Red wine, chocolate tart, and Eustace

Throughout our childhood, the New Yorker with Eustace Tilley on the cover came almost on our mom's birthday, February 22nd. This year, she'd be 82, if she had not smoked herself to death by 79. My copy just came today, and it's a fat one. My New Yorker still comes in my dad's name, Dr A P Shapiro (I like it that the few times I have ever spoken with New Yorker staff about my subscription they have just assumed that I am Dr A P Shapiro). My Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries, and Smithsonian subscriptions are still in mom's name

I quick checked in on my brother's blog to see if he'd written about Eustace yet, and he's writing about his 50th birthday bike ride, that I hope to do, at least a few of its fifty miles.

Today was a retreat for the food co-op BoD that I am a member of right now; it was a pretty good retreat, they got Eamon's mom to facilitate, and I liked her approach better than the guy we had last year. She brought a "pyramid of engagement" model, illustrating how many levels of engagement there are between simple awareness of what's up, and full-out buy-in, investedness, and action. I think remembering this is helpful to us as the BoD of a membership organization - the entire 16,000 membership doesn't necessarily have to be fully bought-in to new activities, new directions that co-op wishes to pursue for the BoD to approve these actions - the majority of the membership needs to be aware and comfortable with what's going on, but that can be enough.

There was a happy hour at an Italian restaurant after; I had time to go to the supper club house and shovel the last of the snow, unload the dishwasher, and wash last few wine and drinking glasses that never fit in the dishwasher after any dinner, on my way. Afterwards, I bought a bottle of red wine, and am having a glass of that and a piece of the leftover chocolate tart, from the soccer parents' dinner - like chocolate truffle in a crust - while I write.

And, BTW, for the soccer parents, here is the recipe for Nigel's chicken.