Category: savannah

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savannah

It Didn’t Happen To Me: The First Person Industrial Complex

Take A Book Leave A Book

Even Jonathan Ames doesn’t want to write about himself anymore. He said that when he was recently interviewed on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast. As much as I love to blog and express myself, I have always found the genre of online personal essays to be somewhat problematic. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy a good memoir. The thing about a memoir is that there’s usually some distance between the events that happened and when you write about them. It could be a troubled childhood or adolescence or experiences in a band or working in New York City. A memoir is not normally a “hot take”, but a personal essay typically is.

XO Jane’s personal essays are under the vertical, “It Happened To Me”. I hate the name since it connotes that the essayists have no agency in their own lives. Though Catalog has been remarkable for cataloging all the angst of the twenty-something millennials living in Brooklyn. If these essays are oversharing, then it is just a result of our current pop culture.

I have been living in Savannah for less than four months and when I tell people I am a writer, the reaction has been interesting.  I have been asked how to get a book published and how to document a family history.  No one asks for my opinion or hot take, but if they wanted one, just give me a day and I could probably whip up something.

 

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forsyth park savannah

Be An Ally Any Day and Everyday

Savannah Pride

 

The crowd at Savannah Pride

Being an LGBT ally means more than being OK with gay marriage because you love “Modern Family”. Being an ally means you support LGBT issues and you speak out against LGBT injustice. Being an ally means being consistent. Today I volunteered at Savannah Pride, but I won’t wait until next Pride weekend to support LGBT.

When it comes to LGBT in popular culture and media, it is still mostly focused on the Gay White Male. That needs to change. A few years ago, I got to speak at a conference, Salon LGBTQ, and I spoke about how to be an ally in the social media streams. At the conference, I got a chance to re-introduce myself Riese Bernard, one of the founders of Autostraddle, one of the most popular and influential lesbian blogs.

“Orange is The New Black” has brought attention to lesbian women of color and transgender women, but there’s still a dearth of Black, Asian and Latino gay men. I bet most people have yet to see “Noah’s Arc” or even “Paris is Burning” which is the source of all current slang today. No shade. 😉

Anyway, I want to see more like people who look like me in the forefront of the LGBT movement.  Just like not all “skin folk is kinfolk”, not everyone who looks like an ally is actually one. #CaitlynWhatsGood

 

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food savannah

Dora Charles And The Rehab of Paula Deen

Dora Charles

Dora Charles

Dora Charles who worked for Paula Deen for over twenty years is finally getting her due with her first cookbook, A Real Southern Cook In Her Savannah Kitchen.

I got a copy of the cookbook and it’s a great primer for real southern/soul food cooking. I was talking about the cookbook last week with Erika who is the Yelp Savannah Community Ambassador, and she said,

“Why does soul food have to be elevated?! It’s from the soul, so it is already elevated.”

I agree. Soul food does not have to elevated. The family recipes in Dora Charles’ cookbook will remind you what your Mudear or Auntie made for Sunday dinners. The book comes out September 8th. The New York Times’ Kim Severson interviewed Dora Charles, and she’s doing press at the Decatur Book Festival this weekend. Hugh Acheson blurbed her book, but I’m not sure how much promotion the book is getting in Savannah.

Savannah is still Paula Deen’s town. Coincidentally Paula Deen has a cookbook coming on September 8th as well, and it was announced that she will be one of the celebrities on Dancing With The Stars. It was ONLY two years ago that Paula Deen got in hot water for saying the “N-word”. More disgraceful is that she grossly underpaid the employees at her restaurant. Dora Charles was reportedly making only $10 an hour. Why is Paula Deen allowed to be on TV? Did she go to racial slur rehab? I don’t know Paula Deen. I don’t know what’s in her heart, but I do know what’s in her wallet-wads of CASH.

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savannah

Gratitude Circle: A Weekly Place Of Grace

savannah square gratitude circle

GRATITUDE turns what we ALREADY have into ENOUGH.
-Melody Beattie

Joanne Morton is the founder of the weekly Gratitude Circle here in Savannah. Every Wednesday at noon, Joanne gathers people at one of the 22 public squares in Savannah, form a circle and say what they are grateful for. Some gratitude statements are about family and friends; some are about nature and art. There is no competition. Every gratitude is equal in the circle, just as every person. On October 7th, Gratitude Circle will be celebrating its 100th consecutive week. I have been living in Savannah less than three months, and I go to it every Wednesday. Gratitude Circle is a weekly meditation of the abundance we all have.

