Monday, January 20, 2003


i heart kitchen aid

i don't know at what time yesterday i looked at the floor, the counters, the stovetop, the microwave, the cup warmer of the espresso machine, the window sill, the tray over the sink and realized my entire house was covered with pasta.

pasta filled with stainless steel flakes. i was prepared for a couple of batches with dust from the new kitchen aid pasta roller attachment, but i had suddenly reached my limit. even the cat had flour in his whiskers.

so i went to yoga. this morning i took advantage of the holiday and called kitchen aid. a mere 15 minutes on hold (which is nothing nowadays -- if only my internet service provider was as quick!) a real live friendly person said to me "you shouldn't have any more dust. let me send you a replacement with a plastic gear to solve your problem."

this is why we love kitchen aid. this is why their products are worth the premium. you can call them toll-free on a holiday morning and have a sweet lady tell you she's going to send you a free replacement right away.

on the other hand, i'm worried that a plastic gear might not be as sturdy. but at least i'll be able to eat the pasta.

so alas dear readers, as bored as i'm sure you all are with my adventures in fettucine land, the saga continues. . .when the new pasta roller arrives.

in the mean time, i settled back to enjoy the holiday. by making pizza, naturally.

and doing more yoga. today's holiday, martin luther king jr. day, is to my mind actually a day more patriotic than the fourth of july -- because only when the universal human values of dr. king were recognized did the u.s.a. finally grow into its promise of freedom for all.

this is one of the great things about yoga, that it explicitly teaches the unity, equality and worth inherent in all people. that to believe in the false principles of separation and difference is an obstacle to our freedom, to our innate joyful nature.

or to paraphrase yoga teacher erich schiffmann, we are the universe delighting in itself as us. frankly, at teary-eyed moments like this of course i prefer to delight in the universe as a chocolate truffle. but i digress. . .

this yogic perspective is perhaps why i was a tad cheesed this morning to read the lead editiorial in the new york times' print edition, which referred to dr. king and "his people."

". . .some white americans still cling to a version of history that denies even the fundamental premise of king's greatest hopes for his people."

while i naturally join the general sentiment, could the times be any more condescending? as a "european-american la-la-li-brul" i want to know what planet the times lives on. "his people." not even al gore could come up with a line so patronizing.

my letter to the times goes like this:

"dear howell raines,

we have met 'his people' and they is us.

om shanti,

frelkins"

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