretty much the only post colonial American artist who was famous for painting children, and this painting has a child in it.

I had actually tried to title the painting myself- The Teacher, The Grafter. The Tree Planter. But the appraisers either knew or gave it a title themselves: The Tree Staker. That sounds good for me. They have appraised it for auction between $3,000 and $6, 000. I was satisfied with that. Below is their assessment sheet.

Philly Cheese Steaks

I am reluctant to enter this culinary mindfield, but I do come with some street cred. I am prompted to enter this sensitive area by my lunch purchase of a "Philly Cheese Steak" at a small deli in Santa Rosa, California. She asked me what kind of cheese, and immediately I said provolone. I had no complaints about the sandwich, but I had this nagging memory of my last visit to Philadelphia, and someone mentioning Cheez Whiz as their favorite cheese on a Philly Cheese Steak. (Notice the capitals- like God)

I, myself, do not consider Cheez Whiz cheese. In fact I get a gastro reflex at the thought of eating it. I know a bit about the history of the cheese steak, and I know the two South Philly restaurants that brag about using Cheez Whiz. For me Cheez Whiz is not a food. Some say that it fills the crevices better, but the same can be done with provolone. I remember a cheese disagreement from my childhood. It was between American cheese verses Provolone. I always chose provolone.

I must confess, although not tolerating Cheez Whiz, there is an inconsistency in my diet. I am addicted to Trader Joe's Cheese Crunchies with a delicious "cheese" powder, colored by tumeric. None of these item are healthy, but any cheese steak is loaded with saturated fat and salt. Cheese crunchies has just "empty calories".

I did a little research on this blog. I highly recommend a website called Fooducate                                 ( http://www.fooducate.com/) It will change the way you feel about eating.

Are you good in math?

If this question causes you just a little anxiety, you are not alone. I am seriously tempted to list the horror stories of my education. One of them was a deep insecurity about my abilities with math. It is an example that I use often in the class that I teach. It is especially common with women, and I teach mostly women. 

I heard an excellent interview today on KQED Forum with Jo Boaler, an education instructor at Stanford. She works to release people, especially children, from their math phobias. I was gratified to be able to hear her speak. She reenforced what I teach in my class: that talents and beliefs about our abilities are mostly a mental construct that prevent us from reaching our full potential. 

She really talks the talk and walks the walk of a positive mindset. 

We all have had experiences long in our past that help us to form our beliefs about ourselves. Unfortunately those beliefs have little to do with the reality of who we are and what we can do. They are tied to emotions and pictures in our brain that confirm our image of who we are. So when we have several bad experience with math as children, we form a self image that we are bad in math. All we have to do is change the picture. Create visualizations where we are succeeding in math. Repeat affirmations that confirm our abilities. Most importantly we must get rid of the negative self-talk. 

Here is the link: http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201601251000

It is well worth listening to. Also here is Ms. Boaler’s website:  https://www.youcubed.org/ I would click on the link that leads one to “Growth Mindset”. This concept is key to becoming a confident person. 

If you are still reading, I will relate one math story from my adulthood. I grew up with many insecurities about my ability to learn anything that school taught me, especially math. My father nurtured my love of art, and insured that I have a positive self concept of myself as an artist, but little else. I struggled into high school, flunked and repeated my freshman year. Since I did better taking these classes the second time, it did boost my self confidence a bit.

Amazingly I became a teacher. In the late 1980’s I ended up teaching math in a continuation school. The reason is that in a continuation school, the number of teachers are limited, and one must just step up to the plate. I went to a math conference at Asilomar. My first day I got up early and went to a workshop on Algebraic equations.  Everyone except me was an experienced math instructor.  Problems would be given, and I ended up being the only person in the room who could not solve them.  I left the workshop  feeling embarrassed and insure about my abilities.

If I had the consciousness that I have now, things would have been different in that room. Here I was, the perfect example of the student who cannot get it. And these all math teachers could not construct a lesson to help me feel comfortable about math. Instead I felt the room full of excitement because these teachers were reveling in how smart they were. Now I would turn the situation around. I would say: “Here you are in the perfect teaching situation. How are you going to make this student feel good about him or herself? How can you teach this concept in a way that instills confidence, not shame and insecurity? 

Photographs courtesy of Jo Boaler's site youcubed.

My Heroes

I am teaching a class now called Career Transitions. It is actually a class that helps build self confidence in students. I will write more about the class in another blog, but I use the following videos in the class. I am teaching it for the second time, it has been very rewarding.

