Moving, moving, moved!!!

So, we blitz packed up the house the week of the 6th - with a quick trip to Pinedale to get the furniture we had stored there...

On our last night in Laramie, after loading the truck, no one wanted to cook... we invaded McAlister’s 20 minutes before they closed, they were really nice about it – I hope that it was not because they touched our food.


We were going to leave at 4am on the 14th, but as our plans had changed and we no longer needed to get to Champagne, IL by a reasonable hour we decided that sleeping more than 3 hours before driving all day was probably a good idea…

So we slept in, left late, and ended up driving most of the next night. We stopped at a hotel in Peoria, IL around 6am and slept away the morning, left mid-afternoon and drove through the night again. Because we have an awesome real estate agent, our keys and lease were waiting for us at our new house the next morning…

We unloaded the truck, ended up at Denny’s – because you don’t go to Denny’s, you end up there – and crashed out. Linus’ flight left at the butt crack of dawn, so after that sad task, we all went back to bed.

Saturday we decided to check out the main farmer’s market in Alexandria. It was raining so we didn’t stay long. The farmer’s market runs from 5.30 – 10 am so we left early and got home around 8.30… and went back to bed.

Only to be awakened to a loud crashing noise at 9.15. Our new house is situated in the cross of a T intersection. Some guy had passed the car stopped at the intersection and accelerated right into our driveway – into my sister’s Blazer in fact…



He then proceeded to get out of his car and run down the street bleeding – a real hit and run… Our neighbors saw everything and called 911 – nota bene: there are some fine firemen in Alexandria, VA – We got 3 fire trucks, an ambulance, and 4 cop cars... the cops then proceeded to catch the guy, tow off his car and all the other good stuff cops do…

The Blazer was totaled - bent axle amongst other damage. We were all ok, though.

So,1800 miles, tons of boxes and drama, and 2 weeks later...


We still have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do, but we are settling in nicely!

Check it out!

Ok, so I added a new sidebar feature of authors whom I read with regularity - it is an eclectic mix, weighing in heavily on the romance but also including food and natural history. I will continue to add to it as I find more websites and start sorting my library as I unpack.

These are all fantastic authors, some brilliant, some brilliantly funny, some both, some just fun. Right now I am especially liking Victoria Dahl, whose novella The Wicked West was a fabulous short break from thesis revisions this past week. She may have saved my sanity...

Recommend, please...

Now that the thesis if mostly done (keep your fingers crossed for the defense), I am looking for summer reading suggestions. As most of you probably know, I have a voratious and insatiable narrative greed and summer break is the one time I can indulge it unchecked by most other resopnsiblities. And I read really quickly, so I go through books at an astonishing rate...

So, what I am looking for...

In the romance vein: Historical and straight contemporary, by which I mean not paranormal or romantic suspense, not the orientation of the protagonists - as I am a bit burned out on those subgenres... I have my must reads, but I have noticed recently that my scope is rather narrow and I am looking to expand. The voracious narrative greed means I tear through my favourites, even with re-reading. Also, I would not be adverse to expanding in the BDSM direction, as I have heard good things in that direction. But I need names...

In the fantasy vein: I am talking fantasy here, not sci fi. I am cool with magic, but the machines have to be pretty damn cool for me to read about them, as my relationship with the machines in my life is rather love/hate - I think this is also because, as a rule, I read for character over plot and fantasy does that better than sci fi. Anyway...

In the foodie vein: Anything that is good - I read cookbooks like novels, and I love food memoir as well, so really, anything that is good. I am always looking for new ideas in the kitchen...

In the Classics vein: I am planning on revisiting my favorite Jane Austin titles, but over the course of my MA I realized just how much classic literature I had skimmed - or skipped altogether - as an undergrad. So, what are your favorites?

What else would you recommend? I would be happy to venture outside these paths, if the narrative pay-off is there...

A note on formats: I am down with ebooks, though I won't have a reader until the financial shock of moving across the country wears off. I am not so good with delayed gratification, but needs must. But I will get to them, so don't let format be a limiting factor.

Please share - a desperate reader needs to know!

um, yeah, that's why I am a snob...

"Eccentricity is not, as dull people would have us believe, a form of madness. It is often a kind of innocent pride, and the man of genius and the aristocrat are frequently regarded as eccentrics because genius and aristocrat are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd." - Edith Sitwell, English biographer, critic, novelist, & poet (1887 - 1964)

Finally, I know - my genius makes me above the opinions of the crowd.
=)

A peek at the thesis, unpolished...

an excerpt:

