MARCH 9, 2017 // 19
BOOKMONGER // WILDLIFE // POP CULTURE // WORDS // Q&A // FOOD // FUN
BOOKMONGER
COLUMBIA BAR
Pineapple Margarita
To wean youngsters from
screens — best to start early
By RYAN HUME
By BARBARA
LLOYD McMICHAEL
Last week I saw a
father and young son
waiting in a car outside the
grocery store. In the front
seat, Dad tapped away
on his smartphone. In the
car seat, the tot swiped at
an iPad. They were there
when I went into the store,
and they were there when
I came back out — neither
one talking to the other.
It looked like a missed
opportunity to this outsider.
Dad could have turned their
stuck-in-the-car moment
into bonding time with his
son — a chance to crack
some goofy jokes, or discuss
the cars in the parking lot, or
surmise what people might
be carrying home in their
grocery sacks. A chance
to employ language and
encourage imagination.
I’m not alone in thinking
that people are spending too
much time on their screens.
Bellevue, Washington-based
psychotherapist George T.
Lynn and therapeutic tutor
Cynthia C. Johnson have
written a new book called
“Breaking the Trance.”
It’s a guide to help parents
limit their kids’ recreational
media use.
One of the first things
this book does is point out
that the symptoms of screen
dependence often look the
same as those relating to
a psychiatric condition or
learning disability. In fact,
it’s not uncommon for
screen dependence to co-oc-
cur in a child who has been
diagnosed with a disability
Breaking the
Trance – George T.
Lynn with Cynthia C.
Johnson
Central Recovery
Press – 298 pp -
$16.95
or illness. If a child has one
of these disorders, compul-
sive media usage can be
especially problematic. The
authors provide encourage-
ment and advice for dealing
with this issue.
Lynn and Johnson are
emphatic that while screen
use today is pervasive,
we shouldn’t feel that it is
inevitable. They reject the
“screen addiction” termi-
nology used by some other
experts.
Instead, they point out
that there is a range of
dependence on recreational
screen media. Some kids
may seem to be inordinately
tethered to their cellphones,
but they also have other
interests that don’t involve
a screen interface. On the
other end of spectrum are
youngsters who retreat from
social interaction and even
family engagement, choos-
ing instead to hole up in
their rooms and play video
games day and night.
No matter the degree, the
authors assert that screen
dependence can lead to
regression not only in social
and emotional capacity, but
also in cognitive skills. And
they remind us that gaming
manufacturers actually hire
experts to design compul-
sion loops in their prod-
ucts, triggering the brain’s
neurotransmitters in ways
that mess with ordinary
executive function.
“The brain can heal, but
it needs time and cessation
of the hyperadrenalized
state for a period to re-
charge.”
There’s plenty here to
convince parents of the
need to effect change, but
how do they go about it?
The authors recommend
convening all family members
to write a values statement
and having youngsters main-
tain handwritten planners.
This, frankly, sounds
like a whole new strain of
virtual reality. How would
you get multiple gener-
ations with their diverse
personalities, much less one
screen-dependent teen, to
cooperate?
The authors’ better piece
of advice: intervene when
the kids are young.
The Bookmonger is Barbara
Lloyd McMichael, who writes
this weekly column focusing
on the books, authors and
publishers of the Pacific
Northwest. Contact her at
bkmonger@nwlink.com
Inferno Lounge in down-
town Astoria recently won
the Coast Weekend Readers’
Choice Award for Best Bar,
and I realized it had been
awhile since I’d seen what
they were pouring at Rich
Ewing’s bar on Pier 11.
On a recent Sunday
afternoon the crow’s nest DJ
booth overlooking the cozy
wooden interior was dark,
and the air was pleasantly
filled with soul music. The
Inferno’s front-row view of
the Columbia River’s shipping
lane offered plenty a hull to
ponder as the bar pilots did
their thing on the lapping
water just outside.
The only thing missing
was a beverage, but I had to
look toward a different bar for
that. This Pineapple Margarita
is emblematic of the Inferno’s
appeal, featuring an infused
spirit in a playful application.
Do not forego the salt: It adds
a complimentary dimension
to the sweetness of the pine-
apple juice.
Ingredients:
2 ounces pine-
apple tequila*
1/2 ounce sour
mix
1/2 ounce
pineapple juice
3 lime wedges
Pineapple
wedge
Kosher salt
Ice
add the liquid ingredients,
shake until cold, and roll the
drink out into cocktail glass.
Garnish with pineapple slice
and serve.
—Recipe courtesy of Mark
Barsekian and Rich Ewing, bar-
tender and owner, respectively,
at the Inferno Lounge, Astoria,
Oregon
*The Inferno
uses silver tequila
for this infusion.
Remove the rind
from a pineapple,
and slice up the
sweet flesh. Sub-
merge the pineapple
in the tequila, place
in a non-reactive
container and let
it steep for about
two weeks be-
fore using. If you
do not use your
pineapple-infused
tequila with the frequen-
cy that the Inferno Lounge
does, you will eventually want
to strain out the fruit after
about a month or so to keep
it from spoiling.
Directions:
Line the rim
of a cocktail glass
with the salt and set
aside. Muddle the limes and
ice together in the bottom
of a cocktail shaker. Once
some of the liquids and oils
have given out of the citrus,
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