Cautions and Warnings

Caution & Warnings: 

Mouth Sores 

Caused by chemotherapy and radiation therapy. These treatments affect fast-growing cells, such as cancer cells. Normal cells inside the mouth also grow quickly and may be damaged by these cancer treatments, making it hard to eat. 

• Eat soft foods that are easy to chew and swallow, such as the following:
  • Soft fruits, including bananas, applesauce, and watermelon.
  • Peach, pear, and apricot nectars.
  • Cottage cheese.
  • Mashed potatoes.
  • Macaroni and cheese.
  • Custards and puddings.
  • Gelatin.
  • Milkshakes.
  • Scrambled eggs.
  • Oatmeal or other cooked cereals.
• Stay away from the following:
  • Citrus fruits and juices, (such as oranges, tangerines, lemons, and grapefruit).
  • Spicy or salty foods.
  • Rough, coarse, or dry foods, including raw vegetables, granola, toast, and crackers.
• Use a blender to make vegetables (such as potatoes, peas, and carrots) and meats smooth.
• Add gravy, broth, or sauces to food.
• Drink high-calorie, high-protein drinks in addition to meals.
• Cook foods until soft and tender.
• Eat foods cold or at room temperature. Hot and warm foods can irritate a tender mouth.
• Cut foods into small pieces.
• Use a straw to drink liquids.
• Numb the mouth with ice chips or flavored ice pops before eating.
• Clean teeth (including dentures) and rinse mouth at least four times a day (after eating and at bedtime).

Discussion with Hazel

Today we were able to invite Teacher Hazel to class and she gave us a big hand on our projects.

She gave me some suggestions on my contents and presentation of my project.

1.The whole concept of the recipe and stories from Grams is a good idea, but I have to put in some effort to find the connections and relative points between the food and Grams. At the same time, I can explain what I learned from the stories or the process of cooking, give a conclusion or a moral instead of just end the project by saying, "Grams is a good cook"

2 . Before, I  thought that it would be a good idea if Grams and I had a topic or theme to talk about every time I visit her, just like the book Tuesdays with Morrie. Hazel says that it isn't necessarily important to limit or confine our discussions in a specific area. Just because Tuesdays with Morrie had it all planned out, it doesn't mean I have to use it.

I have gotten permission from Grams to do the revised version project with her. Now all I need to do is to record Grams recipes down, and renovate it so that Grams can eat it too.
Next Mission: Recipe hunting.

New Update

After coming back from Shan Xi on Thursday, we visited Grams on Sunday. The first thing I did the next day  after arrival was to call Grams to tell her that I am back. Actually, before I leave and go on a trip and come back home from an adventure abroad, Mom would always tell me to call Grams .She says its because Grams cares a lot for me, and I shouldn't let her worry about my safety.

Anyways, when Grams came to open the door for us, I realized that Grams seems to be missing some teeth. Oral ulcers are one of the many side effects of chemotherapy, and Grams is only going through the early stages of treatment only. I felt my heart ache out of anguish to see Grams in such a condition, at the same time, angry that not only the sickness, but also the treatment was taking parts of Grams physical health and mental health away. However, I did not let my feeling show on my face, since Grams was happy to see me, and I would very much like to spend dinner in a happy atmosphere.

Grams told me she was going to make stir fried noodles, my favorite and her most delicious dish of all times. However, she confessed that she was too tired, so asked Auntie to make it instead. It was a very heart warming moment when I heard that she tried. Grams asked me about my trip in Shan Xi, so I told her about the beautiful temples I saw, the breathtaking scenery I was able to view and also the horrific bathroom incidents that occurred during the trip. I didn't bring any special souvenirs back from China, but I did give her the lucky charm from Wutai Mountain, which I thought she needed it more than I did. When Grams saw the lucky charm she chuckled and went into her room to get something. When she came out, she had an overflowing handful of lucky charms, talismans and amulets given to her by family and friends. Everybody went to temples to pray to the Gods for their blessings and wished her good luck in recovering.
I can tell that my visit brightened up her day after days spent in the hospital, and I was glad that I was able to help liven up her spirits.

Topic, Main Idea, Outline

Before I officially settle my topic and theme of my project, I'd like to update about things that recently happened and the problems I am facing at the moment.