The section on plum pudding also demonstrates well the ways in which Mrs. Beeton’s text conveys both imperial codes and pragmatic domestic practice using traditional methods of female discourse. The instructional aspects extend far beyond the preparation of the food. Passages on currants, grape varieties, raisins, brandy and citron are interspersed between the recipes, providing a view of the state of commerce, both throughout the Empire and at home. These insertions also indicate the rising middle class audience the Book served.
When talking about currants, Beeton informs her readers, “When gathered and dried by the sun and air, on mats, they are conveyed to magazines, heaped together, and left to cake, until ready for shipping. They are then dug out by iron crowbars, trodden into casks, and exported.” This information is seemingly disconnected from running a Victorian middle class home. However, the facts surrounding this process demonstrate the commerce-based nature of the empire. A thrifty and economical housewife knows where her food comes from and how it is produce, so she can get the best deals when it comes time for her to purchase what is needed for the household she runs. Knowing that “the fertile vale of “Zante the woody” produces about 9,000,000 lbs. of currants annually,” arms the purchaser with a view of the market that she must enter in order to provide the socially acceptable table required by her class. The fact that “we could not make a plum pudding without the currant” requires certain knowledge of the housewife, what currants are and how and where to purchase them, in addition to how to incorporate them into a domestic practice. What seems to be learning without purpose is in fact driven by the economic factors of middle class living in the British Empire.

Sex, Sex, Sex... Yay!

Mary Roach has written a book called Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex and here she talks about 10 things you didn’t know about orgasm:

Rainy Day Rissotto

Like much of what I do in the kitchen, these measurements are approximate as I generally am of the dump and pour method. This is as close as I can recreate.

1/4 c butter
1/4 c olive oil
2 Tbsp Chopped garlic
2 sundried tomato garlic spread
3 c rice
1/4 c rice wine vinegar
1.7 Litre veggie bullion
.5 Litre boiling water
2 tsp. cream cheese
1/3 c sour cream

melt the fat. sauté the garlic & spread. saute the rice. add vinegar. cook down. add enough liquid to cover rice. boil down. repeat until rice is soft, but not mushy. add the cream cheese and sour cream towards the end of cooking.

I am not a big fan of sun-dried tomatoes, but when they are not the only flavour, they are ok. For this dish i really liked it. It was pretty tangy, so probably a better side dish than main meal.

Little Miss Picky Pants said, "It's ok." - for those not familiar, that is a ringing endorsement.
His Sinfulness thought, "It is very good, and I garnished it with sun-dried tomato bits." - he likes sun-dried tomatoes much better than I do.
Teh Doctor, who was stranded "The texture was fantastic. Definitely firm creamy. The sour cream flavour lingers a little too long. And I went a little over board with the garnishing." - he also was excited by the sun-dried tomatoes.

Work-out of the non-mental variety...

I realize that I need to exercise, and that it would in fact probably greatly reduce my stress levels, which in turn would reduce my headaches... however, stress has also sapped any minor motivation I might have had... this is a vicious cycle!

On a related note, there is an end in sight for my thesis.

The use of animal byproducts

Warning: This post is heavy on the philosophizing and includes hot button topics of death, Christianity and veganism. If this is not your thing you may want to steer clear. Also, it is long.

This is a topic that has been much debated amongst various members of the flock - with strong proponents on both sides of the issue. The arguments range from corporate greed to health to evolution to personal pleasure. That is not what I want to talk about today. Today I want to talk about death.


Vegans are, with the possible exception of Christians, people who are more afraid of death than any other group I have encountered. This maybe because many of then were raised in a culture where the shadow of Christianity's fear of death has created a culture of youth that is unable to even talk about death. I don't know why it is, but most of the vegans I know, and know of, equate all death with cruelty and label all death as bad. There is a definite value judgement being placed on the ending of a life. In my experience value judgements are made out of two places - sometimes, they come from great joy; but, much more frequently, they arise out of fear. Now if you do not subscribe to a world-view where there is something after this life - be it heaven, reincarnation, or whatever - this fear makes sense. However, these same people are also frequently deeply spiritual people. I have to admit, this baffles me.

I understand, and even agree with, many of the arguments made about quality of life, health benefits, awareness and all of that, right up until they get to the point where death equals cruelty. That is where they loose me. None of the world-views that the vegans I know support this conclusion. Christians are only concerned with the life-after-death of humans, and it is supposed to be better than here. Buddhists believe in a cycle of reincarnation to end suffering - this one comes the closest to making sense to me, as your choices in this life effect your next incarnation, but death is a release into either the next incarnation or to enlightenment; it is the end of suffering. The Neo-Pagans I know come down on varying degrees between a summerlands-type heaven and a cycle of reincarnation, and the same issue that what comes next is something to look forward to applies to them.

So, if all these world-views see death as a good (or at least not bad) thing, why are vegans so opposed to it? Here we get to the value of life, which ones are more important and deserved to be preserved and which ones don't matter. It is argued by ethicists that the line sentience.The sentience line is usually drawn at the vertebrate/invertebrate line by science. But that is not the line that vegans take - otherwise lobster would be fine. And so would honey. So what is the line that makes some life ok to consume for sustenance and pleasure and other life, cruel. And who gets to decide where to step outside the cycle of life and death. Nothing lives except by the death of something else.

Now would probably be a good time to state that there are several points which vegans make that I completely agree with. That the quality of life of the animals we (omnivores) eat should be improved. And the giant corporate factory farms and animal testing do nothing to contribute to an improvement - or the ienvironment, or the health of developed nations. And that by making uninformed food choices which support these businesses, you perpetuate animal cruelty. I also think that it is important to consider all the consequences of your choices - especially food choices.

