Saturday morning ramble: "Other Desert Cities" and quinoa

"Other Desert Cities" was eventually very, very good. The second act was excellent; the first, particularly in the beginning, was plagued by poor-quality dialogue, albeit brightened up by the occasional very good line. I kept thinking, this evidently WASPy mother seems so Jewish, so I smiled when that issue was cleared up. As the play grew on me, I appreciated the universality of the family dynamics. And then I heard, first, the words more applicable to RM:

Relationships are hard-earned things. They have a reason and a logic to them.

And then, more importantly, words I probably have said (well, not words--I would have been less articulate) to my mom:

Mother, when you criticize and find fault in every last choice I make, for some reason, that's how you were made, and I know you tell yourself that it's because you're pushing me, you only want the best for me... You make it impossible for me to see the love in that. All I see is a bully who has lost touch with gentleness and kindness...

I. Can't. Bear. You. We have earned that relationship... it is entirely organic...

Right?? Does Jon Baitz know my mother??

***
The audience was relatively civilized--I find occasion to review the audience as well as the show: ten times more civilized than the average Washington Ballet audience, but not as silent and attentive as your average Studio Theater audience. The thing is, every disruptive audience is dysfunctional in its own way. There were only one or two candy wrappers rattling in this case, but there was quite a bit of unnecessary commentary. At one point--at the reveal about the estrangement in the family--one woman loudly said, "he's gay!" Spoiler alert: he's not gay, but in any case, please keep your epiphanies to yourself. I think that was the last out of her, but the people behind me kept repeating the lines, as if one person didn't quite catch them. You're not in your living room, people: if you missed something, let it go.

The metro was not civilized. It took me forever to get home. It would have taken me less than twenty minutes to drive home, but I had walked to the theater straight from work. Probably for this reason alone--the logistics of getting home from SW--I won't renew my subscription to Arena. I'm so tired.

***
On the way to Arena, I stopped at Protein Bar for a vegan burrito (I wanted to consume it in the Sculpture Garden, but, alas, it was closed, so a random bench on the Mall would have to do). As I waited for my burrito, I got stuck on a sign hanging in the restaurant; something like, "Quinoa: it's the highest non-meat protein."

What does that even mean? Leaving aside, for the moment, the fact that it's not true (because to get to how it's not true, we need to figure out what it means). I'm guessing they're trying to say that quinoa has more protein per something-or-other than any other plant food. But what is that something or other? Ounce? Cup? Serving size? Calorie? Any pulse will have more protein per any of those measures than quinoa, and wheat will, too. One serving of quinoa--half a cup--has 4 grams of protein and 111 calories. One serving of pasta (about the same amount) has 8 grams of protein (and probably about 200 calories). Half a cup of black beans has 7 grams of protein at 110 calories.

Maybe Protein Bar was emphasizing that quinoa's a complete protein? That's a bunch of BS, anyway; you don't have to try to balance your amino acids if you eat real food. If you're not convinced, the very burrito I purchased had black beans and whole wheat, which balanced them for me. Those two ingredients provided far more protein than the quinoa. The quinoa just made it messy to eat on a park bench.

Tofu has 10g of protein per half cup and 94 calories (actually, it varies by type of tofu, but roll with it); tempeh has 15g of protein per half cup and 150 calories.

If you like quinoa, by all means, eat quinoa. If you're concerned about what it means for the subsistence of the communities where it's grown and cultivated, see Tom Philpott's column. I don't have an ideological opposition to quinoa; I just need people to get their facts straight and quit promoting it as the protein be-all/end-all. I'm thinking that next time I need an after-work, pre-theater dinner that I don't have time to make myself, I'll hit Teaism for a seitan stirfry. Now that's protein (and kale, and walnuts).