Domestic Scholar

Weekend Retreat

2012-02-05T08:10:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, Jordan and I went with two other couples to Fort Caswell on Oak Island for a Worship Leader's Conference. I was just tagging along, rather than attending the conference, so I ran around like crazy with my camera and tripod. I woke up at 5:30 am (about the time I get up now, anyway) bundled up and crept outside to walk on the beach. The fort sits on the far end of the island where the Cape Fear meets the ocean, so I walked towards the end that faced out into the open sea. It was dark when I started--like pitch black, stars are shining, just a thin strip of blue on the horizon. My eyes adjusted and I could see just enough not to actually walk into the water. It was amazing--like an HG Wells novel, time travel kind of way, which may sound creepy, but I loved it. The sky got lighter slowly, and I saw birds swooping and scuttling in the surf.

Across the estuary is Baldhead Island, where the lighthouse is affectionately called Old Baldy.

Oak Island's own lighthouse isn't much of a looker, but apparently it is the strongest light in NC.

I really love this picture--the blueblack and orangegold.

While the conference was going on, the other tag-alongs and I went to Brunswick Town, a state historic site I had never heard of. It is the excavation of a pre-Revolutionary town along the Cape Fear that was razed by the British. The biggest structure left is the burned out church of St. Philip's.

The foundations of a home. They have estimated that only 15% of the entire site has been excavated, so this was actually a good sized port town in the 18th century.

During the Civil War, the Confederate army built Fort Anderson on the site. This is the earthworks. The fort was abandoned after a three day battle in February 1865.

The Truth (?) About Sunscreen

2011-06-17T10:56:00.002-04:00

Photo courtesy Flickr Creative Commons, Robert S. Donovan

This week, the FDA updated sunscreen safety and regulation information. As I was reading some of the new information, I made a number of troubling discoveries. As someone who is dotted with small, round scars where the dermatologist has scraped potential cancerous spots off my skin, I want my sunscreen to work. According to new research, in many cases, it doesn't--at least not in the ways or to the degree that I expected. Here are some things I have learned.

First, the SPF (sun protection factor) refers only to the level of UVB protection. UVB rays are the ones that cause sunburns. UVA rays are the ones that cause skin cancer. Sunscreen manufacturers may claim that their products are "broad spectrum," but that has not been a regulated claim and could mean next to nothing.
SPFs higher than 50 don't mean much. According to an expert quoted in June's Women's Health Magazine, SPF 30 protects against 97% of UVB rays, SPF 50 98%, and SPF 100 against 99%: in other words, the numbers are misleading.
Vitamin A, an "anti-aging" ingredient added to 30% of sunscreens on the market, could lead to accelerated cancer growth. I just bought a face sunscreen yesterday. It has Vitamin A in it. I will be returning the sunscreen.
Many sunscreens contain a chemical that some scientists and doctors claim to be dangerous. Oxybenzone is added to sunscreens and may penetrate the skin and act as a hormone-disruptor. There is general disagreement about what effect oxybenzone has, with some groups cautioning against its use and others dismissing concerns since only a small amount is likely to be absorbed. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends its use.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has listed 600+ sunscreens based on effectiveness and potentially dangerous ingredients. Unfortunately (for me anyway), none of the "best" sunscreens are likely to be found on any shelves near me--the more widely-available brands are the more dangerous ones.

What's troubling as well is the fact that there seems to be a lot of disagreement about these issues. The EWG has been condemned by some as over-exaggerating the dangers, using out-dated methodology, and having an ulterior motive, as outlined in this piece from the Huffington Post (read the first comment as well for a response from the EWG). Additionally, the EWG disagrees with many recognized authorities: for example on the danger of oxybenzone (see above) and the potential side-effects of sunless tanner (see below).

Sure, it is possible that dangers have been over-exaggerated by some Chicken Littles out there. But, I admit, I am very afraid of cancer and frustrated with the lack of consensus over causes and prevention. It seems lately that there are sensationalized news articles about potential carcinogenic effects of everything from cell-phones to cleaning products. I try to sort through the research as best I can, err on the side of caution, and go with the advice of credible organizations. With that in mind, here are a few useful links:

The EWG's list of surprising findings about sunscreens, as well as sun safety tips.

The Mayo Clinic:

The Best Sunscreens

On Sunless Tanner (The Mayo Clinic approves of sunless tanning, unlike the EWG).

Does your Sunscreen Expire? Yes, but only after about three years.

Tips from the American Academy of Dermatology on Skin Cancer Prevention.

The American Cancer Society promotes the catchy Slip, Slop, Slap, Wrap method.

Basically, the advice seems to be to avoid making sunscreen your first or only line of defense, but instead, avoid the strongest sun rays (between 10am and 4pm) and stay in the shade, and wear long sleeves and broad-brimmed hats. Sunglasses are also super-important, and should be labeled for both UVA and UVB protection and actually cover your eyes. Since I can't even go outside to check the mail without my sunglasses, this isn't hard for me to get used to. Sunscreen is still a necessity. Hopefully, with the new FDA rules, it will be easier to pick one that actually has good UVA and UVB coverage. I'm going to be avoiding Vitamin A, but I'm still undetermined about oxybenzone--it's rather hard to find one without it.

So, hopefully, it's beach, yes, skin cancer, no. Happy Summer.

The Deluge and the Ascent

2011-06-14T21:13:00.000-04:00

Jordan and I went camping on Friday night. Despite the fact that it was raining and had been storming. We went to Pilot Mountain, with plans to climb the next morning. Pilot Mountain is impressive at any time, but particularly so with glowing skies and storm clouds behind it.

Let me just say now that my parents did teach me how to camp. They took me hiking when I was six days old and camping when I was six weeks. I have been doing this all of my life. But, never without them. This was our first solo trip. Mistakes were made. Like, no canopy. We ended up rigging the tarp we had intended to use under our tent as a canopy over the picnic table. We rigged this in the rain as it was starting to get dark. We also had no lantern. It was really dark. Finally, we had no sleeping pad. The ground is really hard. Our tent was on its maiden voyage. My parents had bought it for us a while back, and I actually like it. I call it the sarcophagus. It is coffin-shaped and narrow--it sleeps us both, but that is it. It actually isn't as claustrophobic as I had feared and is actually pretty comfortable.

We couldn't get a fire going. If you bring "strike-on-box" matches, you need, uh, the box. I didn't bring it. We had one of those long fire starters but it was almost out of fuel. The campground provided free firewood (yay!) but it was wet (boo). Jordan struggled for at least an hour to get a fire going. I had even brought dryer lint, but we went through that and every scrap of paper in his car without any success. Finally, we ate cold chili beans and went to bed.

At about 1:00 am, we heard rustling outside. We had forgotten to put up the bag that had our food in it. My first thought was, "squirrel." Jordan's first thought was "bear." When we got up to inspect, we found that our visitor was actually a raccoon, who was no-longer in sight, but had left his distinctive five-toed print. He had also made off with a gallon-size ziploc bag with cornbread muffins in it.

Everything was much more cheerful in the morning. The sun came out. We got our Coleman grill working and had scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast.

We checked out the damage Jordan had done pulling out of the muddy parking lot when we picked up our wood. The tires were caked with mud and there was a rut at least six inches deep left in the lot.

The view from the parking lot at the summit is pretty great. You can see all the way to Winston-Salem.

We climbed in an area near Three Bears Gulley. Each of the routes is named (which I find fascinating) and we worked on Papa Bear and Mamma Bear. I don't have any pictures of the actual climbing because it would be really hard (and dangerous) to take pictures while trying to belay someone, but trust me, we did it.

The weekend was definitely a learning experience--some things that should already be understood. Like, rain is wet and unpleasant. The ground is hard. It gets dark at night. But we survived. And will probably do it again.

Review: The Winter Sea

2011-06-09T12:47:00.000-04:00

Susanna Kearsley's The Winter Sea was an enjoyable first read on my new Nook Color. The novel follows two parallel narratives, one being that of modern-day writer Carrie McClelland who settles into a rented cottage on the Scottish coast to work on her newest historical novel, and the other is that of Carrie's heroine, Sophia Patterson, named, on a whim, for one of Carrie's ancestors. Carrie's novel, the story within the story, is set in 1708 at Slains Castle and follows Sophia as she finds romance and danger in the midst of an early attempted Jacobite uprising. At modern day Slains, Carrie becomes concerned when she discovers that her imagined scenes between characters are born out as true by her subsequent research. She comes to believe that her novel is less fictional that history--she has inherited the memory of her ancestress, and her writing uncovers a variety of twists and surprises that had not been included in the family record.

Despite the quirky framing and occasional references to genetics and DNA to explain how Carrie could possess the memories of her great-great-great-great-great grandmother, the story is less sci-fi /fantasy and more historical novel. The Carrie narrative arc is gentle: her encounters with the locals who are eager to supply her with material for her novel, the fairly harmless triangle that arises between herself and the two sons of her landlord, and the descriptions of her writing process. Despite its relative quietude, I liked the Carrie arc--I wanted to know who she ended up with, and as someone who has been attempting a bit of writing myself, I am interested in other writer's descriptions of the process (and surely Carrie and Kearsley share ideas on this subject?). The Sophia arc was also interesting, if, again, a bit quiet. There is danger, but most of Sophia's trials are mental--the references to chess games are apt, as she attempts to hide the information she possesses from those who might harm her loved ones and their mission to bring back the Scottish king. Her's is a more likely true look at the dangers women faced--domestic dangers, the trials of waiting, knowing but being unable to act.

The book reminded me quite a bit of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series--both take place in 18th century Scotland and involve "time-travel" in a way. But Kearsley's is a gentler tale--far less sex and violence than Gabaldon's lusty adventures. I definitely recommend the novel as an engaging but tranquil historical read.

What I did on my Summer Vacation

2011-06-01T11:06:00.000-04:00

I assume that most teachers have the same problem. People think that you are a lazy slob in the summer. No, no, I am working. I'm just not being paid for it. Granted, I love my summer flexibility, and not everything that I am doing this summer is even able to be compensated. So, to expand on my standard response when people ask what I am doing this summer ("oh, tutoring and writing"), here is what my summer is looking like:

1) Tutoring. I have been tutoring at the local Baptist association as a volunteer for about three years now. I love it. I have worked with adult ESL students from Vietnam, Puerto Rico, and the Sudan. I have also tutored kids ranging from pre-K to 8th grade. When you add up all my teaching experiences, I have worked with all age groups, ages 3-80. Love it.

2) Working with the youth group. Oh my goodness. Wednesday night youth classes, which Jordan and I assisted with, have ended for the summer, but the twice-a-month Sunday night classes, which we teach, are still going, and I am doing a girls Bible study at my apartment once a week this summer. Additionally, Jordan and I are planning a week-long mission trip for July to Red Springs, NC. There's also a lock-in in the works. It's a good thing we like these kids. To add to the craziness, we are looking for a youth pastor. Jordan is on the search committee. I am on a committee that is developing a personnel policy, which we realized we needed if we are going to hire someone.

3) Writing. Right now, I am trying to revise one of my diss chapters into an article for an upcoming special issue of a journal on Thackeray. I feel pretty good about it. But I need someone to read it. My diss chair is jetting around doing research in India and China, and I feel bad asking other people, "Please, read about 26 pages of close-reading of a really long Victorian novel. It'll be fun!" I have thought about trading a meal for insightful feedback--you know, using some of my more valuable skills. Also, on the writing front--a secret project. I'm pretty excited about it. But I need to get the article out of the way first.

4) Working out like a fiend. Right now the running schedule is four days a week: Once a week it's intervals (aghhh!) where you alternate running really fast with slower recovery runs. Painful, but you see almost instant gains. Twice a week I meet a friend who is new to running for a leisurely 2.6 miles, about half of which we walk--we plan to run the whole way by the end of summer. Once a week, I do a solo long run, between 3 and 4 miles. My goal is to run a 5K in September in under 30 minutes. My last 5K time (2 years ago) was 32:10, so I think this is reasonable. Twice a week, I do strength training. Last summer, I joined a gym, but this summer I am trying things on my own. Right now, I'm not using weights, but trying body-weight exercises like push-ups, lunges, pull-ups, etc. Old school.

5) Eating and cooking. Oh, summer food. Squash, corn, strawberries. My old friends. And because of the working out like a fiend, I am also eating like a fiend. I have found that my migraines are often hunger-related, and I often let hunger go on too long, because I feel to busy or just too un-motivated to stop and eat. So, now I am trying to eat around 6 small meals a day before I get hungry to the point of fainting, which was my typical signal to eat. I have this serious struggle between wanting to eat real, local, Michael Pollen-would-approve food and convenience. Tyson chicken nuggets--so easy, so quick, but so mysterious--is it real chicken? This needs further investigation.

6) Being all professional. Since the job search starts for real this fall, I am working on all that stuff--job letters, CV, writing sample, diss abstract, etc, etc, etc. I am scared. Also, working on becoming a really awesome teacher. It looks like I will be teaching courses I am familiar with this fall, so I plan to polish those syllabi and assignments till they shine. I'm still optimistic that if I work hard enough, I will find a way to teach all of my students to write intelligently and read insightfully. Fingers crossed for Fall 2011.

7) Getting around. Beach trip with my family, beach trip with Jordan's family, the aforementioned missions trip. Also, a camping trip already in the works (yay!), and hopefully some time spent with far-flung friends. Jordan and I used our season passes this weekend at the Biltmore House, and plan to go back again soon to rent bikes to ride on the property. I also want to (finally) see note-worthy places nearby--Duke's chapel and gardens, Guilford courthouse, etc. I have a Fodor's guide to the Carolinas and Georgia, so I plan to make like a tourist in my own backyard this summer.

So clearly, I'm not doing a 9-5 this summer, but I'm not watching soaps and eating bon-bons either. Teaching has its ups and downs. Summer is definitely one of the ups!

In Memoriam

2011-05-31T13:07:00.000-04:00

My beloved high school English teacher passed away last week. I had heard a rumor a couple of years ago that she was sick, but when I never heard anything else, I assumed everything was ok. I had been thinking about her recently. As I was finishing up my PhD, I was making plans to write letters to all of my English teachers, thanking them for helping me along the way. She was at the top of the list. Last Saturday, I learned that she wasn't doing well, but I still thought I had more time. Thursday, I woke up early for some reason, drafting the letter I wanted to write to her in my head. I learned later that she had died that morning.

She was, undoubtedly, the most amazing teacher ever. I took senior English--Brit Lit--from her, and I believe that my decision to become a Victorianist can be traced to her influence. She had the reputation of being very challenging. Kids who had taken honors classes throughout high school, dropped out of the advanced program and took standard English because they were afraid of her class. And she was tough. We came in the first day of class to find a stack of about five books on our desks. We read Beowulf, and Othello, and King Lear, and Hamlet. We read Wuthering Heights, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and A Tale of Two Cities. We read The Heart of Darkness. I also took her AP English Lit. class where we read Jude the Obscure (well, I didn't read it: I had learned my lesson about Hardy with Tess) We read The Bridge on the Drina, a challenging contemporary novel about Serbia. And, as a special favor, because she wouldn't do it with just anyone, she took us sailing on the Pequod: Moby Dick was her personal favorite novel. We read so much poetry--poems that are now my favorites, I read first in her class, and for many of them, it is her voice that I hear when I read them. Browning's "My Last Duchess", Shelley's "Ozymandias". We read Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" out loud in class every day for at least a week. I don't know if we ever discussed it--I think we may have just let the words wash over us.

She gave kooky, but challenging assignments. We made mobiles with symbols from King Lear. We made a model reproduction of the house in Wuthering Heights. My favorite was when we went to the art room (she was bosom buddies with the art teacher), and made something from clay to represent an idea from The Heart of Darkness. I made two figures--Kurtz's fiancee, dressed in Victorian mourning, and the native woman, dressed in a tribal costume. After the figures were fired, I tied them, back to back with a bit of twine. How could this not have been a precursor to my dissertation work--images of femininity, gender binaries, dress, for goodness sake?

She made us feel special. When I went home to visit my parents this weekend, I unlocked a trunk in my old bedroom that stores my "treasures." I found the cigar box that she brought in for us to decorate. Inside, among other paraphernalia of my teen years, were a sea-shell she had brought--she loved the beach (she had a lounge chair and inflatable palm trees in the back of her classroom) and brought her students smooth, heavy shells, to serve as worry-stones. I carried mine in my pocket for years in college. I found a post-card she had written me on spring break, writing about hearing Verdi's Othello, and how much she enjoyed having me in her class. I found the small, framed quotation that she gave me as a graduation present: "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." "This made me think of you, Stephanie," she said, "because it is what you do." I don't know if that is accurate, but it made me want to be someone who does it. The frame came with me to college. It is what I brought into my Freshman Experience class when we were asked to bring in something meaningful to us.