But by focusing on the death, I think that much is missed in the beautiful, natural cycles of the present.

OMG, WANT!!1!

So, recently I was helping a friend determine the best ebook reader for her to buy, as she will be spending a year in China and books are heavy and take up space. Like me, the thought of a year without many easily accessed books was completely intolerable. So the solution was clearly an ebook reader. I was helping her for two reasons - (1)several of the blogs I read have talked a lot about different types of readers and (2)due to the space issue my insatiable book habit creates, I am going to get a reader in the fall, when I once again have funding. (n.b. moving is expensive!!)

We were not liking the Kindle, due to outrageous pricing, no external storage, and the general suckitude of #Amazonfail and their recent attempts to monopolize publishing in a not cool way. With all that in mind, we had decided to go the Sony route. Not only does Sony not suck, they have the deal with Google where you get 500,000 free books. Yay! Free! Books! Turns out however, that Sony is not compatible with Macs - both of us have a Mac. We love our Macs. We will not ever buy PCs again, unless they somehow manage to be as cool as Macs. Or the Devil starts ice-skating on his driveway.

So, no Sony. There was much with the sad face.

But Kindle still sucks.

Our phone conversation got cut off, and while I was waiting for her to call me back so we could figure out what to do, I read my daily blog posts. Turns out Smart Bitches post was on an ebook conference. Turns out there is a European company called Bookeen. Turns out they have a reader called Cybook. And it's compatible. With everything.

Turns out I WANT it.

I am a big fan of "The Nietzsche Family Circus" and in light of all the paper grading I and many of my friends and acquaintances have done recently I thought this one was particularly apropos...

So... I love Foamy...

Watch this!!! (NSFW)

=)

perspective...

Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy. ~ Albert Einstein


I needed that perspective right now... when I am completely overwhelmed with everything...

Yay! Camera!

I got a camera! Well, I already had a camera, but now I have a better camera, a camera with which take beautiful pictures of food... or teapots... or anything I want, really. I know that this is not the best demonstration of its powers, but I was too excited to not put up something...

As to when you will get a post of more substance, all I can say is after thesis, grading and moving... but now I will have pretty pictures to go with the posts that I will eventually be posting... so, Yay!

What is it about the Eastern Europeans?

"Without realizing it, the individual composes his life according to the laws of beauty even in the times of greatest distress." Milan Kundera, Czech Writer

"To remain aware of the weight of fact without yielding to the temptation to become only a reporter is one of the most difficult puzzles confronting a practitioner of poetry." Czeslaw Milosz, Polish Writer

What is it about the Eastern Europeans?

The Literary Quote of the Day made me think of Poetics last spring and Czeslaw Milosz - his poetry embodies this sense of beauty in times of distress. In fact, the way I ended up describing it in my notes resonates with both of these quotes: In moments of dissolution, the specific and the general meet - intimacy and ephemera.

I am not sure that it expresses the resonance, but there ya go - that's what happens when a non-linear thinker gets to blog...

This lead me to reflect on the beauty of Eastern European writer's works, both poetry and prose. They are so heart-wrenchingly fabulous and frequently they spring from great tragedy and hardship. They are in no way a specialty of mine, but I am blown away whenever I encounter them (I realize the gross generalization I am making here)...

I wonder what it is about the human condition that inspires the creation beauty from pain?

Romance, New Orleans, and PCA

I love, love, love, me some New Orleans - I always thought I would from all I have read about it, but now I can say from personal experience that it is true - I love New Orleans. Part of this incredibly favorable first impression may be the people I shared a goodly portion of the past week with - the Popular Romance section of the PCA conference. This group is so warm and welcoming and supportive - they are just plain nice! And snarky... oh, the snark. Those who know me know what a requirement that is for a good time to be had by all. Some of them I already "knew" from online, and others it was a huge pleasure for me to meet them for the first time. I came away from the conference with a new/re-affirmed confidence in my work as a scholar and with tons of ideas for future projects.

Now I just have to catch up in the rest of my life...

Eco on Poetics

"I would define the poetic effect as the capacity that a text displays for continuing to generate different readings, without ever being completely consumed." - Umberto Eco

I think that this is why I can only write about certain romance novelists in a scholarly light - not all of them have this poetic effect, some of them are just entertainment...

Literary Quote of the Day

"Of course, you would have to be insane to hope your child grows up to be a playwright or poet. Given the odds, you would have to be quite cavalier about your children's future." Mark Helprin, American Novelist

Excuses, excuses...

I have been cooking, and even keeping a journal - albeit intermittently, but between my thesis and teaching, the time that I may have had for decent posts just disappears... please don't give up, my very few, very faithful readers - I will post about tasty goodness soon...

so funny...

on this day...

Feb 5, 1811: After George III was declared insane, the Prince of Wales became Prince Regent of England, and later George IV...