My original plan was to collect the stories of Grams every time we cooked in the kitchen together, which at the moment is quite unfeasible, due to Grams' constant fatigue and lack of energy from fighting her cancer sickness. It would be too much to ask of her if we stuck with our initial plan. Thus after a small discussion with Miss You, I decided to alter the project a bit. Instead of cooking with Grams, I can cook for Grams in exchange of a story from her life. Then, according to the story, design a dish that can symbolize the significance of said story. I plan to ask her 5 stories from different points in her life, using these 5 stories/dishes, I can create a menu and present it to Grams in the end of the project. Of course, I will need to do a lot of research and put effort into the the recipes to make up a meal which Grams will be able to eat. I think this is a better improved idea.

Topic: Grams' Kitchen

Main Idea: 5 dishes with 5 different stories that reflect and symbolize the background and memories of Grams life. 5 dishes that complete a meal specially designed for Grams.

Outline: (Dishes and main topics) 
1. Grams as a child
2. Grams as a teenager
3. Grams after marriage
4. Grams and her children
5. Grams and her grandchildren

A Change...

Although Grams is still in recovery, I realized that during the next six months, she will have to have undergo chemotherapy 3 times every 20 days. Grams might not have the energy to manage her everyday life without the help of her new caretaker, Marievic. So in the meantime, I think our recipe book project will have to be suspended, which means I will have to think of a backup plan.

Knitting Project
Truth be told, I don't think I know a lot about Grams...especially her hobbies and what she likes to do in her free time. All I know are the activities that we do together, basically knitting and cooking. Since cooking is not feasible, maybe we can start knitting together? Maybe we can knit a sweater together and for each story she tells me, I can try and knit a small picture of that onto the sweater, to make a collage. In the end, we will have a sweater that represents a part of Gram's life.

-----> After the first chemotherapy session, I realized Grandma was too weak to even lift her hands. This plan will probably come to a dead end.


Anyways, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, we didn't barbecue, or went out with friends like everyone else did, instead, we had a nice dinner at Grams house. This time however, my cousin, Leslie, and I were the main chefs, while Grams got to rest and enjoy the meal.

I went to Grams house earlier to help with the preparation. We planned out a menu:

Pumpkin Chicken Mushroom Soup
Stir-fried Tomato and Eggs
Steamed Seafood and Tofu
Steamed Squid
Loofa Gourd with Scallops

We went to the supermarket to get the ingredients.Walking down the isles, looking for the vegetables and meats on our shopping list, we wanted to bring a small can of pickled sweet cucumber, one of Grams favorite food, but spent too much time wondering on whether Grams was allowed/able to eat it or not. In fact, the entire menu was carefully thought out, both of us spent quite awhile considering the foods that are good/beneficial for Grams health, which is a brain-racking task. On our way home, Grams called my cousin, Leslie, "Remember to buy some vegetables! We have nothing in our fridge now!!" So we stopped at a street vendor and bought fresh tomatoes, some spring onions, garlic, and handfuls of different vegetables.
When we went home, Grams opened the door for us, and exclaimed," Deary! That is a lot of grocery goods!"
"Yeah, you told us to buy some for the week didn't you , Grams?" I asked.
" I only told you to buy some grocery, not bring the whole supermarket home! Now we have too much to put in our fridge!", Grams mumbled over and over under her breath.
We stood there aghast, and confused, not knowing what to say, but we can come up with a conclusion, Grams is very hard to satisfy.

In was chaotic in the kitchen. We had trouble cleaning the pumpkin, making a big orange gooey mess in the sink; neither of us knew which way the fish should be sliced ( aligned and parallel with the veins ) so the slices looked like they were torn from the poor fish itself, and we also had no clue how long it took for the shrimps to be well cooked. Grams came in the kitchen to get some water, and almost screamed at the top of her lungs," What in the world are you two doing? Do you even know how to cook?" Leslie tried to calm her down, and lead her out to the living room to rest, however without avail. So I decided to coax Grams instead, which worked out perfectly as Leslie tried to get everything cooking and boiling. Even Marievic,who had been watching us two klutz and chuckling at the side, couldn't bear it any longer, and offered to help us, which we were more than grateful for. She even added another dish, Mixed Fungi Stir-Fry, to our menu!