My students don't know it, but they are learning from my beloved teacher. Every semester, from the readings, to the ideas, to the assignments, I am drawing on what I learned from her. It seems impossible that she's not here. That she's not growing her orchids, reading on a beach, or enlivening another generation of students. Someday, I hope to see her in heaven; and I expect that we will have more than enough time to talk about every book we have read since we saw each other last.

Various and Sundry

2011-05-13T15:01:00.000-04:00

Easter dress shrug. A bit small, but pretty.

I really liked the design. I thought it would be tricky, but it was actually the easiest lace pattern I have tried thus far. I couldn't decide if the pattern looked like flames, trees, leaves, or peacock feathers.

A bit of embroidery. This was for my committee chair--the poppy motif seemed to suit her.

I wasn't too sure about the frame at first--I was afraid it was a bit frilly, French country. But I like it. I took the glass out so it wouldn't smoosh the embroidery.

Flowers for Momma and my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. Flower arranging is a lot harder than it looks! Especially if you do something silly, like try to use a planter with a drainage hole as a vase. As it turns out, I couldn't just tape it up and expect it to stay water-tight. So I ended up using the ubiquitous Mason jar as the actual vase and packing plastic grocery bags around it to keep it from bumping the ceramic planter. Classy, right? Anyway, the flowers were pretty, coral and yellow striped tulips and light orange roses.

Wham, Bam, Strawberry Jam

2011-05-11T13:29:00.000-04:00

Freezer jam is quite possibly the easiest thing in the world to make. No kidding. Making a sandwich involves more skill.

First, I picked the berries. I love the pick-your-own farm just up the road. My bucket was so full that berries kept jumping out. Back home, I sliced off the tops and hulled them. Spread them on a baking sheet and mashed them with a potato masher until they are nice and pulpy.

In another bowl, I mixed sugar and pectin, then mixed in the mashed berries. This mixture gets poured into half-pint jelly jars, leaving a half-inch head space (the jam expands when it freezes). Leave it for thirty minutes and then freeze or refrigerate. That is it. No fancy equipment, no boiling water--I didn't even turn the stove on. (Specific measurements are listed on the pectin container; I used Ball Instant Pectin).

I gave a jar, along with a loaf of homemade Victorian Milk Bread, to my committee members as a thank you for helping with my dissertation.

We kept several jars for ourselves, and Jordan has been eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon. I prefer mine on toast. It is so delicious and tastes nothing like store-bought strawberry jam--it actually tastes like strawberries, even after it has been frozen. We tried some last night on croissant bread pudding that I made with some very stale croissants: shazam.

Whole new possibilities have opened up: blueberry jam, blackberry jam, peach jam, quince jam. Forget ice cream and frozen peas. Our freezer will be stocked with jam!

A Moveable Feast

2011-04-21T17:00:00.000-04:00

In my family, holidays (and combined birthdays, celebrated quarterly) are marked by a dinner at my grandmother's. All the grown-up women bring a dish. I think I am a grown-up woman now, so I want to bring something to these dinners. But, there is a problem: I live 2 and a half hours away from Granny's. And we arrive typically two days before the dinner. So this Easter, we will have a dinner, but we will be getting into town the Friday before. Thus, my dilemma: I need something that can be made well in advance and can be transported (and won't melt in the car). I'm thinking some kind of bread. I am also thinking I just need to live closer to home.

Fukunaga's Jane Eyre: An English Teacher's Perspective

2011-04-19T17:14:00.000-04:00

Jane Eyre is quite possibly my favorite book ever (I say possibly because, really, who can pick a single favorite?) I have read it at least half a dozen times since the fateful first encounter when I was sixteen and absolutely riveted by Jane and Rochester, the breath-catching romance and the flesh-creeping spookiness.

I was, however, rather nonplussed when I first heard that a new film version was coming out. I have seen several different renditions of the novel in film and am unimpressed with all of them, except for the 2006 Masterpiece Theatre miniseries. That version, starring Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson was quite good, so much so that I didn't think there really needed to be another version already. After seeing the film on Saturday, however, I feel that Fukunaga's version has definite merit.

There are a few problems, the most significant being length. It is just too problematic trying to cram a 500+ page Victorian "loose baggy monster" into a 2-hour feature film format. Several scenes that I found important (though, admittedly, not essential) were cut, in particular the ones in which Mr. Rochester attempts to deck his fiancee in finery, which she is having none of. Of course, this is no doubt due to my interest in fashion in literature, but I see these scenes as important in establishing Jane's resistance to attempts to manipulate her sense of self and identity. The other significant scene cut is Bertha ripping Jane's veil and blowing the candle out in her face the night before the wedding. I was particularly shocked that this was eliminated, since from the trailer it looked as though the film was going to play up the Gothic elements. However, Bertha actually gets very little screen time at all.

Also, while overall the casting was quite good (and excellent in Mia Wasikowska as Jane, but more on that later), I was a bit dissatisfied with Michael Fassbender's Rochester. He's just a bit too....mean. Particularly in the earliest scenes, he is vicious. Which doesn't match the Rochester of the book, where he is stern and gruff and commanding, but also funny and tender; Fassbender seems to forget the latter in his efforts to convince us of the former. Jamie Bell's St. John Rivers is also problematic, but for the opposite reason: he is too nice. The film insinuates that St. John is actually attracted to Jane and wants to marry her for romantic, as well as evangelical purposes; we have none of the St. John of the book's icy "you were formed for labor, not for love" pronouncements. And there is, of course, no Rosamund Oliver. Oh, and Jane being a cousin to the Riverses is not mentioned at all....

But, enough with the problems. First, the film is gorgeous. It opens with Jane's flight across the moors as she leaves Thornfield, a red sky with rain in the distance behind her, and it just gets better from there. There seems to have been a commitment to authenticity in many of the details. For example, the scenes shot in those dark corridors of the Thornfield appear to be lighted by only the candle the actors are carrying--no mysterious, bright-as-day "moonlight" creeping in--you actually see what it might have been like to live in a pre-electric time. The clothes are also wonderful, from the chemises, petticoats, and corsets outward. Jane appears in her blacks and greys of course, but with subtle plaids and stripes.

And, then, Jane herself. Mia Wasikowska is fantastic. She looks like Jane, who is described as small and plain. The plain part is easy: even the prettiest woman stripped of her make-up and forced into that distinctive 1840's hairstyle with that severe center part and braids looping around the ears is going to look plain. But Wasikowska is able to pull off expressions that convey the sense of passion being forced back by reason. It's all about restraint. I like Ruth Wilson's Jane, but she is a bit too jolly, smiles a bit too easily, and cries a bit too heartily. Wasikowska is more subtle: a flicker of flame hinting at (but neither revealing nor hiding) the inferno beneath.

There were so many really good scenes, but I'll just mention two that were particularly memorable--the proposal beneath the oak tree really demonstrates Wasikowska's restraint. I have told my students that I think the most important lines in the novel are probably the ones where Jane says "Do you think that because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little that am soulless and heartless?" And Wasikowska nails it. It was during this scene that my husband, who has never read the book and does not profess any great interest in classic British literature, looked at me and announced, "This is good." The other scene that is particularly well-done is the one where Rochester is trying to convince Jane to stay after the discovery of Bertha. Oh, the agony. But, oh the restraint. You can see Jane struggling, not allowing herself to touch Rochester, literally crying out to God for help. It's breath-taking.

If you haven't seen the film, it is definitely worth watching (and I would love to know what you think). Good luck finding it in a theater near you: we drove to the next county to find it in a small, artsy theater. But it was certainly worth it!

Snow and Scripture Memorization

2011-03-28T09:08:00.000-04:00

First, it is snowing. On March 28th. In North Carolina. Looks like I will get to try out the mittens after all.

Second, I will be attempting to memorize more Scripture. This is something that I was forced to think about as I was doing some work on our Youth study for church. I memorized some Scripture when I accepted Christ as a teenager, but I haven't done much since. I will remember a phrase or two, but I am particularly awful with remembering the reference, so I'm usually going, "yeah, I'm sure that's in there somewhere." So here's the verse(s) for this week--something from a recent lesson I taught the girls' class.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." ~Romans 12:1-2

I like the idea of being constantly renewed and transformed--especially if it means revealing the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Also, the phrase "reasonable service" doesn't mean "what is expected of you" like I at first thought. It means spiritual worship--I talk to the youth about what the word "worship" means, trying to get them to think beyond the "worship service," the sermon and singing. Here, our dedication of our selves to God is an act of worship.

The Knitting Back-Log

2011-03-26T16:09:00.000-04:00

Here are the things I have been working on lately. And by lately, I mean since September. I am really behind. But there was that whole dissertation thing in there somewhere, you know.

The Villette Vest: Purply corset-type vest in a tiny wool-silk blend that took a loooong time to finish.

Linville River Mittens: Super-thick, super-warm, double-stranded with 100% wool worsted and wool sock yarn. I named them after the river that I visit often on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The dark gray mixed with flecks of blue, green, and brown, with the pebbly texture of the moss stitch made me think of looking into a mountain stream with its clear water and rocky bottom. These are lined with fleece for extra-warmth. Hopefully I won't get to test their abilities until next winter!

Rivendell Gloves and Hat: I love coral. I should not wear it. Shades of orange are dangerous with my complexion, but I can't resist. I made the hat first. I love the leaf lace pattern, that also looks (in this shade) like tiny flames. It is a bit long, and therefore a bit lumpy, but, no matter. The gloves reflect another of my obsessions: cables. This is the most complicated cabling I have done, and one glove (the second attempt) came out a bit better than the other. I named them after the elven city in The Lord of the Rings because both leaves and delicate Celtic knotwork seem to belong there. The book I am holding (getting a bit ambitious with our photo-staging, huh?) is David Day's Tolkien's Ring, a really cool study of the various world myths and stories that may have inspired Tolkien.

Catching Up

2011-03-11T10:28:00.000-05:00

So, it's a bit sad that my first post of 2011 is in March, but I think that should be a fair indication of what the last few months have been like around here. So, here, in no particular order, are things I have been doing:

1) Dissertation Updates: I passed my defense last week! It was tough and exciting in equal parts, but it's over. I am now in the process of editing/formatting so I can submit to the graduate school. Graduation is set for May. Which leads me to...

2) The job search: I have nothing to say on this besides a plea for prayers. I am hoping for a lecturer/adjunct position somewhere in the general area.

3) On being sick: I have had 2-3 colds, a mild case of flu, what was possibly a sinus infection, and a round of stomach virus in the last few months. My doctor had told me back in August that there really wasn't any need to take my multi-vitamins since there hasn't been any proof that they do anything. I'm thinking that they do something for me, so I'm taking them again.

4) New Computer: After more than six years of excellent service, my laptop finally gave up the fight. I spent more than a week computerless, which actually taught me that the world will not leave me behind if I don't check my email every five minutes and that Facebook really isn't a life necessity. Nevertheless, I am very happy with the new laptop, and my ability to get online without a drive to the public library.

5) On books and travel: I never thought I would say this, but I have been devouring Jan Karon's Mitford series. I always assumed that these would be beyond cheesy and trite, but they are actually quite good - nice, peaceful, before-bed-reading. I have also been reading Great British Walks and feeling that pit-of-the-stomach, achy, love-sick feeling I get when I start thinking too hard about England. I want to go back sooo bad. I actually got out the Fodor's again, just for fun, to start thinking about where we would go the next time - I'm thinking fly into Manchester, hit either the Lake or Peak District, go through Yorkshire, then north into Hadrian's Wall country. Sigh. Oh, I listened to the audio book of Sarah Rose's For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History , an historical account of Robert Fortune's theft of tea production from China in the 19th century - very interesting.

6) Projects: After a mad flurry of knitting (I finished the Christmas gift shawl, the Villette vest, a pair of mittens, and a hat (pictures to follow)), I am taking a break from needlework. Instead, I have been breaking out the old colored pencils. For Christmas, Jordan got me a certificate for an art class on colored pencil technique which I very much enjoyed. Then, on the new bookshelf at the library, I saw Wendy Hollender's Botanical Drawing in Color. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

6) On working out and goals: Since January, I have been working out fairly consistently at the gym at school. I was doing a program that Jordan found for me, that involved actually going in the weight room, where I was invariably the only girl. I was actually impressed with what I was able to do - I finally figured out that the weights are supposed to be heavy (duh). I had always picked light weights (like 5lbs.) because I thought that was what I was supposed to lift, because I am a little girl. Then, I realized that you don't get stronger if you lift what it already pretty light. I quickly moved up to the 15lb. dumbbells, which are almost too heavy. I'm not sure that they are actually having the effect that I wanted - I think I am stronger, but my arms are still fairly stick-like. I've been running on the treadmill too, and as soon as it gets sufficiently warm outside, I am going to start training for another 5k. I ran one in 2009 in 32:10. My new goal is to run in under 30 mins.

I hope to blog with something approaching consistency; I also hope to learn how to end posts. They always seem abrupt or weird.

The Academic Life: Perspective

2010-12-17T21:33:00.001-05:00

I will now wax philosophical....

During my first year in the MA program, an undergraduate professor asked me to write an article on graduate school, to be read by students at my Alma mater who were considering applying themselves. I can't remember exactly what I wrote, but I have the feeling that it was rather uninformed, and probably not very helpful. A few months of graduate school hardly made me the best authority on the subject.

Recently, I have begun rewriting that article in my head, probably because I am almost done with graduate school, and I hope I have attained a slightly better and wiser understanding of the matter....although I can't be certain.

At any rate, I think that the single most important thing I have learned about the academic life is perspective. Graduate school shunts you into a rather narrow paradigm, a mindset about academia that is propagated by mainstream culture as well as the academy itself. This mindset can be broken down into the following ideas:

1) Being smart is the most important thing in the world. There is the mindset, "We think big thoughts! Big, important, but undervalued, thoughts!" I remember feeling the pressure to think big thoughts - not for the sake of the thoughts or thinking or ideas, but to prove that I belonged, that I was academic material. That I was important.

2) Graduate school is necessarily competitive. We must know who is the smartest! Under certain situations, a classroom personality could emerge, a nasty, bullying personality. Everyone trying to out-think everyone else, speaking English-ese and name-dropping obscure theorists.

3) Graduate school is about a series of nearly impossible, soul-sucking tasks that must consume your every waking hour, as well as your dreams. The program is set-up to try you. The dreaded comprehensive exams. The expectation is that in the face of such an insurmountable obstacle, you must become a blithering zombie who gave up sleep and sanity long ago. The dissertation is supposed to daily reduce you to tears of bitter frustration.

4) The only point of going through this experience is to get a good job. And, when we say good, we mean a tenured professor at a top, research university. But, because the job market is abysmal, we will finish our work while alternating between nail-biting anxiety and spiraling despair.

There is another way. This has not been my experience with graduate school, thank goodness. And I don't mean this to be patronizing or otherwise self-aggrandizing. Of course, graduate school is hard. And, in a way, it should be - otherwise that fancy title you get at the end wouldn't mean much. But, I think that we sometimes make things much harder than they have to be by believing the hype.

I believe that there are many, many important things in life. The preceding list, however, doesn't make into the top ten. I'm about to break out the Sunday School rhetoric, so get ready: God is the most important thing in life, and beyond. How's that for perspective? The God of the Universe, the Creator of all things, the One who save us, compared with comprehensive exams? Puh-leaze. Will my ability to make the smartest comment in class have eternal consequences? Probably not.

And the amazing thing is, God gives us words and directions that help us to have perspective on things like graduate school. He says things like, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat , or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on . Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?"* Isn't life more than your grades and your degree? But that's not the only reason not to worry - what am I going to do if I can't get a job, what if I don't pass my exam, what if I don't finish my dissertation? Paul writes, " But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."** I can relax because I know that I will be taken care of. That doesn't mean that everything will work out according to my plan. But whatever God wills has got to be better than anything I could have come up with.

Letting go of the hype is a very freeing experience. It took me a while to get there, of course, and I am not now completely rid of the occasional round of worry. But, I didn't lose any sleep over my exams. I read some of everything on my list and actually enjoyed quite a bit of it (and what I didn't enjoy, I read as little as possible). I am enjoying writing my dissertation. I love my topic and I love the research and I love what I have written. I believe that less stress actually makes you more productive. If you say, in the long run, this doesn't really matter, you actually do pretty good work on it. I don't work on weekends and I don't work in the evenings. I go hiking. I visit my family. I read tons of good, absolutely non-academic books. I teach a youth class, sing in the choir, and volunteer tutor. I knit and crochet and draw and bake. I have not had to compromise my real life for my academic life. I recognize that this is a paradox - the best (most painless) way to succeed is to decide it doesn't matter. This, however, does not mean that I take my work lightly. On the contrary, I would like to think. In fact, I consider it beyond just work, and something bordering more on craft. But, that will have to be another post.