As readers of romance know, this ushered in a time of endless rake dukes and rebel heiresses - in fact, there were so many, that to write about them all, regency romance got its own subgenre...

one more reason to read romance novels...
=)

Literary Quote of the Day

"If you do not love me I shall not be loved. If I do not love you I shall not love."
~Samuel Beckett, Irish Dramatist/Poet

Birthday and Thesis and Imbolc, Oh My!

So, I had a lovely birthday weekend...

The day itself was pretty ordinary - I had to deal with a lot of the details that are necessary to teaching and grad school. It really brought home to me that I am where I need to be and doing what I should be ... I love being an academic. More than anything it was a peaceful day, filled with good conversation and dear friends. There is nothing more rewarding than milestones that make you happy with where you are, rather than regretful of where you could be...

My thesis is less on track, but still exciting... I keep meaning to do more than I actually get done, but it is underway and more than just a concept in my head now...

Blessed Imbolc! We are halfway to the spring solstice and in frozen wastelands like the one where I live that is definitely some thing to celebrate... and it is above zero, so we don't have to freeze while we do it.

May yours be blessed!

Birthday foods...

So my first foray into fondue was lovely... I can't believe I got the the ripe old age of 29 never having tried it... we went to The Melting Pot in Ft. Collins and it was super tasty - I have to say I am a fan of fondue, though I think the caloric intake will be limiting my indulgence... still I could totally see a fondue set in my future...

Oh my frickin Goddess!...

THIS is ridiculous...

go buy a doughnut! I don't care if you are on a diet - give it to a pro-lifer
=)

Ch-ch-ch-change...

So...

WordPress and hosting issues have lead me to switch back to blogger, which does everything for me. I am still playing around with templates and formats, but here we are - the address is the same, but you will have to reset your rss feeds, so let me know if there are problems...

tidbits...

On this day in 1896 that Fannie Merritt Farmer published The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, which was later renamed The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. It was the first cookbook to use accurate measurements.As it is also National Soup Month, I think I will make her Clam Chowder - It is a blustery day here and it will simmer nicely as I put together the grapefruit jelly I have planned.I think a better digital camera will have to be a priority for 2009...

yikes...

the deadlines, they come... i am applying to PhD programs and i am starting to freak out - the first deadline is friday ... i don't feel prepared at all, even though my application is mostly done and i am getting all sorts of department help ... still super freaked out...

here's hopin' they love me...

Crumpets!

So I made my first foray into crumpet -making today. The Flock tasters have given their stamp of approval, but I am not satisfied. I used this recipe here. I don't know if the recipe is what needs tweaking, due to high altitude, or my technique needs work, but I am not happy with the centers - I think they are not bubbly and firm enough. Also, I would like them with less of a yeasty taste, but that is me being picky. I have a few more variations that I want to try, so we will see how the next batch goes, but for now the Flock is happy...

so, life gets in the way...

I really meant to post these earlier, but school happened and life happened. so anyway, pictures...[gallery]

So, applebutter...

The applebutter experiment was a rousing success. I love that I was able to make it in the slow cooker. And the applebutter aficionado in the house says that it tastes like his favorite store-bought brand - a ringing endorsement, to be sure. Photos of the finished product need work, maybe the batch I do on Saturday will photograph better than this batch did.So, the recipe...

2.5 kilos apples, cored and finely chopped (I ran them through the food processor)

800 g raw sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

Place the apples in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the sugar, spices and salt. Pour the mixture over the apples in the slow cooker and mix well. Cover and cook on high 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook 9 to 11 hours, (mine took about 10) stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened and dark brown. Uncover and continue cooking on low 1 hour. During the last hour, blend it smooth with an immersion blender. Ladle into sterilized jars. Boil filled jars for 15 min. Cool and store.

I used organic Gala apples, but I think Granny Smiths or Jonathans would work well, too.

It seems to me, too...

"It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it; and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied; and it is all one."M. F. K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

I have a new website - http://feeding-the-flock.com/

Come and visit!

Peaches!

Yay jam! My first attempt at peach jam appears to be a success. I used a super easy recipe from a food blogger, Orangette, called Italian Family Jam. I am very happy with how it turned out - though my normal tasters have not yet passed down their verdicts, so we shall see.

Watch it!

even if you already did, watch it again... this is history being made.

A few of the things on my plate this semester...- Classes - i am taking 9 graduate credits- Teaching - i teach 1010 every monday, wednesday and friday- Program for College Teaching - i am getting a teaching certificate- PRAXIS - so i am marketable on a high school level, in addition to college-Thesis - i need to have narrowed my topic by then end of the semester... a hard task for someone with such disparate interests...and that is just for school...

A few of the things on my plate this semester...

- Classes - i am taking 9 graduate credits
- Teaching - i teach 1010 every monday, wednesday and friday
- Program for College Teaching - i am getting a teaching certificate
- PRAXIS - so i am marketable on a high school level, in addition to college
-Thesis - i need to have narrowed my topic by then end of the semester... a hard task for someone with such disparate interests...

and that is just for school...

