Hunger

Grateful for Malted Milk Balls

I am grateful for malted milk balls.

Whenever I talk to someone about gratitude, ( and as early as 15 years ago when we started this website I always bring up malted milk balls. The response is usually a chuckle, (though yesterday when I said that the person thanked me, grateful that I reminded her of a long-forgotten treat!). But I am totally serious. Not only because I love them—in all flavors, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, crème brulee, … Read the rest

Thoughts on Gobble Day

Growing up, Thanksgiving in my house was a big affair. I remember my mother ז״ל waking up at 5:30 to continue the preparations she started the night before, shoving a supernaturally large turkey in the oven, and cooking all the way through till 3:00 pm when the 20 plus family and friends arrived.

Thanksgiving would start with drinks—whiskey sours with more sour than whiskey, and whatever the current fad hors d’oeuvres. One year it was cheeses, another shrimp, (which one … Read the rest

Chocolate is Thicker Than Water

With a nod to Peer Gynt, there are layers of people in our lives.  Perhaps the layer closest to us consists of our friends or, if one is so lucky, family; then we have not-so- close friends; acquaintances; perhaps followed by business associates and on and on.  For me, as I would guess for most people who produce documentaries, I have additional layers of people who I have met during filming, and then some people whom I have never … Read the rest

‘Cause You’ve Got to Have Friends

When I first began this website and the videos on it, the voiceover in the very first video included the line: “Be grateful you have a job. And that you work with at least some people you like.” Well, I think I’ve written many true lines, but this has got to be in the top one!

Most of us work in a job that if we’re lucky we enjoy what we do—but the people we work for—whether that be bosses … Read the rest

The Hardest Arithmetic

Without warning, the great freak Fall snow of 2011 came.  On a lovely Saturday afternoon, we lost power around 1:00 pm.  I thought it would come back shortly; no big deal.  By the evening, David had gone to edit and still no power.  Which meant of course, no lights, no eating (since I didn’t want to open the fridge and let all the cold air out) and worst of all no heat.  But I still felt grateful. ’cause I had … Read the rest

The Large and the Small

After two days of taping gleaning down in Virginia, (which although the people were incredibly lovely, still felt like two weeks!) I came away feeling grateful for some things, I of course, had taken for granted.

I say, of course, because most people I know, take the issue of their housing for granted. Sure, they may go through some tense times as they look for a new apartment or go to buy their first house, but down in Virginia, I … Read the rest

July 6, 2011 Glad I Wasn’t Born in Chad

Met a guy today at the Westside Campaign Against Hunger. Ph.D. in International Law.  Wrote a book (in French, and then I think he translated it into English!) which the government there wasn’t crazy about.  Now he’s here with his family, including 5 kids, petitioning for political asylum.  But where can he work in the meantime?  How can he feed his family until the case comes up?  Cue the good people at the Westside Campaign.… Read the rest