*Matthew 6:25
**Philippians 4:19

Seeing Snow

2010-11-10T08:35:00.000-05:00

My family finally took our trip to Dollywood. We had gone back in September for my dad's company picnic, but had been rained out, so we went Saturday to redeem our rain-check tickets. It turned out to be a very cold day, and as we crossed the mountains at the NC/TN state line, we saw the snow that had fallen the night before. It was beautiful and strange, seeing snow on trees that still had their autumn leaves.

These pictures were taken from the backseat of a moving vehicle, so I am actually pleased that they turned out at all. Ironically, they are the only pictures I took that day. We were so bundled up at the park that it was too difficult to get the camera out anyway. The temperature hovered in the low 40s, and we were all wearing puffy coats and tobogans and gloves. The baby was the warmest of all of us - we kept checking and not even his nose got chilly. Jordan and my young cousin took off to ride the rollercoasters and other adventuresome rides, while the rest of us (my parents, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and I) wandered around, taking in the various shows and looking at the shops.

As I have mentioned before, Dollywood is just a bit tacky, but quite a lot of fun. This was the first day of their Christmas festival, so we enjoyed seeing all the lights and decorations. My favorite was a show called "Appalachian Christmas," a performance by the Smokey Mountain String Band of various blue-grass and mountain Christmas music. I am kicking myself now that I didn't buy the CD - it was fantastic.

We had a wonderful time, and, as my sister said, "It really gets you in the Christmas spirit." Not that she needs any help - I think she's been singing Christmas carols since Halloween!

Pumpkins

2010-11-01T12:44:00.000-04:00

Each year, I get a little more ambitious with my pumpkins. This year, both patterns came from Martha Stewart and took far too long to complete. Oh well, they look pretty good though, right? One is a Celtic knot pattern, but I think next time I won't carve all the way through - it got a bit unstable. The other is a ginko vine pattern. Both pumpkins came from Kimrey farm and are beautiful specimins. I always feel bad that once you carve a pumpkin it immediately starts going bad. I always mean to save the seeds and do something with them, but I never do. Oh well. Any suggestions for next years pumpkins?

Good Words

2010-10-22T11:22:00.000-04:00

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. - Hebrews 4:14-16

Christ is our high priest - He connects us with the Father. He knows our struggles and weaknesses and can sympathize because He is fully man as well as fully God. Therefore we can confidently bring our problems and thoughts and fears to Him, and He will give us mercy and grace. Prayer isn't something we have to do - it is a gift.

Awesome.

A Bushel and a Peck

2010-10-14T14:26:00.000-04:00

OK, really, just a peck. But a peck of apples goes a long way. Here is what I have made:

Apple Tart:
This is made with phyllo sheets and is yummy, a very crisp flaky bottom with sugar and cinnamon and walnuts. This actually didn't use that many apples, but was still very good, especially with vanilla ice cream. Gone in just a couple of hours. The recipe came from the October issue of Martha Stewart Living.

Apple Chips:
I have bought appple chips from the store, but they are really expensive. There weren't too hard to make, but there I didn't really end up with very many chips. Basically, you slice the apples as thinly as possible, simmer them for a couple of minutes in sugar water, and then spread them out on a parchment-lined pan to dry in the oven at 250 degrees for a couple of hours. I sprinkled them with cinnamon as well. They were good, but too sweet, like candy. They stuck to my teeth. Next time, I think I will skip the sugar water simmer.

Apple Butter:
This was shockingly easy to make and tured out wonderful so I will share the recipe in full.

1. Core and chop 10 to 12 apples. Some recipes say to peel the apples, but I left the skin on since that is the most nutritious part. Put chopped apples in crock-pot. Add 1/2 cup water.
2. Add one cup honey (I used sour wood, which is very sweet) and 3/4 cup white sugar.
3. Add cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice to taste (I added lots of cinnamon and smaller amounts of the others)
4. Cook on high approximately 4 hours. Remove cover and cook on high another 4 hours (removing the cover allows the liquid to escape as steam and the apples cook down). Stir occaisonally.
5. Puree in blender and pour into canning jars. I made 3 pints.

Apple butter is delicious on toast or biscuits. And your whole house will smell wonderful while it is cooking. I've still got a few apples left. Any suggestions?

Living Deliberately

2010-10-06T13:53:00.000-04:00

Here is what I have been doing:

Hanging out in Tennessee:

My dad's annual company picnic is in Pigeon Forge every year, and so my family rents a cabin and heads up there for the weekend. This was our first year with three generations since my nephew came as well. The picnic (at Dollywood, yee-haw!) was rained out (we have rain checks to go back later this year) but we still had a good time. Actually my favorite part was sitting on the porch at night watching the lightning that came with the rain. Jordan and I drove separately because we had an adventure to attend to on the way back and didn't want to force everyone else along. We went to Tuckaleechee Caverns in Townsend, TN. They were amazing. Caverns are fascinating - the formations, the way your eyes play tricks on you, the way perspective gets skewed. This one had a river flowing through and a double waterfall. The "Big Room" has proportions bigger than any room in Mammoth Cave, KY. We drove back through the Smokey Mountain National Park (stopping to hike to a waterfall, we couldn't help it, we are waterfall addicts), and drove through Cherokee, which never fails to both enrage me and give me hope (yay, they have the Cherokee language on all their street signs, boo, they have tipis and "real live Indians" that you can have your picture made with - oh, the exploitation).

Knitting:

This is the vest I am making. It has been put on hold for a while, since the other project needs to be done by December, but I am enthusiastic about it. I am calling it the Villette Vest, since it has kind of a Victorian corset vibe, and also because the color reminds me of Lucy's gown of "purple-gray - the color...of dun mist, lying on a moor in bloom."

I am making a shawl/scarf/wrap at the request of my choir director, who wants to give it to her friend as a Christmas present. The pattern is ridiculously easy - it's just a huge rectangle of garter stitch, but I am painfully slow at knitting, so it is taking much longer than I would like. I like the color and material. It is cotton but has a nice shiney glow to it.

Apple Picking: Jordan and I were back in the mountains for his grandmother's wedding (which deserves as whole post (if not an entire book) all to itself), and we went apple picking on the Blue Ridge Parkway as well. There is an old apple orchard at Altapass where you can pick the apples off the trees yourself. They were also having a special blue-grass concert and people were there clogging and two-stepping. So much fun. And I didn't have my camera. Aggh.

We picked a whole peck of apples. Mostly Jonagold and Winesap-Staymans, but also Golden Delicious and Virginia Beauties and Sweet Saylors and King Lucious. I will be eating and cooking apples for weeks to deal with all these, but that's OK. Apple pies, apple dumplings, apple crisp...

Picnicing on the Parkway:
Every September my extended family goes to Linville to picnic and celebrate the September and October birthdays. We arrive early in the morning when it is still chilly and make breakfast with eggs and bacon and coffee, muffins and turnovers. We hang out all day, some of us hiking, some sitting around talking, reading, etc. Then we have lunch. This time we had burgers, hotdogs, barbeque, pimento cheese sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, mmmm. A few of us hiked to Linville falls, including the nephew - his first ever hiking trip. He's three months now. I can't believe my parents took me hiking for the first time when I was six days old. I don't think I had any choice about whether I would like the outdoors or not!

If you have never been to Linville Falls, definitely make the trip. I've been approximately a hundred times in my life, but they never get old.

I love fall.

Fire in my Kitchen, Lightning in the Air

2010-09-17T11:14:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I have waited this long to share this, but here goes: I set my kitchen on fire last week. OK, so not the whole kitchen, just one of the burners on the stove, but it was still pretty traumatic. I should explain that I have a deep and abiding fear of fire, that goes well beyond normal common-sense caution of flammability. I trace it back to when I was eight and my dad, the ardent outdoorsman, tried to teach me how to light a campfire. It was years before I could even watch a match being struck, and I still won't do the striking myself. I was close to ten before I would use the iron or toaster and very close to teenager years before I would use the stove or oven. I still refuse to deep-fry anything, not only for health reasons, but because popping grease scares me.

Last Thursday night I was stressed and headachey after teaching, trying to throw stuff together so we could hit the road toward Marion. I started a quick supper, stir fry, and put a pot of water on to boil the rice. I noticed the burner was smoking, due probably to crumbs below the coil, but I didn't think anything about it until I heard a gentle whoosh and noticed that there were flames licking the bottom of the pot. I attempted to blow them out (having done this once before several years ago), but they didn't go out. They got higher. Suddenly they were up above the top of the pot of water. I am comforted to realize that I didn't fall apart then. Instead, I went into process mode. Here is a transcript of my thoughts:

-That's a real fire.
-I should turn the burner off.
-Blowing didn't work.
-OK, is it a grease fire? No, OK, so water is alright.
-I need a vessel [yes, I thought the word vessel]. This bowl is too big, I will use this cup.
-It's OK, the hiss just means that the fire is out.
-Open the windows and door.
-That's the smoke detector, run and fan it vigorously before the fire department comes and the sprinklers turn on and ruin all of our possessions.
-OK, now you may fall apart.

I then fell apart very quietly, manifested mostly by shaking and the intense ramping up of my migraine. Jordan came home shortly thereafter, and found that the stir fry was ready (sans rice) and a large puddle of water was dripping off our stove-top. We managed to pack and get on the road. We had only made it a mile from the apartment (not even to the interstate yet) and since I had asked Jordan approximately five times in the course of that mile if he was sure the stove was off, he turned the car around and we went back. I went in the apartment and pulled the offending burning out. I then touched every knob on the stove, tracing with my finger the indention that was pointed to "Off." Then, I touched every burner with my hand to reassure myself that they were all cool to the touch. Seriously, if anything like this happens to me again, I will be on an intervention show on A&E.

More Pleasant than Productive...

2010-09-08T09:49:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I did no work. I didn't think about teaching or my dissertation, although goodness knows I could have worked on both. Instead, I went to the Farmer's Market. I went to the park. I went to visit my sister and brother-in-law and nephew. Like I said, more pleasant than productive.

The park was lovely. They have a greenway that criss-crosses through woods and over a lake, following the path of an old rail-road. The bridge was rusty iron and worn boards that made a wonderful loud rumbling noise.

The park also has a borrow-a-bike program. They are basic single-speed, reverse-pedal-braking, and not really suited to the hills that rise along the greenway path, but I managed. I think I did about seven miles, standing up in the seat and huffing and puffing on the hills until I realized that I should just admit when I am beat and get off and push.

In addition to the lake, there were small ponds, like this one covered in lilly pads.

I almost fell in getting this picture, which would have been entirely unpleasant. Ponds are pretty to look at, but not something I would want to be submerged in.

I liked the deep, tunnelly woods. Although there were many other people enjoying the greenway, there were also lots of times when I had it all to myself. A nice green-gold solitude.

After my legs had been reduced to mush, I retrieved my quilt, lunch and books from the car and spread out in the dappled light under a huge tree. It was amazing. Love it, love it.

For the Beauty of the Earth

2010-09-01T08:32:00.000-04:00

I have been loving early mornings. I have been assigned to teach at 8am this semester, and I fretted all summer long, knowing that it would mean dragging myself out of bed at an unearthly hour - one of the down-sides of a longish commute and a commitment to hygeine. And even though I am only teaching two days a week, I know that if I allow myself to sleep in on non-teaching days, I will hate myself on the mornings I can't sleep in. So I have seen 5:30am every day for a week. And I have to say, it is beautiful.

I have started running a bit earlier, and Monday morning was so beautiful. There was a fog lying low over the fields, and the sun came up molten red-gold. This morning I wanted to try to get pictures, but alas, no fog. There were other pretty things to see, however.

Lillies heavy with dew.

Over-grown fence-posts.

Morning glories. I know these are kind of considered a weed and a nuisance, but I am fond of them. In junior high, our beloved band director nicknamed us according to...I don't know, some kind of word association that occured to him. I was Morning Glory Hallelujah, Glory for short. And that is what I was called for three years. I think he would call me that today.

Red berries.

I think these are nasturtiums? I'm not sure, but I like this picture with the fiery flowers and the hazy white house in the background.

It's September, one of my favorite months. I love the change of summer into fall. Everything begins to look burnished and ripe. Mornings get a bit cooler and I think of camping. Geese will begin flying like arrows. I don't think it's hard to understand that God loves us when we see what He created for us. So many good things - the promise of salvation, the relationships with our family and friends, and golden, late-summer fields, covered over with orange and pink flowers.

For the beauty of the earth

For the Glory of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies:

'Lord of all, to Thee we raise

this our grateful hymn of praise

-Folliott S. Pierpoint, 1864

Conversations on Video Games

2010-08-28T21:31:00.000-04:00

Jordan just got a new video game. I should state now, in his defense, that he does not play that often. He does have, I think, every Nintendo console ever built (with the exception of the Wii) plus a Play Station 2. We also have, carefully stacked in clear plastic boxes in our closet, a myriad of games for each of those consoles.

His new game is callled Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. I asked him what it was about. He said, "You hit people, get points, then buy things to hit more people with." A strong narrative arc, as you can see.

Today he said, "We should go get a second controller, so you can play with me."
I said, "Ok, but I think we should also take turns reading Anne of Green Gables out loud to each other."
He said, "Mmmmm."

Right now, he is playing, making the little guy run around and, what else, hit people. Every once in a while he gets tired of just having the guy run, so he does a few jumps. The little guy swings both arms, and grunts loudly. I think Jordan shouldn't make him work so hard.

He's not just hitting people any more. Right now it is strange creatures that walk upright but have fur. I asked, "What's that you're fighting?" He said, "I dunno," as he blasted another with his shiny sword.

Anne of Green Gables may not have a lot of action in it, but at least all the figures are identifiable.

Today was a good day at the library...

2010-08-27T16:50:00.000-04:00

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wisenberg

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr

Rising Slowly

2010-08-26T19:41:00.000-04:00

I love making bread. I made my first loaf over a year ago. It is a complicated and time-consuming process, and that is probably why it is so comforting. That, and the smell. Despite the fact that I love to do it, I have not had great success in making bread. There always seems to be some problem. Sometimes the crust comes out hard and chewy. Sometimes it is dense and bland. I want it to have as much whole wheat flour in it as possible, but that doesn't always improve the taste. I have a bread machine, and like it for quick jobs, but baking it in the machine doesn't always provide for enough control, and besides, I like kneading the dough myself. I got the recipe for my latest attempt from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads. Reinhart is a proponent of slow-rise bread making. According to the recipe, I made two different doughs first. On the left is the biga, which is bread flour, yeast, and water, and on the left is the soaker, containing the whole wheat flour, salt, and milk. I left these in the refrigerator for a couple of days, and then kneaded them together, adding more yeast, honey, and flour.

This rises once in the bowl (above) and then again in the pan (proofing it). It baked up quite nicely. It is soft and "damp-crumbed" and tastes pretty good. The main problem I had this time is that middle of the loaf is a bit unstable - like Yeats said, "the center can not hold, things fall apart." :) So when you slice it, the middle tends to crumble away and you get jelly slipping through your toast. More research needed, I suppose. I kind of think I let it rise too much when it was proofing, but I don't know if that is the source of the problem.

I am pretty happy with the result. I think I read somewhere that even the worst homemade loaf of bread is going to be better than the best store-bought. I don't know if I entirely agree with this, but I am enjoying putting it to the test.

Summer Days, Drifting Away...

2010-08-17T22:41:00.000-04:00

Another summer is almost over. Classes begin again next week, and it will be a flurry of lesson plans, grading, and meetings. But until then, I want to focus on the things that make summer summer. Like:

1) Peaches. Pictured above with Greek yogurt, honey, and blueberry granola. Yummy. I love the colors of a peach and this one was especially pretty, all sunset colors - orange and red and yellow and pink.

2) Hanging out at the pool. Our apartment complex has a nice pool that is never crowded when it first opens in the morning. I've enjoyed having friends with kids over to swim - I have never met a kid who didn't think swimming was the acme of human bliss.

3) Fun reading. I haven't had as much of this as I would like, what with the dissertation and all, but there has been some. I had an especially fun evening, curled up with Robin McKinley's Chalice while it stormed distantly outside. For me, reading is always enhanced by atmosphere.

4) Stargazing. I realize that I am not outside enough at night. Like most people, I get home, I flop down, I turn on the TV and forget that there are things like sunsets and stars and moons out there. Jordan and I did turn out for the Pleiades meteor shower the other night. We took the car around to the local landing strip where it was marginally darker than at our apartment. We sat on the trunk, leaning back against the back windshield and watched. We saw one really amazing meteor and then watched as clouds rolled in, with lightning flickering inside them. It was pretty cool.