6 August 1945

Hiroshima... 8:15am... 90 percent of buildings either damaged or completely destroyed... 140,000 people dead - 70,000 instantly...

Our world changed...

I made pickles!!! This may only be exciting to me, but I have never done it before and it is an exciting kitchen accomplishment for me. They are Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles and when the 3 days is up and I know if they are good, I might post the recipe. Until then....

Squeee!

Some diesel sweeties

http://www.dieselsweeties.com

Almost makes you want a Big Mac...

Funny on Wonkette...

and also very sad...

Are you thinking yet?

Max brought this to my attention recently and I have to say that while it is somewhat shocking for anyone steeped in the Christian world views of the modern US, it is very thought provoking and pretty much spot on... in my opinion anyway...



Pat Condell has more good videos and you can get them here...

a rant...

I hate moving. I am not moving, but we are getting two new inmates at Flock Hall 2.0 and one of them will be taking up residence in my room, so even though I am not going any where, I am moving my stuff, cleaning out storage and making room for a bird cage. I don't suppose that I have a ton of stuff, renting kinda precludes it. But I am more of a collector than anyone at flock hall, and I have sort of sprawled out a little bit when I got some extra space. Now I am having to suck it back in, or trim it out. I don't like trimming, even when I like the results - more space and new companions. The process is at best tedious and at worst painful. Most of it is only out to the garage - more tedious than painful - and multiple moves have really pared down the collection urge, or at least prevented me form giving into the urge with any frequency. But there are still the boxes and totes that need to be sorted through and weeded out, or at least consolidated. It makes me want to run screaming in the opposite direction. Or go take a nap. But I wouldn't be able to sleep, because I would be thinking about all the stuff I need to do. Or I would fall asleep and dream about it and wake up more tired than I started...

Bah Humbug!

I think I will go cook something, food makes everything better...

Not so serene...

We have all heard it...

Lord,
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Well it seems that the guy who thought that he thought it up was wrong, or stealing, depending on the way you look at it...

the NYT article is here...

Astrophil and Stella

Sir Philip Sidney
1

Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show,

That she (dear She) might take some pleasure of my pain:

Pleasure might cause her read, reading might make her know,

Knowledge might pity win, and pity grace obtain;

I sought fit words to paint the blackest face of woe,

Studying inventions fine, her wits to entertain:

Oft turning others' leaves, to see if thence would flow

Some fresh and fruitful showers upon my sun-burn'd brain.

But words came halting forth, wanting Invention's stay,

Invention, Nature's child, fled step-dame Study's blows,

And others' feet still seem'd but strangers in my way.

Thus, great with child to speak, and helpless in my throes,

Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite--

"Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart and write."

Survey says...

I know there are musical people out there in my sparse and nebulous readership, and I have a survey for you. What would you say my theme song is - a song that represents my personality, quirks, and interests? Please let me know...

When Candy Goes Wrong

I can't decide what is funnier the title, which sounds like something from a budget horror film, or the picture, which speaks for itself...

It is my passion.

Do you remember falling in love, discovering your passion - I was nine. We had free-time. I was laying on my stomach looking at the books on the bottom shelf of the classroom bookcase, books we never used in class. I have always had a fondness for things that involve never. There were lots of books i knew by then that i was supposed to be interested in, classics - Treasure Island, The Jungle Book, Black Beauty. The there was this old, faded blue book - you know that weird library-binding blue that is nothing like the author or publicist intended. There was a grainy, faded picture of a girl on the front with her yellow skirt and hair blowing out to the side - rather unrealistically, I now know - but completely wonderful to my rather overdeveloped imagination of the time. The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I started reading it. For people who know me now that may seem like no big deal, but let me assure you it was. I did not read. I was in Chapter 1 reading, not because I didn't know how, I was reading when I was three years old, but because I refused to do it. The power of my will to not do something I didn't want to was such that I almost failed out of school - before the 5th grade. So me reading, and right there in the middle of the classroom even, that was not normal behavior. But it was free-time and no one noticed. It was not the first book I had read, but for some reason I was pulled into that world. It was the first time I wanted to read. I took the book home with me. I finished it in two days. I read it again. And again. (I did eventually give it back - but only after I had acquired my own copy at a school book fair.) Then I went to the library to see if Elizabeth George Speare had written any other books. The Calico Captive, The Bronze Bow, and The Sign of the Beaver were all quickly devoured. And just like that I was a reader. It is my passion.

except it is so windy here that you can't feel that melting power... =(

6 June 1944

a guide...

a dedication...

to Strong Soviet Mother...

The new release list...

So I was browsing the through the cookbook section, as I am wont to do on occasion, and what do I discover, but a lovely conflation of my interests in food and technology. If you thought about getting me a gift to celebrate the end of a successful school year, this is something you might want to consider (and if you didn't, why not - it is always a good time for presents)...


Food 2.0: Secrets From the Chef Who Fed Google By Charlie Ayers looks like tons of fun, and as one of my goals for the summer is to get back into the kitchen more, it would be a lovely addition to my already extensive, but never complete, collection. And as the buzzword for this chef is brainfood, it would be helpful in fortifying me for my other summer goal of finishing my reading list...

the "Google Generation" can't Google...