We all sat down around the dining table and watched Grams as she took a piece of pumpkin from the soup. Our brows were dripping with sweat,and we were holding our breaths as we watched Grams reaction. Grams chewed slowly, then stuck up her thumb in approval and announced, " This pumpkin soup is delicious! Oishii!" The dishes we made were overall very simple, easy-to-do dishes, nothing fancy for Mid-Autumn Festival, however I  was very happy and glad that Grams appreciated and liked it at least. I think it was quite a meaningful Mid-Autumn Festival this year.

Worst Case Scenario

Today I went to Grams to pick up some beef stew that my uncle made, and also to check up on Grams. My aunt was with her chatting the afternoon away. She looks much better than before, and you could definitely tell from her talkativeness when we all sat on her bed to catch up on our lives so far.

(enters Grams room)
Me: Grams! I am here to visit you!
Grams: We were just talking about you!! They say your ears will feel itchy when someone talks about you, were you ears itchy?
Auntie: Yes it is true! We were just talking about you!!
Grams: I have to show you something.
Auntie: Mom~ are you going to show 栩栩 the photos?
Grams: Of course! Look! (hands me her newly taken ID photos)
Me: Grams, you look fabulous, beautiful and young!
Grams: (Smiles proudly) I think so too!
Auntie: Grams does look pretty, especially with her fancy blouse and pink lipstick!
Me: Wow, you are right! Grams, you look very pretty with lipstick on!
Grams: I was thinking that day, I should dress up in my fancier clothes. You know, since I have cancer, best case scenario is that I recover and be healthy again. Worst case scenario, is that I die, then I can use this good photo of me for my funeral. I mean, I will probably look really ugly during the treatments, and I don't want an ugly photo for everyone to see.
Me: Grams!? Why do you say such things? You shouldn't be thinking that way, you should spend your time and energy on trying to recover!!
Auntie: 栩栩 is right! You shouldn't think of these ridiculous thoughts!
Grams: I am trying to make myself mentally prepared!

我：阿嬤! 我來看你了!
阿嬤：這麼那麼剛好？我們剛才才在講到妳耶！你的耳朵有沒有癢癢的？
阿姨：嘿呀！我們才剛討論到妳呢！
阿嬤：對了！栩栩，我給你看一個東西～
阿姨：媽！你該不會要把照片給栩栩看吧？
阿嬤：答對了！（給我一疊大頭貼）
我：哇！阿嬤你看起來好美麗，好年輕唷！
阿嬤：我也這麼覺得。
阿姨：你看阿嬤還特別打扮漂漂亮亮的。穿上她最花俏的襯衫還塗上口紅。
阿嬤：沒有啦，我在想齁，我拍照那一天要穿好看一點。因為我聽到我得了癌症嘛，最好的就是治療完畢後健健康康，啊不然齁，我死掉就塞唷那拉。啊我就可以用這張照片了。因為化療後，我嘴巴會破爛，頭髮會掉光，變得好醜，我才不要讓人看到我醜八怪的模樣。
我：阿嬤！？你現在別想太多，專心的讓自己恢復體力，讓身體健康，養病休息！
阿姨：嘿呀！麥擱啊呢胡思亂想嘿白講!
阿嬤：我只是讓我有心理準備呀！

Excerpts I

Recently I've found some more books and films that might contribute to my research.

As for the quotes, I had a hard time finding them (from the original books and the new ones I found) , but I will try and keep updating it. 

Jonasson, Jonas (2009). The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared. Sweden: Piratförlaget

-"Things are what they are, and whatever will be, will be."

-"Imagine if death was just like being asleep. Would we have time to think before it was all over? "

Moggach, Deborah (2004). These Foolish Things(The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). America: Random House

-“Everything will be alright in the end so if it is not alright it is not the end.” 

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Dir. John Madden.2012. Film

-Evelyn: "Nothing here has worked out quite as I expected. 
Muriel: Most things don't. But sometimes what happens instead is the good stuff.

Reid, Iain (2013). The Truth About Luck:What I Learned On My Road Trip With Grandma. Canada: House of Anasi Press

-“Grandma slowly brings her glass up, asking for a cheers. I clink hers with mine.
 ‘Here’s to stories,’ she says.Old and new.’ 
‘And memories,’ I say.
 She holds up her glass a moment longer as I take my sip. 
‘Yes, she says, ‘and to not letting them go to waste.’”