5) Baseball. I am not a sports fan. But I kind of am. Our church has "Family Fun Night" every third Sunday. We have our business meeting and then do something...fun. This summer, that has meant ice cream and a softball game. It is kind of amazing to watch the grown ups and the little kids all playing on teams together, people on the opposite teams sharing gloves as they switch places from infield to outfield, other members sitting on the sidelines cheering. It is not "church softball" in the sense that it is organized or practiced. It is a pick-up game in a field. It is fun. We also had fun taking our youth group to a minor league game the other night. It was quintessential summer to sit in the stands, hearing the crack of a bat. I can't believe I'm waxing sentimental over a ballgame, but there you go.

6) Watermelon. And blueberries, corn on the cob, tomatoes, squash, lettuce. How can I live the long winter without them? Our church is really amazing. Almost every Sunday, someone brings us a bag of cucumbers or some tomatoes. Usually there is a heap of produce sharing space with bulletins and brochures on the table in the foyer, free to anyone who cares to cart them away. Often there are also farm fresh eggs. I love our little country church!

OK, now some things that I haven't gotten to do this summer:

1) Go to the beach - we did go to England so I am not in any way complaining about not seeing the beach this summer. But it is the summer thing.

2) Go camping. I love camping; and camping in the fall is pretty spectacular too, but that rarely works out. Jordan and I have plenty of camping equipment that we never use, because a camping trip requires planning and somehow we just never plan it. I want to go camping! Camp fires, marshmallows, stars, lanterns, the earthy-nylon smell of a tent; I never sleep better than I do curled in a flannel-lined sleeping bag in chilly mountain night air.

And, some transitional-type things:

1) Back to school shopping. My needs are few at this point: a new legal pad (white instead of yellow, this time) and my new bag, but I enjoyed buying things to donate for our school supplies drive at church. Pencils and notebooks, yay!

2) Knitting. Working with wool in summer seems kind of pointless, but with fall around the corner I'm in the knitting mood again. Right now I am working on a corset-style vest in a beautiful amethyst-colored yarn - pictures to follow, of course!

Second-Hand is My First Love

2010-08-12T19:54:00.000-04:00

I have been having this conversation with my sister lately that goes something like this:

Her: Hey, that's cute, where did you get that?

Me: Oh, that consignment store.

Her: Ack (I'm not sure how this sound is supposed to be spelled, but it's the sound that you make when you are expressing admiration and disbelief at the same time.)

"That consignment store" is how I refer to My Secret Closet, which I think is a very silly name, to the point of being embarassing to say. What is not embarassing is finding really nice items for a very low price. I have been doing the second-hand thing for about a year, and I don't think I will ever really be able to give it up. Consider: I'm sure you all remember my most recent shopping conundrum, the need for a school bag. I appreciated everyone's suggestions, and found some lovely specimins on ebay, but decided to check out the consignment store to see what they had. I found a Liz Claiborne leather tote for $20. After applying my credit from my items that had recently sold, the bag cost $10. It's not the perfect bag - it's a bit trendy, but it is the perfect piece for right now.

I have bought several items from the consignment store, including my current favorite thing - my brown leather Ralph Lauren purse for $22. And I don't stop at the consignment store. I do it. I go to Goodwill. I know that there are mixed feelings out there about Goodwill. On the one hand, it can feel a bit icky. Unlike the consignment store, items are not tastefully displayed. They are packed on racks under harsh lighting. Goodwill requires courage and a bit of determination. On the other hand, that courage and determination can pay off. Like the lovely dress pictured above. It is an Isaac Mizrahi for Target. It has beautiful draping and pleating, a lovely print lining, and a layer of net tulle that causes the skirt to flare in that delightful 1950s style. It is beautifully made. It cost me $5. That's right, for the price of a magazine, I got a dress. There are drawbacks of course. It is a bit large in the top, but nothing that my seam ripper and sewing machine can't make short work of. It looks lovely with a garden green cardigan and brown leather belt.

Second-hand shopping is rewarding not just because of that thrill of discovery, and the satisfaction of saving tons of money, but also because it eases my conscience. I wrote a while back on some things I had learned about where clothes come from and who makes them. I wasn't very happy about it. Buying things that are second-hand allows me to maintain a decent wardrobe without directly contributing to that process. It's like recycling... but more satisfying!

Chalice

2010-08-12T14:29:00.000-04:00

I just finished Robin McKinley's beautiful new novel, Chalice. I love this book - it is lyrical and warm and the first book in a long time that I have devoured in under 24 hours. McKinley is a young adult novelist who writes fantasies and fairy tale retellings - my favorite is Beauty, a retelling of "Beauty and the Beast." Her novel The Hero and the Crown won a Newberry Award and the prequel, The Blue Sword was a Newberry Honor book.
Chalice is set in a mythical world where each region is governed by a Circle - the highest ranking members are the Master and the Chalice. Marisol is an obscure beekeeper when she is chosen to be Chalice - she bears a cup that has the power to bring people together and to heal. She is uncomfortable in this new position, but determined to help the new Master - the younger brother of the previous wicked Master.

The story is a mixture of parts - fairy tale, fantasy, romance. It is knotty in parts - long sections of exposition without dialogue and a convoluted time-line that often loops back on itself - but overall, it is a very enjoyable and engrossing read.

Corn on the Cob Cupcakes

2010-08-10T21:22:00.000-04:00

I can not take any credit for these super-cute cupcakes - my aunt (my favorite aunt, she would insist that I add) made these for our annual family reunion. The "kernels" are actually buttered popcorn flavored jelly beans, the "pepper flakes" are black sugar crystals, and "pats of butter" are yellow Starburst candies. Don't they look just like corn on the cob?

Tintagel, England

2010-08-02T16:31:00.000-04:00

Tintagel, England is almost certainly the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I first heard about Tintagel in a small clip from a documentary I saw. It mentioned that Tintagel is supposedly the birthplace of King Arthur, that there was the ruins of an castle, and a cave in the cliffs called Merlin's Cave. Based on these bare facts alone, I knew that Tintagel had to be on our first tour of England. Although I was excited to see it, I had no idea how strikingly beautiful the place was going to be.

Tintagel is a small village in northern Cornwall. It consists primarily of a few shops, pubs, and inns, the castle ruins, and a small cliff-top church called St. Materiana's. It is situated along the coastal path which runs along the craggy, headlines of the coast. Rocky cliffs and outcroppings jut out into the sea, making this one of the most dramatic and atmospheric landscapes I have ever seen. As soon as we arrived, Jordan and I dropped our bags and ran out, exclaiming in delight and astonishment over what we saw. The pictures don't begin to capture the experience.

We went first to Tintagel Castle. There isn't much left of it now, but it must have been an impressive place once. There are actually two parts to it, part of it built on Tintagel Island (not a real island, as it is actually connected by a narrow isthmus) and part on the mainland. The view in the above picture is from the island looking back toward to the village.

While browsing in a bookshop, we found a picture of a waterfall in a book on Tintagel. We asked the clerk where it was located, and moments later we were on our way. It was a short hike to the top of St. Nectan's Glen. The waterfall is so old that it has carved out a deep chasm in the rock and even a perfect circle where the water flows through. According to Arthurian legend, this is where Arthur's knights were baptized before their search for the Holy Grail.

This is a view of the coastal path. Had we world enough and time, we would have walked miles. As it was, we managed only a small section. But it was amazing. Rugged sea coast on one side, pastoral fields on the other. Absolutely astonishing. (Can you see the moon in the picture?)

This is inside Merlin's Cave. It runs the entire way under Tintagel Island, and can only be reached at low tide. At high tide, the sea rushes in, so we became friendly with the tide clock at our bed and breakfast. I definitely wouldn't want to be caught down there with the tide coming in because it does seem to come in fast, at least to someone who is used to the benign rhythms of the mid-Atlantic coast on the US side. We wanted to traverse the entire length of the cave, and so waded through a crystal clear and cold pool and came out the other end where the waves were crashing about.

Tintagel is quite a ways off the beaten path. Although we came across a few German tourists in the village, ours were the only American voices we heard the entire time we were there. Tintagel was the whole reason that we rented a car and drove hours across the English country-side. And it was beyond worth it. I almost feel disappointed, in a way. I'm afraid that no matter where I travel in the future, I have already seen the most beautiful place in the world. I just can't see anything topping it.

Lead, Guide, and Direct: Thoughts from Today's Quiet Time

2010-07-21T14:46:00.001-04:00

Quiet time: n. time spent reading scripture, praying, and drawing close to God. I would like for it to happen every day, but, of course, it doesn't. Today, however, I pulled out my Bible and read while munching on my Apple Pecan Chicken salad from Wendy's for lunch. It was peaceful. And tasty. I don't think eating during quiet time is irreverant. Often times it feels like the only time I get to sit down and focus is during breakfast or lunch.

I sometimes use a devotional magazine my church gets. Today the scripture it referenced was exciting: Psalm32:6-11. The reason it was exciting was because in the first section, I recognized the lyrics to a song Jordan and I sang last summer: v.7 "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance." The song is "Hiding Place" by Selah, and they re-interpret the words this way:

You are my hiding place.
You always fill my heart with songs of deliverance.
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.

If you have never heard the song, check it out - I love it, not only for the words, which really speak to my fearful, anxious tendancies, but also for the music: the male and female vocals weave around each other in a really haunting melody.

A few verses down, I was struck by the picture that the psalmist paints: v.8-9 "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee." The idea is that we tend to be like a willful horse, who has to be tightly controlled and disciplined with a bit and reins in order to be useful. God wants us to draw close to him, and He doesn't want to force us to with the spiritual equivalents of bit and bridle. How much more pleasant the experience would be if we would turn to Him instead of stubbornly going our own way.

I used to think that the phrase "lead, guide, and direct us" was rather redundant, but my father always includes it when he prays. Perhaps, considering how crucial it is that we allow ourselves to be lead by God, the phrase is not redundant, but, rather, appropriately emphatic.

P.S. The above picture is from St. Materiana's Church in Tintagel, England. It is a very small, very old church at the top of a rocky cliff jutting out into the sea.

Best Books: Young Adult, Part 2

2010-07-18T15:31:00.000-04:00

1) Summer of My German Soldier, Bette Greene: It's been years since I read this, but it is a powerful work - a young girl hides a German POW, deals with an abusive father, racism, and all the drama of being a teenager in 1940's South.

2) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith: Another one that I haven't read in a while, but also a coming of age during difficult circumstances novel - the main character grows up in Depression-era New York in a tenement and deals with poverty and other heavy issues. I really need to lighten this up, huh?

3) The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster: I do not like math, but this fantasy novel about a world of mathematic principles (it's kind of hard to explain) is very funny and fun to read.

4) The Mozart Season, Virginia Euwer Wolff: This novel about a young violin prodigy struggling to be herself, please her parents, and deal with the identity issues arising from being half-Jewish, half-Gentile didn't receive great reviews, but I loved it and checked it out from the library multiple times.

5) Just as Long as We're Together, Judy Blume: Blume is a nearly ubiquitous feature of teen girl reading lists, and I read them all. This was my favorite.

There are more, of course. I'm beginning to see patterns in my reading from younger years. Why was I so enamoured with these heavy coming-of-age novels? There were abusive parents, poverty, death, identity issues, on and on. And I know the adult equivalents of these - you know, the books that read "Sarah thinks her life is perfect until a tragic accident and her husband's death causes her to re-examine the life she loves and to consider the possibilities...." I put these back down in a hurry - why is teen angst appealing, but adult angst is just depressing? Thoughts? Anyone? It's a problem. With the young adult novels, I would pick up anything on the shelf at the library and read it. Now with books for grown-ups, I scan the back, read the first paragraph, ponder and debate and still generally end up hating everything I get from the library. It has gotten so bad that I hardly read fiction at all - there is so much drivel out there. And it is all so depressing. The "good" books, the ones that win Pulitzers and National Book Awards are generally boring and depressing and bleak. The "popular" books are just awful and depressing and maudlin - Nicholas Sparks, Jodi Picoult, yikes.

I would like to grow up, but the young adult books are much more satisfying.

Best Books: Young Adult

2010-07-12T08:35:00.003-04:00

I read. A lot. And not just because I am an getting a PhD in English. Reading is like breathing for me - completely necessary. I would like to share some of my favorites with you. These won't be the obvious choices, although I love the canonical works - Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, etc. Instead, I would like to include some works that maybe you haven't heard of, or the more obscure works by well-known authors. At any rate, these are some real gems. I'm starting with the best YA, a category that I still read and love. Here we go:

1) A House Like a Lotus, Madeleine L'Engle: Although L'Engle is best known for her science-fiction series beginning with A Wrinkle in Time, her realist teen fiction is just as good. A House Like a Lotus centers on Polly, takes place in Greece, and deals with a variety of heavy issues in a smart and insightful way. It is beautiful, and the type of book that makes me want to be a better person.

2) The Blue Castle, L.M. Montgomery: Again, Montgomery is better known for a beloved series (the Anne of Green Gables books), but this single novel is one of my favorites. It is a grown up book about a young woman who gives up trying to please her family and bow to convention and begins doing exactly what she wants. It is more sophisticated than Montgomery's other novels, but still has a satisfying romantic plot.

3) The Chronicles of Prydain, Lloyd Alexander: This fantasy series based on Welsh mythology is fun, and like an easy version of The Lord of the Rings. I am re-reading them now with a little guy that I tutor and he loves them. See, not everything I read is girly!

4) Little Town on the Prairie; These Happy Golden Years, Laura Ingalls Wilder: Although the Little House books are well-loved, most people seem to stop with Little House on the Prairie. The later installments are also good, these two in particular.

5) Jacob Have I Loved, Katherine Paterson: Angsty, full of sibling rivalry (the title refers to Jacob and Esau from the Bible, not a romantic plot), this book also provides a look at a coastal fishing town.

6) Eight Cousins; Rose in Bloom, Louisa May Alcott: Little Women is good, but I also enjoy this duo from the author, which includes Alcott's special blend of didacticism and romance.

This will no doubt be continued in other posts - the list goes on. I also want to point to another aspect of YA books that I love - the covers. I remember all the book covers from my youth, on editions that came out in the 70s and 80s, and I have to say, the more current editions just don't live up. I especially like the work of Jody A. Lee, who did covers for the Dell/Yearling editions of fantasy novels. I have been collecting these versions from used books stores and have almost complete series of the L'Engle books and the Alexander books. The book pictured above is one of her covers.

Anyway, what young adult novels get you all nostalgic? And which ones are you still reading today?

The England Album

2010-07-10T13:16:00.004-04:00

I love taking pictures (probably inherited this love from my dad, who did some professional work, once upon a time, long, long ago). In England, I kept my camera busy. It's not a great camera - a point and shoot Olympus FE110 that I got for Christmas in 2005, but it does well enough for what I want - and besides, I think that good pictures have more to do with the person taking the picture than the performance of the camera - I've seen people with incredibly expensive, high-tech cameras take plenty of crappy pictures because they don't know how to use it. I also don't use Photoshop - I edit pictures primarily with Photo Manager and maybe some fun things with the free options on Picnic. Most of what I do involves shifting midtones and enhancing the contrast. Some programs seem to require a four-year degree, so I stick with what is simple and subtle improvements.

I printed the best pictures to put in a scrapbook. This is also another area that I didn't want to spend a ton of money on, and I also didn't want to work too hard. And, above all, I didn't want a cutesy scrapbook. I abhor cutesy. This turned out to be a fairly simple process, with a few basic items. I found a beautiful metallic brown 12x12 album with an embossed design on the front, and I used black paper. I framed pics using a white marker, and journaled on note-paper that I tore the edges off. Alphabet stickers, pre-cut cards for captions, and a few sheets of printed paper rounded out the materials.

I included post-cards, tickets, and brochures from the trip. I am pleased with the overall look. I have found that one side-effect of scrapbooking is the re-kindling of desire. I am already looking forward to going to England again. Maybe in a few more years...

Why Sewing is Not Relaxing...

2010-07-10T13:01:00.004-04:00

I like sewing, but it is not relaxing like knitting or crocheting. With knitting or crocheting, you generally have a lap-size project that you only have to give minimal attention to - I frequently knit and watch a movie (I've even tried knitting and reading with some success). When you are done knitting for the day, you roll up the project and stick it in a basket. No mess.