"A recent survey shows many students from the so-called 'Google generation' lack the basic skills needed for online research"

In a recent article put out in the UK, the findings of a study say that while they may proficient in the use of Facebook and Wikipedia, this generation (born after 1993) is not actually connected to information in this information age.

status quo...

I have been quite busy - the status quo of the semester - and so, as there was really nothing else going on with me, I thought would tell you a bit about that.

I have really rediscovered a love of literary studies and theory this semester, which is nice as that is what I am planning on doing with my life. I am writing my final paper for my Critical Theory class on food imagery and cultural identity, rather appropriate given my two great loves are books and food. The title will be "Cooking Up Culture: Food Imagery and the Creation of Cultural Identity in Silence" - a bit wordy, I know, but I like it.

I have another paper that I will have to write for Poetics, as well, but that will come together eventually - even though I have no idea where I am going with that one.

I also really need to get my reading list finalized and signed off on. I still have to decide what theory texts and articles I want to be my summer reading. Decisions, decisions...

I think a cuppa tea would help...

a poem placeholder

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal
of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting,
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

some serious funny...

einstein quote of the day...

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious."

i am locavore...

so, i am not a big ranter... overall, i tend to avoid conflict whenever possible - i mostly just want everyone to get along...

that said, this is a rant - and not surprisingly it involves one of my two great passions: food... it was inspired by little tatooed girl - our conversation made me realize how seldom i talk about some of the things i really believe in... so you all get a rant...

i am an advocate of local food - or as much as possible in a place like BV city... i believe quite passionately in the importance - to all levels of society - of buying your food locally... it is one of the most important food choices you can make - and it effects all other dietary choices... this does not mean that you have to give up all foods that don't grow within a 100 miles of where you live, which is good, 'cause i would starve here, it just means buying locally whenever you can - let's be real, i am not going to be giving up good dark chocolate anytime soon, and everyone is better off for that decision... but i can get my tomatoes and squash locally, eggs and beef, too.

there are so many good great reasons to eat local...

eating local means more for the local economy - dollars spent locally support the local community twice three times as much as business owned by outsiders...
locally grown produce is fresher... and as a result, local food just flat out tastes better...
locally grown fruits and vegetables have longer to ripen - less spoilage - less waste...
eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic - organic food is often shipped hundreds and sometimes thousand of miles, using so much more fuel and energy to get to you, and thus polluting more...
buying local food keeps us in touch with the seasons - you eat what is fresh when it is harvested, instead of imported out-of-season food...
eating local protects us from bio-terrorism - you know where it came from and who had access to it before it when on your plate - and the opportunities for tampering just aren't feasible in a market which is so much smaller...
local food connects you to your community - you get to know the people who grew your tomatoes and baked your bread...
local food equals more variety - smaller farms can try crops that you would not normally see in your local agri-business run supermarket, and things like zebra tomatoes and purple string beans become available for anyone to try...
supporting local providers supports responsible land development - land being used in a sustainable manner for farming will not be sold to developers to build McMansions - and the variety of crops helps to keep the land continuously productive and in use, without damaging it or leaving it fallow...
and if you do eat meat, you know how the animals were treated before they were killed, what, if any, chemicals and hormones went into their diet, and how fresh the meat actually is...

one of the best resource (for the US readers), no matter what your diet choices are, to find locally produced food is an organization called Local Harvest... you can find all sorts of sources for locally produced food, including CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) - which are kinda like a subsidy - but instead of the government paying farmers to grow (or not) what they think should be on the market, the consumer pays the farm directly for the food, ensuring that they make a fair amount for their products without government intervention - a fresher and more varied product than what is available in most stores... the one that i am looking at is Grant Family Farms, which is just across the border into colorado...

i really could go on for quite some time, but as i stated at the beginning, i am not big on rants and this one covers most of the main points...

it is really just a logical iteration of the maxim that to effect change you have to think globally and act locally...

food, food, food...

i have found a new food blog that i absolutely love, so i just had to share - even knowing that i am probably the only person who reads this blog who is interested in food blogs...

it is called Tea & Cookies, and beyond being as much in love with food as i am, she is a fabulous writer, really worth checking out... here is one of her early posts that made me happy ... and here is one that is more recent ...

don't worry, i know that the interest here is less than the sqee-ness that i am feeling... but because of that squee-ness i had to share...

life and whatnot...

i seem to have been posting quite a bit of content from other sources recently and, well, that just seems lazy ... even though that is what most bloggers do, really ... so, in an effort, albeit a weak one, not to be lame... i am giving an update on my life... and stuff...


grad school - it's great! i love my classes, even when i don't want to go... theory is not sucking nearly as badly as i was afraid it might... i am actually really liking it *gasp*... i know, crazy, right?... poetics is often very theoretical, as well, but with a direct connection to the poetry we are reading, rather than text in general... and really my classes are made that much better by the rather brilliant people by whom they are populated - the comments of my classmates are something i look forward to as much, if not more than, whatever topic is under discussion for that day...