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art savannah

Andre 3000’s Exhibit at SCAD Museum of Art

Nerves of Still

Children Of The Cornbread

I have been a fan of the hip hop group  Outkast for over twenty years, ever since I heard  “Player’s Ball”.  Songs like “Rosa Parks” and “Bombs over Baghdad” are my favorites. When the double album Speakerboxx/The Love Below came out, I listened more to ‘The Love Below’ which is Andre 3000‘s side of the double album. So I was really excited to see his exhibition, “I Feel Ya” at the SCAD Museum of Art.  Andre Benjamin created black jumpsuits with poetic, quotable phrases that speak to his experience and his Southernerness.  I was reminded of what he said when Outkast won Best New Rap Group at The Source Awards in 1995, “The South got somethin’ to say.”  Coincidentally, The Bitter Southerner is now selling T-shirts, The South Got To Something To Say.

Check out my album of photos from the exhibit on Flickr. The exhibit is at SCAD Museum of Art until September 13th.

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business savannah

Maven Makers: A Place To Create, Make and Play

Tim and Ty of Maven Makers

 

Maven Makers  is a new maker space that will open this month at Creators’ Foundry.  Founders Tim Cone and Ty Donaldson are encouraging the residents of Savannah to create, make and play. Maven Makers will have a professional wood shop as well as other tools to make things. They will offer classes to instruct people how to use tools properly and safely.  Equipment usage is granted to those who have been through all equipment training classes meaning they have access to all the equipment in the shop.  Membership levels start at $75/month.

I wrote about Maven Makers in the July issue of Well FED Savannah.

Maven Makers was one of the thirteen teams who competed in the 2nd Annual Mattress Dash on Sunday, October 18th.  The Mattress Dash is a fun fundraiser that supports green initiatives in Savannah.

 

 

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food restaurants savannah

Trout Bruschetta At The Florence

Trout Bruschetta

The Florence, a restaurant owned by noted chef Hugh Acheson, is part of the cuisine scene in Savannah.  The Florence has been open a year and it is a go-to restaurant in the artsy Starland area of Savannah. I am on a budget, so I can’t afford a full meal there. However, I did order the trout bruschetta which was generous and delicious.

The trout bruschetta had radicchio and a tiny potato chip on top. It reminded me of the brandade I would have at Sidecar, a  restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  The trout bruschetta also reminded me of the  brandade-inspired casserole that I judged at  Emily Farris’ 5th Annual Casserole Cook-off.  I am not sure if it was trout or cod in the casserole, but it potatoes, onions and cheese.

Inspired by the trout bruschetta and memories of brandade, I made a salmon casserole.  I cooked new potatoes with Vidalia onions and shallots in butter in a large ramekin.  Then I added heavy cream and parmesan to the vegetables and let roast for about 30 minutes. Lastly, I drained one can of salmon and dumped the salmon on top of the cheesy veggies and stirred with a spoon to be well combined. Then I put back in the oven for 15 minutes.  It was delicious. I could have added more cheese. Next time, I would also add capers.

 

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food home cooking savannah

Home Cooking: Rustic Sweet Potato Thai Mash

Sweet Potato Thai Mash

What to do with my Local Farm Bag bounty is a cooking challenge that I will gladly accept. This week I got a couple of sweet potatoes and decided to make something savory with one of them.

I love Thai food, but now that I am allergic to peanuts, I try to steer clear of dishes like pad thai. My pantry staples are garlic, coconut milk and ginger. Plus it just so happens that I got some fresh cilantro from the Farmers’ Market.

All the ingredients for Rustic Sweet Potato Thai Mash were right in front of me. I never made this dish before but I knew all the flavors would come together. [Note: This recipe is for one person or two servings. Double the recipe for more people/servings.]

Ingredients:
1 medium sweet potato
1 shallot, chopped
1 tbsp of coconut milk
1/2 of garlic clove
A couple of sprigs of fresh cilantro
A little of freshly grated ginger
dash of black pepper
dash of salt

Instructions:
Peel one medium sized sweet potato and chop into chunks. Put in a sauce pan and cover with water. Boil potato until soft. Drain water. Place potato chunks in a bowl. Use the same pan to cook chopped shallot, garlic, cilantro and coconut milk. Add the chopped potato back into the sauce pan and use a wooden spoon to stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mash the potato with the spoon, but not too much. The goal is to make them look a little rustic. Enjoy!

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people savannah

ManiFest

ManiFest

Savannah is a city where an event can spontaneously erupt. There are twenty-two public squares and several public parks, so there are a lot of open areas for people to gather. It is also a place where people organize and people of diverse backgrounds come together. Matthew Duplessie planned and organized ManiFest, a holistic event, at Morrell Park which is never River Street. It was an afternoon where people came together for storytelling, music, yoga, gratitude circle and more.

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savannah urban gardens

Metro Star Urban Garden

Metro Star Urban Garden

Located near the Starland District, the Metro Star Urban Garden is a small garden on 38th Street and Howard. It is one of the urban gardens that is part of the Savannah Urban Garden Alliance (SUGA). SUGA is a group that connects and educates fellow gardeners in the Savannah area.