Sewing, on the other hand, consumes your life and apartment. Instead of sitting primly, watching TV, you are crouched on the floor (see above) or hunched over a sewing machine, biting your lips. Scraps of fabric and pattern pieces litter the floor and my husband was afraid to sit on any of the furniture because I had pins stuck everywhere. I made that dress in record time because I couldn't wait to get my apartment clean again.

Sewing is exciting, but an all-consuming task. Or maybe I'm just messy!

Sewing Lessons: A Vintage-Style Dress Project

2010-07-09T11:33:00.004-04:00

There were several reasons that I wanted to sew a dress. First, I am writing about dress in my dissertation, about heroines who sew their own clothes and therefore have agency over their identity. Making my own dress, felt a bit like research. Second, it's too hot to crochet or knit. And third, most importantly, I really, really needed something to wear to my wonderful friend's wedding.

I found the pattern on Burda Style, which I had never heard of before. Apparently, Burda is a sewing magazine in Germany, but there is an English website. The site is a bit like Ravelry for knitting and crocheting - there are patterns available for free and for purchase and members can upload photos of their projects. This dress pattern was $4 which is much cheaper than buying a McCalls or Simplicity pattern at Hancock. I couldn't find any material that I liked in the fabric stores so this dress is made out of ...... a bed sheet. I know, why didn't I just use the curtains, Scarlett? But, the fabric feels the way I wanted it to (a nice balance between crisp and drapey) and it is the color that I wanted - a smokey blue that I think is called soldier blue or cadet blue. I altered the pattern a bit to include the pintucking on the front and the lace trim, inspired by another member's alterations (and material of choice). I am thinking about pearl buttons on the front, maybe.

I really liked the overall pattern, which had a nice vintage-feel (late 30's early 40's?) with its pleats and gathers. I especially like the inverted pleat in the back. It definitely fits too, which is unusual for a dress for me - I normally have to get dresses with ties in the back to gather up the excess material. This is darted like crazy for a close fit and a side seam zipper. Oh, and it's lined too. Of course, since I made it, I am painfully aware of all the flaws in the dress. But we won't talk about those, will we?

Anyway, I will wear it with light silvery-gray strappy heels and my hair in a Gibson tuck. I hope it won't look too costumey, but I am sure that N will let me know. Right?

Domestic Scholar is Back Online

2010-07-09T09:47:00.002-04:00

Hi, I'm back. Domestic Scholar has been undeleted. I wanted to see how I liked things in a blogless world, prompted partly by a small marital tiff and partly because I feel I get a bit too ambitious with my projects, blogging included. But, in the end, I missed the blog. I kept saying to myself, "oh, I need to blog about that." So, back I come. There have been a few slight changes to the layout - I couldn't resist blogger's new template designs, and besides, having also deleted my flickr account (which wouldn't actually delete, but that is another story), I lost the link to my header. So here we are.

A few updates:
1) England was fantastic! Perfect, unbelievable, outstanding. I will post on the scrapbook that I made from our pictures.
2) I have a nephew! He is almost one month old, and he is perfect, unbelievable, and outstanding.
3) I made a dress. A separate post will follow, but I am pleased with the way it turned out.
4) I am working on my dissertation. It is hard to account for actual progress because I feel like I am working on three chapters simultaneously, but the Pamela chapter has passed two committee members, the Mansfield Park chapter has passed through one, and I am planning to turn in the Villette chapter to my chair next week.
5) I am slowly working my way through Ken Follette's The Pillars of the Earth, which is great - the epic story of the building of a cathedral in medieval England - full of minute historical detail, architectural explanation, and multiple view-points. I am also reading Bill Bryson's The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America, which is hilarious, perfect for reading before bed.
6) Summer produce! I have made blackberry crisp and blackberry swirl poundcake, sweet corn on the cob, squash, and veggie pizza with wonderful produce from Kimrey Farm (if you are in the area, check them out http://kimreyfarm.com/.

Anyway, I'm back, and I'm happy about it!

Packing Light: Ten Days in England

2010-05-11T10:35:00.007-04:00

We are leaving for England Friday, granted that the stupid ash cloud doesn't shut us down. This trip has been a life-time in the making. I have wanted to go to England for as long as I can remember - my academic career has been devoted to British literature, and I probably know as much (if not more) British history than American. I have no doubt idealized England as a mythical fairy land - the land of Stonehenge, King Arthur, Victoria, and Jane Austen. But I am going!

I posted earlier (months ago, I think) that I was looking for a trench coat to take. After much searching, debating, and considering, I landed on the Travex jacket from Eddie Bauer. It is light-weight and waterproof, and has pockets everywhere. The sleeves can be buckled up. It is belted and can be packed up in a small space. It is not a classic trench - it has a more military/safari look to it, but I rather love it. It's perfect for England in May.

Here are the contents of my bag. We have decided to do carry-only, and I am determined to pack light - I don't want to stick out as a clueless tourist and I don't want to lug forty pounds between train stations and hotels. So here is what I am taking: one pair of jeans (Gap Curvy, boot cut), one pair of gray cords (Aeropostale, straight cut), long-sleeve light pink cotton/cashmere sweater (Fair Indigo), 3/4 sleeve coral cotton sweater (Gap), long sleeve white T-shirt (Target), white camisole (Gap), black button cotton/cashmere cardigan (Gap), black track pants and pink camisole for sleeping in, brown Mary Jane walking shoes (Skechers), black flip-flops, scarf. Also pictured: liquid toiletries in Ziploc bag and non-liquid toiletries in pink bag.

I believe that these can be easily layered, they all coordinate (pink, white, and black), and they are light-weight, but warm. The scarf is great. It is a wide retangle that can be worn around my neck or as a shawl and can also be used as a blanket on the plane. I am bringing the track pants instead of pajama pants so that they can be worn out if need be.

Here are the contents of my purse. I have had my Ameribag for several years and it is great for travel. It is not the most stylish-looking bag, but it is designed to feel lighter and it has tons of pockets for everything. Top row: Totes umbrella (tiny folded up, but expands to full size), Fodor's England 2010 (this is the heaviest item I am taking, but I can't bear to tear it up and I can't leave it behind and I need too much out of it to make copies), travel journal (Moleskine cahier), pen and pencil. Bottom row: wallet (Vera Bradley - very cool design with wrist strap so it can be carried on it's own) with cell phone, camera (just the case, since I was using the camera at the moment - my trusty old point and shoot, Olympus FE110), passport, reading material - Diana Gabaldon's Drums of Autumn. This was a point of some consideration - I needed something long enough to last the whole trip, interesting, but not too fluffy. Gabaldon's fourth installment in the Outlander series should be just the thing. Sunglasses (Armani Exchange for $20 at Ross - I love that store!) and their case.

Here is everything packed up. One carry-on (my Nine-West valise, also from Ross) and one purse. The carry-on is actually only about 2/3 full, so I should have room for some souvenirs.

I actually love planning what to pack, and this trip was thoroughly researched. Of particular use was One Bag, a website with an exhaustively annotated packing list - it is really geared for more tropical, exotic travel, but also worked for thinking about the England trip. I also love the articles that Harper's Bazaar includes about how to pack. Of course, those trips are super-luxurious (heli-skiing!?) and include suggestions for thousand dollar zebra striped Kate Moss bags, but it helps me get in the mind-set of super-chic, jet-setting luxury. Here is an article in their latest issue: Packing Like a Pro: Tips for Travelling Light but Fashionably. I also just like to see what people carry around with them. The Flickr group What's in Your Bag is voyeuristic fun.

Mother's Day

2010-05-11T10:26:00.004-04:00

Yummy rhubarb upside-down cake - possibly a new favorite; tart and sweet at the same time.

Irises are one of my (and my momma's) favorite flowers and these in my parents' front yard are especially pretty white and purple bearded specimens.

My little sister is going to be a momma soon herself. Happy Mother's Day mommas and mommas-to-be!

A Baby Shower

2010-04-11T16:22:00.004-04:00

My sister's baby shower finally took place, after several months of planning. This was the first time I hosted an event like this myself, although, of course and as always, it was definitely a group effort. I made cupcakes, complete with molded-cany baby booties that involved painstakingly painting on blue details with frosting. The cupcakes were from a mix and the icing was store-bought. My sister has a sever dairy allergy, and, ironically enough, it is easier to find processed food items that contain no dairy than it is to make things from scratch sometimes. I also fixed the vegetable tray and a tray with pickles (of course, the pregnant girl's request), crackers, cheese, and hummus (this was my family's first introduction to hummus, and I don't think they were impressed). My mom (with my sister and myself acting as sous chefs) made chicken salad in filo cups, a spinach dip in Hawaiian bread bowl (yum), a cheese ball, cocktail sausages, and a cranberry punch. My aunt made bead salad (yum) and fruit salsa with cream cheese dip and cinammon-sugar tortilla chips (super yum).

Altogether, there was plenty of food (although, I'll remember to buy more cheese next time) and every one seemed to enjoy it. I was especially pleased with the decorations. I found kits by Martha Stewart at T.J. Maxx for $5 each to make the tissue paper bouquet and the yellow pom-poms (the kit had eight, but I only did two). I had also found a banner that spelled out "Congratulations" and one that said "It's a boy!" I even used a bit from the bouquet kit to make Rox a corsage.

Everything went smoothly and we all had a great time oohing and ahhing over the bitty baby clothes. We really can't wait for Lucas to get here. And there is, of course, no chance that he will be spoiled rotten ;)

Easter Goodness

2010-04-09T08:39:00.002-04:00

I had a great Easter this year. The drawback was not going home to be with my family - we were singing in the choir at church and felt that we should be there. But we still had a great time with friends who joined us for church and then came over for lunch.

We didn't make it to the Sunrise Service and Easter Breakfast at church this year. Instead, we slept in a bit, and got ready. The 10:00 service was great, though. The choir sang four songs and our soloists were amazing, and our pastor delivered an impassioned message about the different responses of Mary, Peter, and John when they saw the empty tomb, asking us to consider our own response. I want to be like John, who saw the empty tomb and believed immediately that Christ was Lord and risen. Peter was fearful and skeptical, and Mary Magdalene, who desparately wanted Jesus to be alive, was so distraught that at first she couldn't recognize Christ. Like John, of course, I have believed and trusted in Christ for salvation, but I am often like Mary, fearful and unable to see Christ at work or recognize the fulfilment of His promises.

Lunch was great - I am afraid the ham got a little dry, but it had a tasty pineapple-brown sugar glaze, and we had roasted veggies (asparagus, carrots, and onions), deviled eggs, macaroni and cheese, and cheesy bread (my friend brought the last two). For dessert, I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, all from scratch. I am always amazed (though I shouldn't be) how much better things made from scratch taste than things out of the can). I ate an embarassing number of cupcakes myself. We dyed Easter Eggs, and then I nursed a migraine (the only other drawback of the day) from the couch, watching Mary Poppins and all but the very end of The Sound of Music. I hadn't seen Mary Poppins in years, although I watched it constantly as a kid, and I had forgotten how good it was. I had never seen The Sound of Music, and I loved it, although I am still going to have to watch it again, so I can see how they escape the Nazis.

All in all, it was a good day.

The Best Notebooks Ever

2010-03-26T10:15:00.002-04:00

Moleskine Cahiers, purchased at Barnes and Noble, they come three in a pack. I use one for writing ideas, one for craft ideas, one for Bible-study notes, and one will be my travel journal in England. I like the plain, paper-bag-colored covers, but wanted to personalize them a bit. I founf acrylic stamps on clearance at Target and splurged on stamp markers at Michaels. Et, voila! Personalized, monogrammed journals. A fun project while I watched Chocolat the other night. (By the way, TJ Maxx has good deals on movies - I got Chocolat and Gosford Park for $5 each.

What I've Been Working On

2010-03-26T10:05:00.005-04:00

More baby crochet! This was my first attempt at amigurumi, and I think it turned out so cute. Jordan and I have been joking about adopting this little fox as a pet instead of giving him to the nephew. He wasn't too hard to make, and I liked that I could use scrap yarn instead of buying new.

I think the tail is the cutest! I embroidered baby's initials for a special touch. You know, I love a monogram - apparently on pretty much anything!

Lucas also needed a hat to wear home from the hospital, so I made this, my first attempt at cabling. I love cable-knit (almost as much a monograms) and this was actually pretty easy. I don't knit as much as I crochet because knitting is harder and slower, but baby items are so small that it's quite gratifying to do something tricky because you can be done fairly quickly. I am afraid that this may be a bit too big at first (Jordan has joked that it's so long he'll be able to keep his eye warm), but hopefully I'm underestimating newborn baby heads =) Anyway, I think this will be the last baby crochet for a while. There are a couple more amigurumi I want to try, and then all the little sweaters are actually for 6-12 months, so I'll wait a bit on those.

Monet Sweater

2010-03-05T17:48:00.005-05:00

Here is my latest crochet project completed. I am beginning to feel pretty good about how quickly I can get a sweater done now. What once would have taken several months, I can now do in a couple of weeks. I am rather pleased with the results, although I thought about scrapping the project in the beginning. The pattern would not come out to the right measurements, so I had to adjust to make it work. However, once I figured out what adjustments to make, things went pretty well.

I really, really, really love the colors. They remind me of the colors in Monet's waterlilly paintings, which is why I am calling this the Monet Sweater. The main color is that pretty jade and it is shot through with purple and pink and white and yellow and blue. So, so pretty. Thanks a ton to Natalie for gifting me her stash.

I'm not sure about these buttons. I like the kind of Art Nouveau style (my latest obsession), but I think the buttons should be bigger (these were in my stash). The pattern calls for 1.5 inch buttons, and these are on 7/8.

Anyway, I am very happy with my latest creation, and hope to later make a dress to match. I haven't done any large-scale sewing in a few years, so that will be an interesting endeavor.

Good Things About Winter

2010-02-25T11:04:00.002-05:00

February is almost over, but I know that winter will hang around for several more weeks. I have never been a big fan of the cold, but this winter seems to have been especially hard on me, not just physically, but mentally as well. Cold dreary days have really gotten me down.

I have been longing for spring in the worst way, for sunshine and warmth, sandals and flowers and leaves, reading on the patio, morning runs, (conveniently fogetting about the layer of yellow pollen that will soon cover everything).

However, I know that this kind of anticipation will only make me bitter about the current conditions. Winter is what I have and what I will have for a few more weeks. So, I am focusing on what I like about winter. For example:

1) Hot chocolate: I like mine strong and rich. I got a cup from McDonald's yesterday (I am embarassed to admit that I ate there, but it was a low blood sugar situation), and it was actually quite good, with an underlying coffee taste to it (whether intentional or not, I liked it).

2) Curling up with a blanket and book: preferably in front of a roaring fire, but I'll just have to pretend. My favorite reading blanket is a beige throw, lined in a fur-like fleece, very soft and warm. My current read is definitely a winter curl-up: The Alienist by Caleb Carr, a historical mystery.

3) Sweaters, scarves, corduroys, and boots: each fall, I look forward to breaking out winter clothes, but by late February, they have lost their lustre. However, these are my favorite clothes. I am still on the look-out for the perfect cashmere sweater, but right now I make do with lambswool and cotton.

4) Soup: I have fallen in love with homemade soup. The current favorite is broccoli cream, but other contenders are tomato and potato cauliflower. I made minestrone for the first and last time. It was good, but involved too much work and literal bloodshed when I cut my finger.

5) Snowfall: living in NC, snow is always exciting, even when it is ruining your plans. The local news devotes round-the-clock coverage to the accumulating inches, school kids go insane, the entire county turns out en-masse at the grocery store. I love watching the snow coming down and then walking around in the transformed world once it has covered everything. The big snow in January (see picture above) created a heavy silence in our neighborhood that was beautiful.

6) Winter Olympics: This has been the first year that I have actually really watched the Olympics (winter or summer) and I have been fascinated. Every event has been intriguing from down-hill skiing to bobsledding to figure skating. I have never watched sports in my life, but this has been very interesting, and I also like the sense of unity as the whole country (and a lot of the world) watches and experiences it together.

These are a few of the things that I will try to keep in mind as I am faced with the prospect of several more frozen days. Do you have any good things to add to the list?

Baby Things

2010-02-22T13:24:00.004-05:00

I feel like I have been hibernating for the month of February, at least in the blogosphere. In real life, I have not been able to hunker down and wait for the return of spring (it's coming soon, right?) Instead, I have been working and reading (for the diss, more than for fun) and crocheting! With the new nephew arriving in June, I have gotten a few items done.

The first is this afghan, which is bigger than pictured. The pattern is from a Vanna White book, and incredibly easy. The only complaint I have is that after about seven rounds, it started warping and pulling in a dozen different directions. Even after blocking it, it still isn't perfectly straight, but I think it will do.