on a note related to grad school, i am also putting together my reading list... for those not from the world of literary academia, i compile a list of works encompassing at least three categories - in my case, time period, genre, and approach - read them and then next fall i will have to synthesize them in a reading list test, an oral exam given by the committee approving the list... i have decided to specialize in the medieval - probably not a surprise for those who know me - so along that line i have chosen to read medieval french lit, 19th and early 20th century fantasy, and cultural studies theory... my list is not yet complete and approved, but i am excited for it anyway...

work is not so bad... i enjoy the labs and love the internet time... though i suppose i would not be opposed to having the same internet time at home... i have applied for a teaching assistantship for next year, and, should i get it, my lab time will be significantly reduced... and i might get an office... how odd...

in the kitchen... well i haven't actually been in the kitchen that much recently... yesterday was the first time in ages i had cooked, and it was lovely... i suppose there is a combination of reasons for that... my kitchen style tends to be slow food for large groups, and while i am living with a large - relatively - group, the various dietary choices and restrictions of that diverse group make slow food somewhat difficult... most vegetarian and vegan food actually happens rather quickly... and slow food often involves meat of some kind... and timing has also been an issue - time to cook when i don't need to be doing other things has to be balanced with the time that other people want to use the kitchen... it is not a single-butt kitchen, but the flow does not work really well for more than two or three people... as a result, very little of my time has been spent in the kitchen as yet this year ... and that is sad, because i love food, making and eating it...

one of the things that has been taking away my kitchen time is fitness - largely, bellydancing and hula hooping - and i really love it... i am no where near the level of skill that i would like at either of them... but, i am gonna keep working on them both, even though this week is the last week of bellydancing class - no more security of having a teacher to tell me what to do... i am hula hooping a lot and i am finally starting to try some tricks - tricks which will need much more practice before they are made public... the result of all this jiggling is that i have finally started to lose the weight that i want off, though, again, only a start on a much bigger project...

so, overall, life is good... and now you know...

a poem

poetry speaks to me in a way that prose just can't, no matter how thrilling i find happily-ever-after ... it is on a level so much more elemental, visceral - proceeding from instinct rather than intellect ... and it frustrates me that i can't accurately explain what it is about certain poems that is so powerful to me, even knowing how rarely one can explain instinct...

anyway, a poem...

The Dream

I dream an inescapable dream
in which I take away from the country
the bridges and roads, the fences, the strung wires,
ourselves, all we have built and dug and hollowed out,
our flocks and herds, our droves of machines.

I restore then the wide-branching trees.
I see growing over the land and shading it
the great trunks and crowns of the first forest.
I am aware of the rattling of their branches,
the lichened channels of their bark, the saps
of the ground flowing upward to their darkness.
Like the afterimage of a light that only by not
looking can be seen, I glimpse the country that was.
All its beings belong wholly to it. They florish
in dying as being born. It is the life of its deaths.

I must end, always, by replacing
our beginnings there, ourselves and our blades,
the flowing of history, putting back what i took away,
trying always with the same pain of foreknowlwdge
to build all that we have built, but destroy nothing.

My hands weakening, I feel on all sides blindness
growing in the land on its peering bulbous stalks.
I see that my mind is not good enough.
I see that I am eager to own the earth and own men.
I find in my mouth a bitter taste of money,
a gaping syllable I can neither swallow nor spit out.
I see all that we have ruined in order to have, all
that was owned for a life time to be destroyed forever.

Where are the sleeps that escape such dreams?

~Wendell Berry, 1968


i wonder if this is how god feels looking down on creation, sometimes...

V-Day

february...

as readers and fellow flock members know, february and i have a mutual distrust and hatred for each other - i try my best to endure and the longest month of the year does its best to defeat me... as an antidote to the dismay imparted by this interminable month i have complied a list of moments...

happiness is...
...cooking with my grandmother
...the perfect glass of pinot grigio
...medieval french poetry
...blood oranges
...a hot cup of tea on a cold day that i don't have to be out in
...shopping with my sister
...summer stars in the high desert
...slow food
...my mountains
...the sound of the ocean
...dancing until i can barely move
...hula-hooping
...soup and sourdough
...happily ever after
...the sound of the rain
...late night conversations
...green growy things
...visiting someplace i have never been before
...heirloom roses
...ripe, summer peaches
...other peoples stories
...red carnations
...old, character-filled houses
...cooking for the people i love

...a list as fleeting and incomplete as happiness itself...

Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 -- 5:55 PM ET
-----

Senate Votes to Broaden Government's Spying Powers

By a vote of 68 to 29, the Senate gave final approval to a
bill that expands the government's spying powers and gives
legal protection to phone companies that cooperated in
President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program.

Read more here...

economic stimulus at the expense of reading...

i have to admit, i haven't really paid attention to the economic stimulus package that has been in the news so much in the past few weeks - other than to think election year bulls**t... however today while i was reading my blogs i had to sit up and take notice...