I used to think that I did not have heroes. In fact I am not entirely sure "hero" is the correct word. These are three people who inspire me, give me hope, and are models of human courage.

You may have seen the first video as it made the rounds on Facebook. The man's name is Arthur Boorman. As much as I could find out about him came from one of the YouTube comments:

"This guy is a Special Ed teacher & adviser for the Sci-fi & Fantasy Club at my high school. To learn that someone who seems like a pretty normal, laid-back guy overcame such insurmountable obstacles is truly mind-blowing to me. My respect for him has increased beyond comprehension. Mr. Boorman, your story is one of the most inspirational things I've ever heard of. Thank you."

I cry every time that I see this video, and I am almost reluctant to show it, because it is hard to compose myself afterward.

Click here to watch Arthur's story.

Lizzy Velasquez has quite a following these days. You can follow her, correspond with her, become a fan, and read her blog. Again this is another hard hitting video. Probably one of the reasons that it affects me so much is that I was heavily bullied in elementary school, and even into my first year of high school. I still get angry when I see bullying. Also part of the power of Lizzie's talk is the credit that she gives her parents. (Another campaign: Please do not become an accidental parent. It is an awesome responsibility.) Lizzie's story is also one of amazing parenting and the great courage and determination of Lizzie, herself.



Click here to watch Lizzie's Ted Talk


I found Aimee while looking for athletes that embody the qualities that I want to see in my students. By now you must know that I teach (and dean) at a small career college in Northern California. I happen to think that it is one of the best in the United States. Nevertheless we get many students with difficult histories, who are ready to start life anew. They may feel broken inside, under-equipped for the task or just lack confidence, All of these wonderful people help me tell my students that their potential is unlimited, and despite what messages that they have received in the past, they are well equipped to succeed.

I am giving two links, because I love the informality of the first, and it really allows Aimee to tell her story. In the second video Aimee takes head on the issue of "disability". I must also confess that I think that Aimee is incredibly beautiful- certainly on the outside, but on the inside too.



Watch this Ted Talk FIrst


Watch this Ted Talk Second

What Happened to 2015?

Below is basically our late Christmas letter or New Year Letter

I orignially composed it and Donna and Anna laughed, because the news seemed to depressing to them. Anna reworked it, and I corrected her grammar.

This year Ed and Donna have experienced their first months as empty nesters. Their children now understand that empty nesting means: “My parents are so hard to get a hold of.” , They have flown the coop to pursue in their own adventures.

Donna enjoys her job at a Sebastopol’s community clinic, almost literally putting out fires, as a neighboring clinic recently burned down. Her Sebastopol location has taken even a larger workload as a result. Donna spends her free time as a professional Gaita player performing with the internationally known Carlos Núñez Muñoz. She recently part of a vocal ensemble performing the challenging Bach Requiem, and sang for a group of dancers in an improvisation song and dance performance.

Ed still loves his job as the night dean of Empire Collage. He is teaching a regular class that he loves called Career Transitions. The class is designed not only to keep students in school, but  to boost self-esteem. He is still painting and has entered the upcoming Abstract show at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. He is also preparing to participate in his fourth “Art at the Source” open studios in June.

Truckee and his girlfriend Lauren recently relocated to an amazing apartment in Berkeley with their two kitties Middles and Shipley. Lauren is harvesting her new career as a horticulturist, going to school and working at local landscaping business. Truckee is swatting the freelance work off like flies, he is being to paid to do the nerdy meticulous art he has always done for just the joy of it.

Anna has been working at a small music store in Alaska for the past year while balancing a successful musical career. She was even pitched to the Discovery Channel for a show about young singer songwriters in Alaska.  She’s indifferent about the idea of being a reality star, so if it doesn’t work out, she might even feel a little relived. Anna also decided that after 7 straight winters in Alaska , now was a great time to quit her job, sell her car and travel around the country, while writing her second studio album. Portland, Denver, and Austin are on the roadmap so far. She also brought with her from Alaska, her 28 toed club footed cat who is convinced she is the princess of the new household, and is having a little trouble sharing with the house's current matriarch Fern.

Joey is majoring in economics at Santa Cruz. He has a great house right near the Santa Cruz boardwalk, which came with his new BFF, a snuggly pit-bull named Napoleon. He is still very involved in his musical ventures.

PS

For the benefit of those who read to the bottom:

Here are a couple few tidbits. 2015 was exciting for me in other ways.
I tried out SA- very interesting and met maybe 2 quality people out of 50.
I have used my age to my benefit on omeg.
I have made about 30 new skype friends all around the world.

If you need me to uncover the obfuscation, just contact me.