I am also very happy with these booties. They are the essence of cute. The pattern was a free project sheet picked up at Michaels, with a few aesthetic alterations. They look like small loafers, and baby will be able to wear them at 3-6 months. My only complaint about this project is the stitching up the back. I did it in the blue yarn and so it looks a bit sloppy, but maybe that's just home-made charm, right?

I have a few more baby related projects planned, but I am currently indulging in some selfish crochet in the form of a cropped tweed cardigan in a beautiful jade green color. The combination of an off-guage pattern and a tricky yarn has caused me to frog and start over at least six times with much mental cursing, but I am determined to see it through.

If you are a fellow crocheter/knitter, be sure to check out Ravelry.com and consider friending me there (Stephanie728). Happy stitching.

Snow trumps Fashion

2010-01-30T17:51:00.003-05:00

As you can see, I would rather be warm than stylish. Although I am sure there are ways to look chic in the snow. We just don't get snow here often enough to have a chic snow wardrobe.

Travel Update

2010-01-29T11:25:00.002-05:00

Passport renewal application mailed. Plane tickets purchased. (!!!!!)

Handsome, Clever, and Rich: A New Film Adaptation of Emma

2010-01-26T18:23:00.002-05:00

Sunday night was the first installment of a new BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. PBS is broadcasting the film on Masterpiece Theatre, and will show the next part this coming Sunday. I have to say, Austen adaptations can be hit or miss. The BBC version of Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle) is beyond excellent. Their version of Sense and Sensibility that came out last year was wonderful. The version of Mansfield Park (starring Billie Piper) that was shown on PBS last year was wretched.

So, I was apprehensive about this adaptation of Emma. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The acting is great. Romola Garai plays Emma with great expression and Johnny Lee Miller plays a young, but attractive Mr. Knightley (he's supposed to be sixteen years older than her, but they look the same age). The sets are beautiful, the script is well done, and, my very favorite, the clothes are superb. Beyond beautiful. Not just the typical whispy pastels you see in most Regency-era films, these clothes have substance to them. And you see characters wearing the same dress again in a different scene - a touch of realism, since most people, even the rich, would not have had an endless wardrobe.

If you missed the first part Sunday night, you can watch online. The webpage also has some behind-the-scenes video and interviews with the cast and writers. Definitely worth checking out.

P.S. Thanks to Natalie at Horatio's End for the timely reminder to watch and also for the link to the PBS site.

My Stress Response

2010-01-14T14:57:00.002-05:00

Often, when I am stressed, my body doesn't register it as stress. I think, "I am fine, I just have to get this done. I don't know why my head is killing me and my stomach hurts. I am fine." I remember once when I was a senior in high school, I was really stressed. I had papers and projects and tests due. I was applying to college. Things were not going right. I was sitting in French class and my stomach was hurting. All I could think was, "I don't feel good, I want to go home and clean my room." I know, that's my stress response. Bodily pain and an overwhelming desire to put my physical world to right. I can't get anything done until my environment is in order. I finally convinced myself that I really was sick, so I got to call home. My mom came and picked me up. My mom is completely no nonsense. If you say you are sick, you had darn well better be sick. I remember that she asked me what was wrong, and I finally broke down crying and said, "My room's a mess!" I didn't get in trouble. She didn't fuss, or make me go back to school, or make me lay down in a dark room with no books. She took me to the grocery store. She bought me frozen chicken fettucini and a slice of frozen key lime pie. She took me home, fixed me lunch, told me to lay down for a while, and then to clean my room. Sometimes I wish I could still call home and have my mom pick me up. I would like some frozen key lime pie and the chance to put my world right.

Dissertating

2010-01-14T14:34:00.002-05:00

Writing a dissertation, at least for me so far, has been a bit disconcerting. I thought that because I had seminar papers for the basis of each of my chapters, that the way would be clear and I would know what to do. I didn't expect it to be easy. I am willing to work hard. But there is a difference between working hard and having no idea what to do. If I knew what to do, I would certainly do it.

The problem seems to be, I don't have any idea how to transform this seminar paper into a dissertation chapter. I am working on Pamela right now, and I have this seminar paper that I am very proud of. Maybe that's a problem. I didn't get a lot of feedback from the professor other than stylistic (I will eventually eliminate passive voice from my writing. I am beginning to wonder if this is somehow a personality indicator?) So, I'm not sure what to do with it. I have made some additions - trying to beef up the theory parts. I actually added about a page and a half of theory stuff to it today, then realized that all of that probably needed to go in the introduction chapter, so I took it back out again. I have been reformating it a bit, added a paragraph that reaffirmed my argument and laid out the direction of the paper. And, still, all I have is 17 pages. I probably need at least 10 more, but I don't know how I am going to get them.

I am tempted to go ahead and give the chapter to my committee, just so I can get some feedback and direction. I feel like I need someone to tell me, "Do this." It probably wouldn't hurt to get in on a writing group, but I'm not sure how to do that either.

I probably need to be reading more theory, but I can't, at this point, see how having another go at reading Judith Butler is going to translate into more pages for my Pamela chapter. I want to be making progress!

System Error

2010-01-13T18:10:00.003-05:00

You know how when you are working on a computer and suddenly there's a noise and a screen pops up with some vague and threatening message, like "System Error" and suddenly everything goes nuts? That's how my life feels right now. I was late to volunteer teach my ESL class this morning, partly because I am lazy and partly because I didn't factor in time to scrape the frost off my car. As I am driving down the interstate at an illegal speed, I hear a startling "Crack!" and realize that what was once a tiny, almost invisible chip in my windshield has become a stark crack that runs all the way across. I didn't get to meet with my professor this afternoon because I was having my windshield repaired. I will now probably have to make another drive to Gboro this week. I was late to have my windshield repaired because I was on campus, trying to find a printer that printed in colored ink, and then to find a working terminal so I could load money onto my id card, so I could pay for colored ink prints. My life has become unmanageably caught up in trivial details. It takes 35 minutes to get to Gboro. Another 5-10 to walk from wherever I find to park (oh, and the parking deck is under construction too). If I try to get to the gym to workout for 30 minutes, there is an hour and half involved just getting there, parking, getting inside, changing, then afterwards, showering, changing again, trying to make my hair look decent. Is this worth it? I feel like I can't get anything done because I am always trying to get to the place where I could get something done.

A New Look

2010-01-12T13:10:00.001-05:00

I have made some minor changes to the look of the blog, changes that involved me working with html in very minor, but exciting ways. If you read me through a reader or some such, come by and take a look at the new look!

What I Will Be Doing This Year

2010-01-12T10:57:00.002-05:00

There are several things I am determined to do this year. I am not calling them resolutions. I am calling them plans.

1) Get the bulk of my dissertation written. Prospectus is done. I began the first chapter this morning. It is harder than I anticipated. I am working from seminar papers that I wrote for classes, but now I am sitting staring at this seminar paper wondering what I am supposed to do to it to make it a dissertation chapter. But I am going to figure it out, and I am still set on being a PhD by May 2011.

2) Go to England! Lifelong dream, often deferred. I think I have low self-efficacy when it comes to travel. I almost feel like I'm not allowed to go anywhere. Partly because Suze Orman would tell me we don't have enough money, and partly because no one in my family travels. But this is going to be the year. I will see London and Stonehenge and stand on a moor. Tentative travel dates are set for the middle of May. I have my own copy of Fodor's England 2010 that is becoming thickly crusted with pink post-it notes.

3) Write the novel. I know, how crazy do you have to be to write a dissertation and a novel in the same year? But this is one of those projects that I have been imagining all my life ("Oh, yes, when I grow up, I will write a novel and travel to England.") Well, I am grown up. I have the concept, the characters, the plot, and if I don't write it now, it will slip away, vaporized by academic paralysis.

Expect frequent updates on these three projects. In fact, if I don't update you frequently, get on my case. I need the motivation.

Sweater Complete!

2010-01-02T11:32:00.005-05:00

I finally finished the sweater that I began a few months ago. It actually didn't take that long to complete - it was just that I was distracted by other projects that were claiming my attention. This is the "Raeanne Shawl Sweater" pattern from Robyn Chachula's Bluepring Crochet, and it is done in Caron Spa, a bamboo rayon and acrylic blend. I particularly love the color, which is called Ocean Spray.

There are several things that I love about this sweater. First, it fits. Unlike past projects, this small was actually small, and it was also adjustable, since it is a wrap sweater. Second, it is not the dowdy, chunky style common to most crochet wearables. It is light, and delicate and soft. And, I think that this loose, drapey, wrap is very stylish. The hardest things about it were the band - for some reason, I couldn't stick to 16 single crochet stitches - it would suddenly morph into something far too long or too short, and it is actually still wonky in a few places. Oh well. The other thing is that the individual squares have a tendancy to unravel, no matter how tightly I have tied them off.

Other than that, I think that this was a big success. There are several other patterns from Chachula's book that look promising, and I will likely try them out later. For now, I have niece/nephew crocheting to take care of!

Some thoughts on grading...

2009-12-18T08:56:00.002-05:00

Having just finished a semester that was capped off by grading 38 freshman composition portfolios, grading is still fresh in my mind. I feel I have come a long way in the four years I have been teaching. Grading is a tricky task, especially in English, especially in composition - it's so "subjective." No multiple choice. So I use rubrics and try to thoroughly explain what makes a paper a good paper or a not so good paper.

However, some doubts still linger, doubts also voiced by some fellow TAs. Like, "The student worked so hard and improved so much. They deserve an A." Or, "The student is working with a disadvantage, like English is his second language, or she comes from an underprivileged background. They cannot be graded by the same standard."

Here is the analogy I have developed. English 101 is like a race. The students sign up to run the race. The teacher is a coach. We make them run laps and give them pointers about improving their form or their time or their strength. Then, we mark off a course, yell "Go," and start the timer. Some students will have a natural advantage - they are stronger, they've done a lot of running before, etc. Some students will have improved a lot from the time they first started training and can run much faster. However, the stop-watch is what matters. If a runner improved their time from a 13 minute mile to a 10 minute mile, that is fantastic and they should be celebrated. But that does not mean that they have run an 8 minute mile. Some students will make stupid mistakes. They won't show up for practice, or they will veer off the course, or they will come without their shoes. They will have a lousy time, but the coach can't adjust their time, give them extra-credit.

I think that the problem lies with conflating a grade with a reward. And I have to confess that I did this for the entirety of my student career - my self-worth was entirely mixed up with the grades I received. But the grade is not the reward, it is just the assesment, it's your time. It shows you how well you have done, what your abilities are, and how you could improve. It is a valuable tool for a runner, as a grade is for a student. This is why grade inflation is so ridiculous. Giving a student an A when he has done B- work, is like telling a runner who runs a 10 minute mile that he can run an 8 minute mile. He will be unaware of the training he needs and at the next race, he will be overwhelmed when he is passed.

From what I have gathered, there is a lot of debate on process-value and product-value in composition circles. Do you place value on the student's ability to master the process of writing, shown through revision, or do you place the value on the final product they have written? It seems to me that perhaps there is another way of looking at it, not just process or product but performance - if you run well with good form and a lot of miles of practice behind you, you're going to have an impressive time - performance seems to encompass both the final product and the process that it took to achieve it.

Anyway, thoughts?

Timeline of a Migraine

2009-12-16T09:08:00.003-05:00

Indulging myself with complaining. If self-pity isn't your thing, look away.

Sunday night, 7:30 - headache begins, having been precipitated by not eating at the usual time because we were doing the Christmas play - in combination with the extreme performance anxiety (I had a solo) and the glaring stage lights that shone in my face the whole time, this is apparently the perfect storm to cause a migraine for me. I am still trying to determine if there was something that I ate as well. I was shocked to see photos of myself taken an hour before the migraine began showed me with a puffy face - my fat face. I am beginning to think that this is a warning sign that a migraine is imminent - my eyes were also weird looking. That night I go to bed, thinking I'll sleep it off as usual.

Monday morning - I sleep in well past my usual wake-up time and find that the headache has not disappeared in the night. It varies in intensity throughout the day. At 4:00 I finally take my prescription migraine medication, fully expecting to be better by 6:00 - it usually takes about two hours to work. No dice. I go to bed that night thinking, surely this will be gone by the time I wake up.

Tuesday morning 3:30am - the worst has happened (I think). The headache is so bad that is wakes me up. I get up, take another dose of the Rx (I don't realize it at the time, because I have a migraine at 3:30am, but this is the third time in one week that I take the meds - I'm only supposed to have them twice a week) I lay on the couch with an ice-pack waiting for the meds to kick in. Again, nothing. Around 4:30 am, I go back to bed, still with an aching head.

Tuesday - the pain does not let up. It feels like a grappling hook is lodged in my skull, directly above my right eye. Later, it spreads back across my head, so that there is an equally painful grappling hook at the base of my skull, right above my neck. Light is blinding, everything is too loud, and I can smell everything. I try everything. A hot bath, an ice pack, laying down, stretching, deep breathing. I even workout on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes, because sometimes cardio can stop a headache for me. This is excruciating - I'm sure people watching me wondered why some girl was on the elliptical was running with her eyes squeezed shut, gripping her forehead. Nothing worked. I ended up laying several hours on the couch with the ice-pack, which would normally numb even the worst pain, but I can still feel it. I go to bed around 10.

Wednesday morning 1:00am - I wake up with the worst headache pain I have ever felt. The grappling hooks have been joined by a screwdriver that is being ground into my right temple. I consider my options. There won't be anyone there if I call my neurologist's office. If I go the emergency room, I'm not sure what they would do, or if my insurance would pay for it. If I can manage to make it to tomorrow, I would have to find somebody to drive me to doctor. I get up and bring the ice-pack back to bed with me, and start praying, the repetitive half-conscious prayers of the desparate. A half hour later, I realize that the pain has lessened: I begin half-consious prayers of thanksgiving and slide into sleep.

Wednesday: I now have what I believe is a migraine hangover - postdrome. I don't have actual headache pain, but it's like I can still feel a delicate pressure - the barbs of the grappling hooks resting against my skull rather than piercing it. And if I move too quickly, I'm rewarded with a sharp, stabbing pain. I'm still tired. But overall, I feel better. I hope that this is it. I never want to feel that way again.

Ties for the Guys

2009-12-15T16:10:00.003-05:00

I love monograms, and while I wish that my hand-embroidery had the precision of machine-embroidery, I think that these turned out OK. By the way, Ross has great ties at really good prices.

Homemade Christmas

2009-12-12T10:21:00.004-05:00

A necklace and earrings I made for my mother-in-law. I love these colors. The pearls are a maroon-brown, the larger carved beads are pale earthy shades of cream, jade, and rose, and the round, flat beads are opalescent amber-gold.

New Favorite Salmon Recipe

2009-12-12T10:17:00.003-05:00

From Martha Stewart's Cooking School: spray the grilling with Pam, slice lemons and oranges to lay on the grill, and top with bunches of oregano and basil. Lay the cuts of salmon skin-side down, cover liberally with fresh ground pepper and salt. Grill until flakey. We like salmon with baked sweet potatoes. Yummy.

Currently Reading

2009-12-12T08:58:00.003-05:00

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel by Susanna Clarke: Reviews promised that it had the whimsy and fantasy of the Harry Potter series, with the comedy of manners-style of Austen. At 700+ pages, it had better be good.

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell: I really want to see the movie, but the book looks interesting - I love food memoirs.

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose: Extremely readable and voyeuristically entertaining. I heard this guy on NPR. A college student from Brown, he tranfers to Liberty University (Jerry Falwell's school) to do an undercover investigation of the religious divide.

Am I Miserly Liar?

2009-12-03T07:26:00.002-05:00

Within the past week, I have been asked on the street by three separate people for "change" or "fifty cents." Each time, I have had fifty cents, but I have shaken my head and said "sorry." I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt each time. It is not that I don't want to give some money - and in other cases, I have given money to people who have asked me. But, in each of these cases, I haven't felt safe. I am walking somewhere, by myself, already gripping my pepper spray in one hand, and I don't feel comfortable coming within arms reach of a strange person on a street corner. What is the moral imperative here? Clearly, as Christians, we are supposed to help people in need. And if you are reduced to asking for change on a street corner, you are clearly in need. I don't know how much of that need fifty-cents will fill, but that is what they have asked for. I still don't know what to do.

Signs of the Season

2009-11-30T17:36:00.003-05:00

We put up our tree last night. We have developed a fun routine in which my husband wrestles with the tree for a while, uses one of my serrated knives to hack off the lowest branches, and then bear-hugs it while I decide whether it is straight or not. Then, I get to decorate. We always had an artificial tree growing up because my sister was highly allergic (I actually do remember very early trees - my parents would get trees with root balls and all and then plant them later), but I love live trees. The smell is great, they are beautiful, and unlike some artificials, are soft and won't scratch up your hands. For the past two years, we have bought our trees not far from Marion at Liville River Tree Farm. We pick it out, and Jordan saws it down and throws it over his shoulder.This year, I used those hacked off lower branches for the wreath - it is definitely not perfect, but I think it looks alright, green gift-wrap ribbon and all.