President Bush Eliminates Funding for Reading Is Fundamental’s Historic Book Distribution Program Serving 4.6 Million Children

apparently the only way to stimulate the economy is to make sure that the future of at-risk kids is even harder, because they can't read... he probably thinks what's the point, they aren't going to have time to read anyway - what with flipping burgers and shooting up their neighborhoods - no point in cultvating skills that would help them improve themselves and thus the country and the economy... arg! this administration makes me so mad...

269 days left... if another republican is elected i think i might move to europe... or canada...

lawyers...

for my fellow labbies...

and anyone else who may work in a tech support related job...

medieval tech support...

raks sharqi...

i love belly dance... i know, it has only been one lesson, but it is so much fun!!!! and i am not as sore as i thought i would be... it is really hard, lots more so than i expected, but soooooo much fun... i can't wait till i am good... g-fresh and i are going to practice every night...

i only wish i was as good as this girl is...

mass media...

so, as descriptions of mass media, i find this one to be very entertaining... and somewhat true...

there is a ton of information, much of it i don't care about, on the internet - just as i imagine the drunk librarian in the corner at the cocktail party... and like the librarian, once one gets it started, it sucks you in with information to places you never wanted to go... like facebook, myspace and random forums that suck the soul from the ideas they may have been founded on... and occasionally you get a gem - a well-edited wiki, an educational website, friends blogs - but more often you lose hours of you life that you can never get back... and i love it...

i must be perverse, because i would rather talk to the drunk librarian in the corner than most of the other people at the party... the internet is where i get my news, talk to friends, organize my life... and i really love the random places that the drunk librarian leads me... beautiful, brilliant, fun places... even though there are some places that you can not un-know, no matter how much you may wish to - like some of the places you can find kittens...

still, it beats the hell out of "fair and balanced"...

culture, in brief...

i have discovered a lovely new(to me) site that will inspire horror in those of a serious literary persuasion, possible confusion in the rest of the population, and general hilarity all around...

please go visit Book-A-Minute Classics and see for yourself - they are truly brilliant...

my favorite so far is this one, of The Odyssey ...

i posted a general update on the status of my holiday break on flock hall 2.0, so if you are interested go there to read it...

i have to say that i am not a fan of new year's resolutions - in my experience no one follows them anyway - but there are a few things in my life that look like resolutions...

~ i have set up a fairly rigorous (by fleur standards) work-out schedule with my sister - both gym time and belly dancing and pilates classes
~ my roommate's vegan lifestyle is spilling over into my eating habits - i think about them more than i have in the past, anyway
~ my master's program reading list is going to force me to read some of the things that have been in the to-be-read pile since before i started college
~ the massive amounts of reading which i have to do this semester will require a schedule to keep on track - more planning than i have ever really done for homework before this year - grad school is much different from undergrad
~ tighter-than-planned money situation will require better budgeting skills and more fiscal responsibility

you can probably see how these items have the flavor of resolutions, but i prefer to see them as life changes not dependent on a date cycle to come into effect (besides that, i am listing them a couple weeks after the new year- where did the break go?) - and also they will hopefully have a longer life span than mid-february, unlike the average new year's resolution...

my two geeks...

so my literature geek and my tech geek both sqeeeeed a little when i saw this article about the One Laptop Per Child program and UNICEF teaming up to create a database of oral tradition stories, so as to preserve them... yay for the preservation of culture!

here is the stories database...

a holiday list...

tacky or not, the holiday wish list is making an appearance - it is by no means a complete list of my desires, and if you feel inspired to get me something not on here, feel free... and if you don't want to give me anything at all that is fine, too... but several people have asked what i want, so here it is in all of its greedy glory...

fun, writer-type stuff:
anything from here, cause they are fun: http://www.ninthmoon.com
Scrivener
Curio

kitchen stuff:
le creuset cookware
a digital kitchen thermometer
a mandolin slicer - talk to squid first, though cause she said she might =)

and the ubiquitous book category:
Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich
Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Restaurant Reviews, Articles, Memoir, Fiction and More by Dianne Jacob
The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller
More Great Good Dairy-free Desserts by Fran Costigan
Rejection, Romance and Royalties: The Wacky World of a Working Writer By Laura Resnick
any of the Andrew Lang Fairy Books
this category could go on indefinitely, so i am stopping...

that is more than enough greediness for the year... and really i don't need presents from anyone, but honestly, who doesn't like presents...

my nod to the commercialism of the season has been fulfilled...

mfa, anyone?

wow ... some bright future prospects with a my degree (kinda - i will have an MA not an MFA - not sure what difference that one letter makes in this case, though)


http://www.marriedtothesea.com/

politics and literature...

in a publicity-hounding world it is really not that much of a stretch to combine book tours with campaigns, and what a prolific bunch of candidates we have... if you are unfamiliar with the literary politicos, Salon has reviewed the candidates' books here... some i have seen some i had not heard of... will this supposedly candid look at their lives and their views (the books are all "non-fiction") give you a better insight during the 2008 election, or does it just drive home the lack of good options? by the way, Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You) was not reviewed... =(