Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
I was pleased I got to share on KQED’s Bay Curious blog in March a bit of how the pandemic has changed my life: getting back to my Quaker roots. Here’s what I shared: My name is Rik Panganiban and I work for KQED education. Like a lot of people, everything changed in the pandemic,…
Excited to unlock this move last week!
I’ve been attending a virtual Quaker Meeting for Worship (what we call our services) for about a year. For those interested in experiencing this unique form of religious gathering, there is no better time, with hundreds of them happening each week. My home church, the Brooklyn Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, holds…
As a newbie quad skater, I love capturing video of my progress as I learn new moves and tricks. And I’m not alone. A lot of the resurgence of interest in quad skating has come from the thousands of skaters posting videos of themselves on Tik-Tok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. So one big issue with…
I’ve eaten my share of bugs in my life. I’ve had mopane worm in South Africa (do not recommend), fried grasshoppers in Southern Mexico (so delicious), and roasted mealworm (like cheetos!). I’ve been around enough to know that insects are a part of many local diets, even if Western culture considers them “gross.” But overall…
I’ve started casually teaching folks how to do some basic dance moves on skates. It just happened organically. I spend so much time on my own working on different tricks and steps, and then talking to other people about what they are working on. Soon two or three us are practicing Crazy Legs or spins…
Everyone has their own feelings about steel cut oatmeal. I’ve read a ton of different recipes and discussion about technique. Personally, I favor a thicker, more nutty textured oatmeal, and this is how I achieve it. The key question to successfully make steel cut oatmeal is the ratio of water to oats. Many recipes call…
I’ve seen articles that have said roller skating was irrelevant since the ’70s. OK, so what have I been doing for the last 20 years? No, it hasn’t been irrelevant. Roller skating has continued to survive because of the African-American community and our ability to open up the culture to others who want to learn…
Why is it so pleasurable to move rhythmically in a circle? As a toddler, one of your earliest pleasurable experiences is probably spinning yourself around and around as many times and as fast as you can. Inevitably you fall down, laughing, before getting up to do it again. Or you and a friend hold hands…
One of the skills that I learned from my parents is how to put myself last. I have a strong memory of being in a fancy European restaurant with my family. I was maybe 12. The main course was over, and the server urged me to order the “bread pudding.” I had no idea what…