This year, I am really trying to focus on the true meaning of Christmas, as cliche as that sounds. I want to avoid the rabid consumerism that seems to crop up (have you seen any Wal-Mart commercials lately, the ones that feature small children with endless lists of what they want, and parents desparate to meet each desire?). My family (my husband, parents, sister, and brother-in-law, and I) have decided that instead of exchanging gifts, we are going to get tickets to Old Salem, something my mom and sister and I have wanted to do for a long time. But even though family is such an important part of Christmas, I am trying to focus on the fact that this is a religious holiday - it is the celebration of Christ's birth.

Thanksgiving Fun

2009-11-30T17:08:00.003-05:00

We had an event-filled Thanksgiving break. The day of, of course, was family time, including family pictures with all of my cousins. This has been a long-standing tradition that will, apparently, never be retired. There are ten of us now, plus two spouses. I am the oldest, the youngest is three. We range in height from my brother-in-law's 6'3'' to the knee-high youngest. And next year, my sister's then six-month-old will be added to the mix! Although, it is a bit chaotic and there is a lot of sun-squinting and giggling and "don't moves" and "quit thats," it's actually not too bad.

Friday, dh and I went bouldering at an indoor gym in Asheville. I am trying to be more involved in his love of climbing. Wednesday, on the way to Marion, we stopped in Gboro and purchased climbing shoes for me. I am still scared - not so much of falling, but of that moment in which you know you are about to fall. And fall I did. But it was fun, all the same. And, apparently, it's a great workout for your triceps - I couldn't lift my arms for the next two days.

Saturday, we biked with his family. This is a project his mom has been talking about since April, so they rented the bikes and we made our way to Black Mountain. Before there was I-40, people had to drive Hwy 70 to make it from Marion to Asheville, a winding, two-lane road. Since they built the interstate, it is no longer in use and has been turned into a bike path. We coasted all the way from Black Mountain to Old Fort, about 3.6 miles, and then rode out to Andrew's Geyser in OF. This was so much fun that I am really thinking about taking up biking.

That evening, we chased the quickly fading light up the mountain for our second annual Christmas tree chopping. Love it. And my car still smells like pine.

What I'm Doing Now

2009-11-14T18:19:00.002-05:00

What I am currently reading:
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - again. I loved this book the first time I read it a few years ago, and since I recently picked it up for $1 at the used book store, I am loving it again. It is surprising how much I had forgotten, which is actually a great thing for me - I often mourn that I can only read a book for the first time once. I love the mystery and adventure and history, and all those little details about academia. Fun, fun, curl up under the covers and read fun.

Shakespeare by Another Name by Mark Anderson. This one was lent to me by my cousin Jan and it is quite intriguing. A biography of Edward deVere, the "man who was Shakespeare," it asserts that Shakespeare's plays were not written by the glover's son who was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and married Anne Hathaway, but Edward deVere, Earl of Oxford. So far, the evidence for this claim has mostly been based on the coincidences from deVere's life that match events from the plays, which is not the most convincing, but it is still early in the book - I am willing to be persuaded.

Fodor's England 2008. Maybe, maybe, there will be a trip this summer. With our fingers crossed and our bank account unravished.

Jane Eyre - still meandering my way through this much-read, much-beloved book. Good stuff.

Movies I Want to See:
New Moon - of course. It looks better done than Twilight - at least the hair does, anyway. Everyone's hair. And the feeling is more epic and grand in scale, it seems. And, as long as they stuck to the book, which the director has been claiming he has at every point, they should be OK.

The Road - I haven't read the book yet, but the film looks fantastic. Viggo Mortenson (one of my favorite actors - it really seems that he becomes the character and you don't have that feeling that you are watching Viggo pretend to be someone, but you are actually seeing that character) and Robert Duvall (a legend, of course) in a post-apocalyptic survival story. It looks gritty and beautiful at the same time - which is think is true of Cormac McCarthy's other writing as well.

The Last Airbender - I will admit, I have seen the cartoon on Nickelodeon, and I will give my attention to almost any anime/manga style thing that comes on, at least for a while. And this looks like a nice, epic, big-budget film, and perhaps M. Night Shamaylan's chance to redeem himself after Lady in the Water and The Happening (which I didn't even bother to see.)

Review: Martha Stewart's Cooking School

2009-11-14T18:08:00.002-05:00

I have found a cook book that I really love. Because it it actually a cook book. It is fully illustrated with color pictures, showing how to make things and perform basic recipes. It's not about special versions of things - there's no "Ginger and Carrot Orange Glaze Teriyaki Butterflyed Shrimp and Steak." It tells you how to make steak. Period. It is divided into types of food - meat/fish/poultry, vegetables, grains/beans, desserts; and then, divided into "lessons" on basic methods - how to grill, how to broil, how to steam. There are detailed instructions on how to slice vegetables, separate eggs, carve a turkey, patty out hamburgers - all the instructions that most recipes take for granted. It has basic recipes, such as the one pictured above - chocolate cupcakes. As it turns out, it is almost as easy to bake from scratch as it is from a box. While the concept is extremely simple, I don't think that it is for simple cooks. I know how to cook, of course; so it is not about learning how to cook. I think it is more about learning the foundations of cooking so that you can be more confident, and not rely on store-bought prepped foods. It shows a basic recipe, then variations on it. I made a basic creamy tomato soup from the book that knocked the socks of anything I have had from Campbells. At $45 (I got it on Amazon new for $30) it is a splurge, but definitely worth it. There is nothing faddish about it. It is a reference book, that I have already used far more than any other cook book I own. Highly recommended.

Current Crochet

2009-11-14T17:59:00.003-05:00

Here is the afghan that I finished crocheting for my mom. It turned out to be more of a lap afghan, than a full-size blanket, but that's ok. I loved the colors in this pattern - claret, burgundy, and carrot. The warm, autumn colors really made me think of my mom for some reason.

I am now working on a cardigan from a book that I just bought called Blue Print Crochet. Instead of the typical written patterns (ch 6, join, ch 3, 8dc, join with sl st in first ch) it shows a diagram, with symbols that actually resemble the stitches. It took a little bit to get used to, but I actually think it is a much easier way to read a crochet pattern. And the patterns themselves are wonderful. Usually crochet patterns are kind of chunky and dowdy - knitting patterns generally fare better. But these patterns, which are mainly sweaters are gorgeous - delicate and detailed, and, best of all, it looks like a small is actually a small - so no adjusting the size. I am making the Renee Shawl Cardigan in a fabulous bamboo yarn in an aqua color called Ocean Spray. I will post pics when it is done, which shouldn't be too long.

After this, I will either be making a few Christmas gifts, or working on an afghan for the niece or nephew - I found a great pattern with lots of colors in a chunky yarn.

Anyone Remember Thanksgiving?

2009-11-05T09:35:00.002-05:00

I love holidays. Almost any holiday. I love decorating and celebrating and cooking. I love Halloween - orange and black and pumpkins and trick-or-treaters and scary movies and candy. And I love Christmas - as I get older I'm definitely trying to eliminate alot of the presents, commercialism, etc. part of it and focus on the hope that this season represents. But there is another holiday between the two. It is called Thanksgiving. And I can't understand why everyone (and by everyone I think I mean major stores) want to skip straight from Halloween to Christmas. I went by Target yesterday and there were white snowflake decals decorating the front doors and a sign saying Merry Christmas. Lowe's already has Christmas trees on display, and at a hardware/produce store in my home time, they already have live trees out for sale. Commercials on TV are already urging people to put their holiday shopping items on layaway. I like holidays. But in the proper order. Thanksgiving is important. To me, anyway. To the marketplace, apparently, it's a minor blip, since there's not really a big push to buy things. I suppose that in order to maintain the proper holiday spirit, I need to stay out of the stores, and turn off the TV. Probably not a bad idea.

I Passed!

2009-11-05T09:29:00.002-05:00

I did my orals on Monday. That is possibly the most intense hour and a half I have ever spent. There were definitely some rough points - especially the poets and some questions about my "methodology of history" - I think I babbled for five minutes about "um, the rise of the middle class, and the rise of the novel, you know, intertwined, and um, the middle class, yeah." But towards the end I talked about specific novels and some things I want to do for my dissertation, and I felt much better. And I passed! It was a much bigger relief to have this part done, even more so than when I finished writtens. It is done! I can now move on with my life. Which means the dissertation. Hopefully I'll have a nice draft of the prospectus before too long.

Youth Doing Good Things

2009-11-05T09:23:00.002-05:00

Make a Difference Day was a big success! We had five youth to participate, and those kids worked hard! We made forty lunches with eighty sandwiches and then delivered them around our town. I was really impressed with how well the kids worked - we gave each one a job and they did great. They were really excited about it, shouting that they wanted to do this again - a really encouraging revelation since it had kind of felt like pulling teeth to get them to do any service work in the first place. I hope that the next event we do will attract even more of our youth.

Pumpkins!

2009-10-20T20:04:00.002-04:00

Our pumpkins this year. I saw a picture in a magazine and decided to try etching pumpkins instead of carving this year. It took me a while to find the right tool, but I ended up using an Excel knife gouge found at Hobby Lobby for $3. It took a long time to do, but I think it turned out all right.

Trunk or Treat

2009-10-19T08:01:00.005-04:00

I have given the whole "should Christians celebrate Halloween" thing a good bit of thought. I can see arguments from both sides. I think that an article from Christianity Today (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/article_print.html?id=16017) sums it up nicely, and I agree with the author's conclusion - Halloween is what you make it, and I think we should make it about fun, candy, and costumes. There's nothing wrong with spooky stuff, as long as we keep it in the proper perspective - it's funny. Anyway, all of that to introduce our Trunk or Treat night at church last night. Husband and I love having trick or treaters on Halloween, and this year, the church decided to have a Trunk or Treat night, where grown ups decorate their trunks and give out candy to kids in the parking lot. It was a great deal of fun. Husand and I dressed up in costumes ourselves. He wore an apron and rubber gloves and went as a good husband, and I wore rock climbing gear and went as a good wife. Husband also got a big kick out of hiding in the backseat of the car, with the seats unlatched from the back. When kids would stick their hands in the candy bowl he would stick out his hand, seemingly out of nowhere, and grab at the kids (the bigger kids, of course, we didn't want to scare any little ones). It was a great time. I am glad our church has continued our third-Sunday family fun nights, even though we have a pastor again, and I am glad that we were able to incorporate holiday fun into our fellowship night.

Birthday Meal

2009-10-19T07:52:00.002-04:00

Husband's birthday was Tuesday, so I wanted to make something extra-special. I have never made steak before, so I decided I would try that. My parents always cook steak on the gas grill - an item that I don't have. I do have a George Foreman-style indoor grill. At the food co-op, I found local, grass-fed filet mignon. I followed Martha Stewart's directions - let the steaks rest at room temperature an hour before grilling, brush the grill with cooking oil, season steaks generously with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I left them far more rare than I usually eat steak - medium well. These were probably more like medium or even medium rare. And delicious. I topped it with thyme compound butter, and finished the meal with roasted thyme potatoes and pear-walnut-cranberry-feta salad. French silk pie served for dessert. Yummy. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it wasn't even my birthday.

Status

2009-10-12T13:19:00.003-04:00

Here's what's going on on various fronts in my life:

Work: Now that comps are over, I can devote more attention to the two sections of 101 that I am teaching. Just before comps week I realized that I had concocted an insane schedule that was bound to do me in eventually. So I trashed the expository essay assignment I had given them, revised it and cut it down to two pages. Now, I just have to grade the things. Not fun. I also need to revise the rest of the semester, but make it look like I am competent and know what I am doing, not just freaking out in the middle of the semester. Also, I am going to submit a portfolio for the Eng. Dept. teaching award and I'm going to apply for a dissertation fellowship. Lots of things to get together - like a prospectus and a first chapter of said dissertation.

Church: We finally have a new pastor! This is great news after almost two years and the entire time that the dh and I have been members. He's young and seems really intelligent and enthusiastic, so I have high hopes. The DH and I continue to work with our youth group. We are planning a service outing with them - to make lunches and then deliver them with the Loaves and Fishes food ministry, but it looks like turn out will be less than stellar. Of about twelve kids only two are planning on coming. This is frustrating and discouraging, but, what can you do?

Family: I'm going to be an aunt! I'm still getting used to the idea of my little sister being a mother, but I can't wait for a little niece or nephew - oh the hats and sweaters and booties his or her auntie will crochet! Also, the DH has a birthday tomorrow. I am planning a fancy, schmancy dinner - steak and potatoes, salad, and French Silk pie. I have never made steak before, but I am hoping that it will work out. Pictures should follow.

Headaches: Despite the fact that I have had three headaches in the past four days, I am actually doing a great deal better. In September, I had only six headahces, and in August it was only five. Compared with the ten to twelve headaches I was having each month before that, I think that I have made progress. I think the biggest thing has been eliminating pork altogether (the origin, apparently, of the week-long migraines) but also think that running and eating regularly has helped. There are still some triggers that I can't do much about - the weather or everyone's perfume, but there are still some that I can work on - sleeping better, drinking more water, eliminating some stress.

This isn't nearly all that's going on now, but these are the highlights at least.

Fun with Rochester and Jane

2009-10-07T13:33:00.002-04:00

I recently, at the strong recommendation of a friend, saw the 2007 BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre. Why I had not seen this sooner is a mystery, but it is wonderful. I had previously seen two versions (the 1997 Zeffirelli version with William Hurt and the 1983 BBC version starring Timothy Dalton) and neither of these greatly impressed me, both, primarily because of the leading men: William Hurt came off as too old, and didn't have that charismatic spark that I believe Rochester has, and Timothy Dalton... I mean, come on, Timothy Dalton? He's too pretty to be Rochester. However, the BBC got it right in 2007 with Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson. However, the film isn't great just because the casting matches up with my conceptions of the characters. It is surprisingly faithful to the text, both in letter and spirit. Much of the dialogue is lifted directly from the book, and every important event is accounted for. Of course, there are a few minor changes: for instance, Rochester hires a gypsy woman and hides behind a screen while she predicts the future for his guests, which isn't accurate, but it must be a bit unsettling to see the leading man actually in drag. At any rate, the film is definitely worth seeing, especially if previous versions left you a bit cold, and even if you enjoyed them, this is still a great adaptation. It must really mean something if I can get choked up watching a story that I know so well, and that makes me want to read the book again - which I am currently doing for at least the fifth time in my life.

Comps Week

2009-10-06T09:24:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I took the first part of my comprehensive exams. After reading and studying since February, it is a relief to have this part of my graduate program underway. Now, I just have to make it through parts 2 and 3 on Wednesday and Friday.

I felt pretty good about the questions I got yesterday. I had to answer three out of five, and fortunately, three were ones that I had approximately prepared for. I felt good about the questions while I was answering them - of course, afterward there is the temptation to second-guess - mostly worrying about whether I wrote enough. However, I am trying to minimize that impulse.

Favorite things from comps: Middlemarch by George Eliot and the poems by Gerald Manley Hopkins

Least favorite: Lukacs (did I even spell that right? anyway, he is incomprehensible)

Best strategy advice: start early, make a calendar, read a little bit each day, take notes immediately; also, having the notes of someone who had a similar list is great

Mistakes: taking notes in the book without transfering them to the notebook - you won't remember what the poem is about

Extra advice: don't labor over a text that is just too difficult or boring - you're eating into your time - read enough so that you have an idea of the content and style, then find a summary or someone's notes on it - chances are, you are not going to be asked about that specific text anyway

Some Fair Trade Companies

2009-08-10T17:03:00.002-04:00

There are a few companies that are invested in making sure that their products are fairly made. I have found some through internet research and a few were recommended in Timmerman's book. I have not made extensive searches of all of them, but a few seem interesting.

Fair Indigo has a lot of clothes that look like things I would want to wear, ethics aside. The company is based in Wisconsin, and sources from factories around the world. For each item, it tells wear it was made and who made it, guaranteeing that it was made ethically. Many of the factories are family-owned and provide impressive benefits for their workers: a salary well above the local average, paid leave, vacation time, maternity leave, etc. I ordered a sweater from them, and was very pleased with it. Also, their prices seem relatively reasonable, and currently a large portion of their items are on sale.