-“The older I get, the more of the future I get to see. I’m still the person I was at nine, just older. So being old like me is being in a position of luck. I think sometimes people assume luck and ease are the same. I don’t think they are,” she says, stirring cream into her freshened coffee.

-“Being lucky isn’t about constant happiness, things being easy, or always getting what you want.”

Today is Wednesday

Today is Wednesday, which means it is Visit Grams Day.

When I called Grams after school to tell her I was on my way, she picked up immediately. I could hear the excitement in her voice when she told me that she was waiting for me at home. I can tell that she has been anticipating for Wednesday to come, just as I have been looking forwards to visit her.

The first thing I noticed when Grams greeted me was that she looked a lot skinnier than usual. I guess it was from the change of diet after surgery. She also had a new haircut, which she joked that it made her look like a man from the back. She ushered me in and told me to put my bags down. I finally got to meet the care taker (which I will call PA for Personal Assistant)  that helped Grams with her daily needs for the past week. She was cooking dinner so I went to help. Auntie told me about the current situation that Grams is in, and their daily routines for the past week. Grams and Auntie often quarreled with each other, due to Grams' stubborn personality although what Auntie says and does is well intentioned and for Grams' good.

看護：前幾天，阿嬤突然很想吃紅燒白蘿蔔燉雞腿，所以我就答應煮給她吃。
阿嬤：那阿姨真壞，都不讓我喝那個滷汁。
看護：阿嬤別激動，讓我講完！我不讓阿嬤喝那滷汁因為太鹹了，阿嬤不能吃過鹹的食物，所以我沒讓她吃。
阿嬤：真可惡，阿姨故意把湯煮得乾乾的！都沒有味道，你說可不可惡？氣死人了，我氣到快瘋了!
我：............ 阿姨這樣是為阿嬤好，這樣才會早日康復。你要乖乖聽話呀阿嬤（拍拍
看護：對呀！我如果不愛你我早就讓妳喝了，因為我愛你所以才不讓妳喝，懂嗎？
阿嬤：哼.....不理你，氣死我了。

PA: When your grandma came home, she wanted to eat brewed Daikon and chicken.
Grams: You know what Auntie did? She was evil to me!~PA: Let me finish them telling the story Grams. So Grams wanted to eat the brewed soup, which I didn't allow her because she can't eat overly salty food.
Grams: She cooked the whole dish very dry on purpose! She didn't let me finish the soup, darn it! I was so mad it drove me crazy!
Me: ......Grandma, it's for your own good! That way you'll recover faster. Listen to Auntie and behave well!PA: Exactly! If I didn't love you, I would have let you drink the salty soup, but because I love you, so I will not allow it to happen.
Grams: MEH...

Auntie told me more of Grams funny stories and antics that she would do to cause trouble for her on purpose.They weren't accusations, rather small jokes between her and Grams.We all had a great laugh, even Grams, although a bit embarrassed, was laughing with us too. I feel like Grams is like a little child who throws tantrums and fits when things are not in her way, always needing to be coaxed and sweet talked in order to make her to listen. I find it rather cute and amusing, truthfully.

Books

Here are some books that might help me with my project.

Books: 

島田洋七、佐賀阿嬤 (2008)。佐賀阿嬤的超元氣料理：簡單而懷念的幸福滋味。台灣：時報出版社

瞿筱葳 (2011)。留味行：她的流亡是我的流浪，以及奶奶的十一道菜。台灣：啟動文化出版社

袁皖君(2012)。老祖母的家傳食譜：收藏十三國的家常食滋味，來自食物的鄉愁是心頭最入味的美饌。台灣：自由之丘出版社
好吃編輯部(2012)。跟阿嬤學做菜：家傳食譜＆灶腳裡的料理智慧。台灣：麥浩斯出版社
好吃編輯部(2013)。好吃12來我家吃阿嬤的拿手菜。台灣：麥浩斯出版社
王傑 (2013)。台南媽媽、山東爸爸、以及我愛的西班牙：57篇連繫家族情感的手繪食記。台灣：一起來出版


Keats, Louise Fulton(2011). My Grandma's Kitchen. Australia: Hardie Grant Books

Mastnak, Rosemary (2012).Cooking With Grandma. Hardie Grant Egmont 

Reid, Iain (2013). The Truth About Luck:What I Learned On My Road Trip With Grandma. Canada: House of Anasi Press

Websites:

"Adventures With Grandma". http://adventureswithgrandma2.blogspot.tw/. Sept. 8, 2013

Bence, Cyndee. "Adventures With Grandma". http://ilivewithmygrandma.blogspot.tw/. Sept. 8, 2013

Bad News

Today my mom received a call from my aunt saying that Grams was sent to the hospital, due to discomfort in her abdomen. I was quite worried to hear the news and I hoped that it was just a stomachache. However, the bad news just kept rolling in. Later on we found out that Grams had some sort of cancer in her intestines and had to go under surgery immediately. I was devastated, and felt completely helpless. It suddenly struck me that yesterday, Grams told me about her stomachache. If I had noticed the symptoms earlier, maybe she wouldn't be in such pain. I am sure the surgeons will make her feel better in no time, and I trust my Grandma that she'll recover quickly.

Salty Porridge Recipe

Today my uncle was supposed to take my sister and I to 清境農場 for a small trip, which unfortunately was cancelled due to the typhoon coming up. Instead, we stayed at Grandma's house for a day, which means another great opportunity to keep Project 17 going.

Gram cooks less and less these days, because there aren't many people in the house to really cook a meal, and she gets exhausted easily now. However, since we visited, she decided to go in the kitchen and start the fire. For lunch today, we ate a kind of salty porridge, which isn't really difficult to make, yet tastes absolutely amazing. Grandma was the chef and I had the honor of being her assistant. Mostly, I do the chopping and cleaning, it's really fun and I enjoy it. 

Salty Porridge Recipe

Ingredients:

- Dried mushrooms 

- Cabbage (half will do) 

- Dried scallops 干貝 (optional)

- salt 

- rice (according to how many people there are) 

- thousand year old eggs 皮蛋 (optional) 

- lard/oil 

1. Take the dried mushrooms and soak them in hot water until they are soft, then slice them into strips.
*Do not throw out the water used to soften them, the water will be used as flavoring later on.

2. Cut the cabbage into long thin strips 


3. Break the scallops into smaller pieces 


4. Wash the rice 


5. Take a big pot (Grams used her Wok) and add in the lard/oil


6. Throw in the mushrooms, then the scallops, and lastly the cabbage. 

7. Add the uncooked rice on top of all the ingredients 


8. Add the mushroom water


9. Keep adding water until it covers all the ingredients 

10. Let it cook until the water boils, and then gently stir the porridge


11. Add in salt to your own taste 
* Salt doesn't really make everything salty, rather enhances the flavors of the original ingredients 

12. Add the thousand year old egg last, since you do not want the porridge to get all soggy from it. 

13. Let it simmer for a few more minutes 

14. Let the porridge cool for awhile before eating...it tastes better that way

15. Enjoy! 

Grams actually cooked a whole wok- full of porridge, for 5 people. We ate it for lunch and dinner, that's how we managed to finish the whole thing. 

Me: Hey Grams! You look exactly like a professional!
Grams: I'm sweating all over,, I'm nowhere close to being a professional! 

Visiting Grandma

My Grandma, my uncle and my cousins live together. Recently, my uncle is busy running his restaurant, my cousin is working late night shifts at the hospital. With no one to stay with Grandma, I volunteered to keep her company, at the same time, I thought this would be a great opportunity to get started on "Project 17". 

Here are some random facts that I learned from Grandma:

1. My Grandma knows the bus system better than I do. You can literally ask her any destination, and she can tell you which bus to take, which stop to get off at, right off the top of her head. I find this rather fascinating. I found out later that she takes spontaneous bus trips to different places when she is too tired of staying at home.  

2. My Grandma and Grandpa grew up together. They were childhood friends. When I asked further about my Grandpa, she would always answer with the same reply, "Your Grandpa was a good man, he didn't smoke, he didn't gamble, all he did was go fishing, it was his favorite thing in the world." She told me fondly about the time Grandpa caught a gigantic fish that weighed 16 kg with the help of his friends. The whole neighborhood rushed to see the catch. There was enough fish for every family that came. Grandpa was a generous man. When I wanted to know more about Grandpa, she would change the topic suddenly, so I guess it's something that she doesn't really want to talk about. 

3. Grandma never got to finish elementary school due to the war raging on then. I found out about this when I asked her if she wanted to read the newspaper that I brought home. She told me she was illiterate, that's why she watches the news on TV. She can speak and understand Chinese, and also Japanese. She took calligraphy and Japanese karaoke classes at the community college for the elderly. She talks to me in Chinese with Taiwanese in between. I can understand a bit of Taiwanese, but I did find it difficult to reply in Taiwanese, so I guess it would be beneficial if I could learn more of this dialect. 

4. It has to be a universal habit for Grandmas to offer food continuously. When I invited Lily over for lunch, Grandma prepared fried rice and wanton soup, which Lily later named it," The Double Main Dish Lunch". Grandma would offer dessert, drinks, and fruit after we were bloated from lunch, which we politely accepted, because one does not simply say no to offered food, especially from Grandma. I guess it was her "housewife" instincts kicking in, after cooking for many many years for her family with 5 children. 

I will try and update more about her. I secretly recorded our conversations with a recorder, which I hid in my pocket. She would reveal more about herself when she was cooking, so some of the audio files contained what I like to call it, "kitchen sounds". I promised her that I would visit her every Wednesday when school started. I think I should gradually ask her if she would let me take videos, since she is rather camera shy, I guess it's something I have to work on. 

Finally!

I have to admit that I come onto this blog almost everyday just to see if our teacher left a comment or not and finally!!! There are comments!!

So, some of us met up with our teacher at McDonald's today to discuss about the topics, more or less have a clear objective before we run out of time to actually do whatever we are supposed to do. From the three possible ideas I've listed, our teacher actually approved of the third one, Wednesday Cooking With Grandma. I was glad that finally I have a feasible concept that I can use, and possibly will have an actual outcome. If I have to connect  with the world, I might as well connect with my grandma.

Now, I guess I just have to outline the whole project and spend some time with Grammy.

Idea#1: Our teacher suggested I could make a menu with 5~10 dishes that my Grammy does to represent the different stages in her life. I think that is a cool idea. While I cook with Grammy, I could like, kind of do what Martha and Godbee does in the book Olive's Ocean, a story exchange between granddaughter and grandmother.

My brain is fried at the moment due to long periods of thinking, so after a rest, I shall continue to brainstorm.

A Brief Introduction

I am supposed post the progress of Project 17 on this blog.
So far, I only have a few ideas:

1. Guerrilla Art Project (inspired by the book The Guerrilla Art Kit by Keri Smith)
I actually started this project at school before the semester ended, just to see how people would react before trying out in the real world. Basically, I just tacked a piece of paper on the bulletin board next to the nurse's office. It made me feel really excited about the fact that I was able to connect to people in such an anonymous way. Here is the link to a blog that I started: http://youarehereandthisisnow.blogspot.tw/
The thing is, even though I wrote the blog link on the backside of these slips, I guess people were just too lazy to type the link in their URL and check the blog out. So, I didn't get any feedback from those who took the slips. Truth be told, I was a bit disappointed, and I sort realized this won't really make a difference to the world (probably only vaguely). Our teacher said that if I get 20 people out of 100 people to give a feedback, that would still be a progress, except I'd probably have to work twice as hard to get enough feedbacks to write about.
(This is probably an idea I'd eliminate so I know it's kind of pointless to write it, except for record purposes)

2. Germany Travel Book 
I'd collect all my memories and experiences during my exchange in Germany, and compress them into the shape of a travel book. I have been planning to do this for quite a long time, and thought this would perfect for this project. Then again, this isn't really connecting to the world...rather just organizing some part of my personal life. I don't know why people would want to read this book anyways, if I were the only one blabbering away at the great times I had back them. So this might be a dead end.

3. Wednesday Cooking with Grandma (inspired by the book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom) 
I usually go to my grandma's house to help out with dinner, and also simply spend time with her. My grandparents...well,  I don't really know much about my grandpa, who died on a fishing trip during a storm. My mom often told stories about him bringing home fish as big as his motorcycle. To me, he is more of a legendary hero. On the other hand, my grandma is The Grandma I Really Like. I really like her and the time we spend together, usually in the kitchen or knitting in front of the television. I am not quite sure where this is going to lead me, but this seems like a promising idea.