Patagonia is a company I had heard of previously. They are best known for their outdoor-oriented apparel, although they do make some dressy clothing too. Their prices are high, but the quality is impressive. Their site also includes the "Footprint Chronicles" that "allows you to track the impact of specific Patagonia products from design through delivery." Part of this is the environmental aspect, and part is the ethics of working conditions.

Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC) is similar to Patagonia. They are an outdoor equipment company that produces clothing, mostly made in Canada, where the company is based. I was impressed with some performance shirts they had made from the remnants of material in the factories, including the wicking material that is popular in running shirts. These shirts only cost $5 ($4 US) and were made from fabric that otherwise would be thrown away. The only downside to this company is that shipping is rather high and you also have to be the customs fee, since it's being shipped from Canada.

The downside to shopping online is, of course, the environmental impact. It is more fuel efficient to buy from a local store, where goods have been shipped in bulk, rather than having UPS fetch your sweater from Wisconsin and haul it down to NC. However, if our overall purchases are reduced, and we buy sparingly when we need something (I didn't need the sweater, but I'm getting better at distinguishing needs and wants), then perhaps our overall carbon expenditures will be lessened.

Review: Where am I Wearing? by Kelsey Timmerman

2009-08-04T13:37:00.002-04:00

Due to my interest in the clothing industry, I did some online research and came across Kelsey Timmerman's book, Where am I Wearing? A Global Tour of the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes. The premise of the book is a quest to track down the origin of each item of Timmerman's typical ensemble: his shirt, underwear, pants, flip-flops, and shorts. His goal is to talk to someone who works in the factory who made the item, someone who could possibly have made it themselves. He wants to get a sense of what that person's life is like. His first trip, to Honduras where his shirt was made, he counts a failure. A fleeting encounter with a garment industry worker named Amilcar makes him realize that he was not fully prepared to truly uncover the gritty details. Subsequent trips to Bangladesh, Cambodia, and China are more successful. In each of these countries, he meets individuals who made his clothes. Or if not his clothes, they make our clothes (in some cases it was impossible to track down the exact factory, or the company moved, closed, or otherwise was inaccessible). The encounters that he has with these individuals are interesting: in some cases, he plays the benefactor - he gives Amilcar the shirt he is wearing, in Bangladesh he takes 20 some street children to an amusement park, in Cambodia, he takes a group of young female garment workers bowling. More often than not, however, they seem to be his benefactors - they cook for him, let him stay in their homes, teach him about their culture and country. In each case, they provide him access to information that he could not have otherwise obtained.

The conditions he encounters range. In Bangladesh, child labor exists, but, often it is a better alternative than what the children may be doing otherwise. In fact, many children indicated that they wanted to work, needed to work in the factories. They will be working somewhere - a labor-free childhood is not possible in their economy, and the factory jobs are often safer and more lucrative than selling flowers on the street or begging. In Cambodia, he realized that by most world standards the conditions for workers there were relatively good. Many workers had contracts, but they were often exploited by labor sharks in order to get them. Many of the workers were young women from villages, who left their family farms in order to work in the city. A significant portion of their earnings were sent back to the families, although the women themselves were only able to return for visits twice a year. Regardless, contributing to their family income is a priority. In China, he met a couple who had left their 13 year old son with his grandfather in their village so they could work in a shoe factory in the city. Although at first the couple recites to Timmerman the regulation hours they work in a day - between 9 and 12. Later, after they realize he is not a customer for the factory, they reveal the truth. They work between 80 and 100 hours a week, seven days a week. They are often forced to work off the clock, providing free labor. Complaints would lose them their jobs.

Timmerman's account of his travels is intriguing. He is not an activist. In fact, he makes fun of the die-hard American activists who perform die-ins (where they pretend to be corpses in order to gain the attention of lookers-on) and who chant slogans like "Diet, cherry , or vanilla, Coca-Cola is a killa." Timmerman doesn't see these tactics creating much change. On the other hand, Timmerman himself doesn't offer any earth-shattering new solutions himself. He makes the point that boy-cotting a company for human rights violations of its factory workers doesn't help the workers. Often they lose their jobs and are left worse off than they were before. He urges awareness: know where your clothes are made; and he recommends several companies that are fair-trade.

Timmerman's work is useful for its balanced view on the garment industry. He makes it clear that he had no particular agenda for his quest. His reporting puts a human face the industry that is not over-sentimentalized, but feels authentic and personal. He is able to put these workers in a context of their economies and national histories. Ultimately, Timmerman advocates, not guilt - which seems inevitable when we compare our wealth and resources with those who make our clothes - but awareness and compassion.

Personal Bests

2009-08-04T10:06:00.002-04:00

This has been a couple of days of personal bests in running for me. Monday I ran my best 2.1 miles - 23:48, and today I ran my best 1 mile - 8:59. These are probably not very impressive to anyone who has been running seriously, but they are good for me. When I began running in February, I couldn't make it all the way around my apartment complex. Now I love running. I went running everyday that I was on vacation, and I run at least three times a week now. I have had many fewer migraines, and I feel good. Running could be the best anti-depressant available.

Who Are You Wearing?

2009-07-05T18:23:00.002-04:00

I have recently made some choices about how I spend money. These decisions have been influenced by a number of things - my growing interest in sustainable eating (local, organic); reading Jesus for President (I don't agree with everything in the book, but their point about the marketplace is well taken); generally becoming more aware of the global condition through reading books like Enrique's Journey.

I remember exactly how I became aware of sweat-shops. In eighth grade, the special news program that was provided for our classes, Channel 1, had a story on sweat-shops. However, the focus was on Nike shoes (which I couldn't afford) and soccer balls (which I never played with), and the message that Americans were enjoying goods at the expense of children in other countries didn't exactly sink in.

Several months ago, I read a book called The Wal-Mart Effect, which was interesting if confusing (the author's position seemed a bit vague); in it, the author details how Wal-Mart has shaped the American economy and how business is done - the idea is to go to any lengths to purchase goods as cheaply as possible - which sounds good for American shoppers: that's why we can buy T-shirts for $4.99 and underwear in packs of 10. The person it is not so good for is the worker who makes those cheap products. In the book, the author tells the story of a woman who worked in a sweat-shop that made blue jeans to be sold to Wal-Mart. The conditions were horrible - she was not making a living wage, and the quota of jeans demanded of her meant that she worked many hours without breaks. In one horrible anecdote, she told of how a cruel boss was dissatisfied with her work, so he ripped the jeans from her sewing machine and beat her with them. It is entirely possible that this story was exaggerated or fabricated. Perhaps I am the naive reader of sensationalized tales of woe. But the thought that the very jeans I was wearing had at some point been used to beat the person who made them was nauseating.

I have to confess that, although this book changed my thinking, it did not change my habits. I did stop shopping at Wal-Mart, but I continued to buy from Target and other retailers, knowing that their practices, although enabled by Wal-Mart, are no better. I want this to change. I currently have more clothes in my closet than some people will ever see in their lifetime.

I feel that this is particularly important for Christians to consider. How can we claim to love everybody and desire to show that love if we continue to turn a blind eye to practices that so diminish the quality of life of those people? I am afraid that we have made frugality into a cardinal virtue in the church. It seems so very American, so very patriotic in a way, so very good to always be on the look out for the best deal, to get as much as we can for as little as we can. We call this frugality, thriftiness, and conservatism without recognizing that it is the grossest form of indulgence and excess. I hear so many people who say with such pride - "I only shop at Wal-mart - you can find anything there cheaper than anywhere else." (Isn't there a country song with a verse along those lines?) The implication is that we who shop cheaply are smarter and better - we are the salt of the earth. The hard-working, American, blue collar, traditional values kind of people. What isn't being considered is that someone else is paying for our ability to buy cheap.

At first after reading and thinking a bit, I felt faced with a rather bleak prospect. Capitalism seems an inevitable evil. The only option looked like some type of live off the grid, churn your own butter, commune. And I'm not saying that that's still not the best option. But it is not one that I am willing or able to attain at this point. Rather, I am trying to initiate steps in the right direction. I have all the clothes I need. And that stings a bit. I love buying clothes, I love clothes in general (I'm writing a dissertation on dress, you know). But I have enough clothes. When I find that there is something I need, I plan to try to buy second-hand first. Recycling clothing in this way keeps more money from being spent on unfair labor and it keeps perfectly usable materials from going to the landfill. If I can't buy second-hand, I plan to look for retailers that have been certified as practicing fair-trade - and from a cursory glance at the internet, it looks like there are plenty of options out there.

This will no doubt be hard. I know that possibly in just a few weeks, I will be standing in Target gazing longingly at a pretty dress that only costs $25. Or my sister will want to go on a shopping trip and I'll be faced with the prospect of following her from store to store empty-handed. But this is important. Not that anyone ever asks (I walk so few red carpets), but if they did want to know who I was wearing, I would be able to answer that I was not wearing the underprivileged women and children of the world.

Domestic Vampires: Domesticity in Twilight Part 1

2009-04-02T18:46:00.003-04:00

I had planned to respond to a CFP that I was forwarded about Twilight. I had come up with an argument and taken several notes. But then, when I went to write the proposal, I realized that what I wanted to write about would not fit with what the editors wanted (youth, media, culture studies). I, of course, am interested in the domestic aspects of the novel (among other things), and since I won't be writing a chapter for a book (sigh), I am posting my ideas here.

I came across an article in the December 2008 issue of the Atlantic Monthly about Twilight called "What Girls Want" by Caitlin Flanagan in which she discusses the phenomenon of the series, their immense popularity, and their appeal for older readers like herself (and me!) In an almost throw-away comment, imbedded in a parenthetical aside she writes

"Bella is an old-fashioned heroine: bookish, smart, brave, considerate of other's feelings and naturally competent in the domestic arts (she immediately takes over the grocery shopping and cooking in her father's household, and there are countless weirdly compelling accounts of her putting dinner together - wrapping two potatoes in foil and popping them in a hot oven, marinating a steak, making a green salad...)" (112). (emphasis mine)

Bella is a domestic heroine, in an age in which domesticity has fallen out of favor. My argument is that the Twilight series may be read as a parable that re-inscribes nineteenth-century domestic ideology. If domestic fiction imagines the home as the acme of human bliss, then Meyer's work imagines that bliss to occur between the perfect, hyper-masculine (but ever-so sensitive) vampire Edward and the brave, smart, and domestic Bella.

Bella's domestic abilities make her oddly suited to be a Cullen and a vampire. The Cullen family is a model of old-fashioned domesticity - they are necessarily bound as a family and tied to their house, since each foray into the outside world is a risk of exposure. In Meyer's 5th addition to the series Midnight Sun, an early draft of which was leaked onto the internet, followed by Meyer posting an official pdf, a description of the Cullen family paints a picture of domestic leisure: Emmett and Jasper play an elaborate version of chess, Alice works on a design project for Rosalie's wardrobe, Rosalie herself tunes up her car, Esme "hums over a new set of blue prints," and Edward himself composes Bella's lullaby at the piano. An updated, modern image of the middle class domestic family at rest, gathered around the fire with their individual pursuits: reading, games, sewing, etc.

Clearly, there is more to say here, but I will leave that to a later post.... Comment! Please!

Domesticity and the Drapers: Gender Roles on Mad Men

2009-03-26T16:54:00.003-04:00

Having recently watched the first season of AMC's Mad Men, I am interested in this look at domesticity in 1961. I think that it is falling into the old party lines of domesticity as entrapment. Betty Draper, the perky but depressed wife of main character Don Draper, is meant to embody the feminine ideal of the era. A blond, Grace Kelly-type, she attempts to perform the type of domesticity that it represented in those period Coca-Cola ads (which she models for in one episode). Betty is unquestionably domestic. She cooks - roasts, steaks, salads, and cakes. She cares for her children - the angelic girl, whom she is trying to make over in her own image, fretting about her weight and face, and the little boy who is too young to have much personality, apparently. Don tells her that her job, which she is better at than anyone else, is to take care of the children. But, this is clearly meant to be an empty consolation. Although Betty clearly tries to believe this, she obviously feels like she is missing out on something - her modeling career, the admiration that she could garner as a public woman in Manhatten, rather than the hidden housewife in the suburbs.

Betty is depressed, a diagnosis both she and her husband are reluctant to face. Her therapist is dismissive of her fears - her petty concerns which he labels as immature and childish - the neuroses of a housewife. The rhetorical position of the show seems to lead the reader to conclude that the root cause of Betty's depression is her trapped existence. Her life is shockingly empty, and although she is ostensibly the primary care-giver to her children, they are often with the maid or with a neighbor, and Betty is often shown sitting alone at her dining room table, a cigarette in one hand and a wine glass in the other. She is alone and she has nothing to do. Clearly the fate of all domestic women everywhere.

It seems frighteningly rare to see a positive image of female domesticity. Certainly, a woman should not be prevented from leading her own career, but the message seems to be that a full and active life and a concern for management of home and family are mutually exclusive. Betty's brief attempt at balancing her role as housewife and model fails. But not because she can't manage it - the worst that happens is Don gets a cold sandwich instead of baked ham for supper - but because she gives it up a the first rejection. Perhaps her problem is that in both roles, she is not seeking her own happiness, but rather the approval of others: that of her husband and the readers of Life.

Obviously, a complicated situation, made even more complicated by the show's attempt to accurately represent the problems faced by women on the cusp of first wave feminism. Have we reached an appropriate balance now? While women are now encouraged to follow any career they choose - a great and good gain, I wonder if the pendulum hasn't swung too far in the other direction, and we have been conditioned to see domesticity as a trap. The issue of balance is also problematic, because it pushes women to attempt to be superwomen, juggling everything with perfect grace and ease, an often impossible task. How do we reconcile the two - without pushing ourselves to the brink?

Defining Domesticity

2009-03-25T14:28:00.004-04:00

The term domesticity hardly seems to need defining. It is not commonly used in everyday parlance, but can quickly be intentified as a derivative of "domestic," which is rather more commonly used. People talk about "being domestic" as in "I am going to be domestic this weekend and do some laundry." On the other end, domesticity as a concept and lifestyle seems to have been assigned solely to stay at home mothers and Martha Stewart disciples. Certainly, there is more to it than this.

Domesticity has a historical context. In the nineteenth century, domesticity was seen as the realm of middle and upper class white women in Britain and America. It indicated wifehood and motherhood as the management of the home as the role for women. Clearly, today, this is problematic, and helps to explain the knee-jerk reaction that many people have when they hear the term domesticity, equating it with oppression and sexism. As Nina Baym says in Woman's Fiction, "domesticity is equated with entrapment" (26). This short-changes the concept of home and family and how women can relate to them. In the nineteenth century, domestic fiction was actually empowering. Prior to the emergence of the genre, most fiction about female characters followed a common plot, one in which women were invariable made into victims; sentimental fiction or novels of sensibility focused on women who were innately good and pious but who are somehow abused, betrayed, seduced, and abandoned. While these novels were perhaps useful in illuminating the plight of women, the fates of these female characters was less than inspiring, usually involving insanity, death, or insanity and then death. In the best cases, the woman was able to reform the rake who was attempting to seduce her, although this makes for questionable husband-material (see Richardson's Pamela).

Domestic fiction, on the other hand, written by women, refused to imagine women as victims. These writers "were unwilling to accept, and unwilling to permit their readers to accept, a concept of woman as inevitable sexual prey" (26). Instead, women had power over the home, and the home was the center of the world. The domestic arrangement and the happy home was the "acme of human bliss." While domestic fiction is often linked to the concept of separate spheres, such a term is perhaps misleading. The home is not cordoned away from the "real world" of the market and public interactions, but instead "everybody was to be placed in the home, and hence, home and the world would become one." This has significant implications for female power: "to the extent that woman dominated the home, the ideology implied an unprecedented historical expansion of her influence" (27).

How does this function today? Do we see domesticity as oppressive? or is there something still empowering in domesticity? In a post-feminist society, does the concept of the domestic world raise hackles or are we seeing an increasing return to home as people become disenchanted with the public realm?

Seeds of the Recession

2009-03-24T16:37:00.003-04:00

According to John Laumer at Tree Hugger seed sales are up 19% in 2009. Clearly, this is largely due to economic issues: money is tight and people are concerned and looking for ways to save some money. And, certainly the food prices that rocketed last summer in the wake of soaring gas prices are still on consumers' minds. Although fears surrounding the recession are not good, the fact that many people are turning to traditional food sources is great. And they are growing real food - as far as I know, there are no seeds for Doritoes and Twinkies. Chemical free tomatoes and peppers are being grown on people's patios, and some people I know are digging up their lawns.

I was offered a few rows in a friend's garden, but after some thought and planning, I have had to decline. Although I would much prefer land and gardening on a larger scale, my time budget is going to confine me to some container gardening. So far, I am feeling a bit stressed because I have nothing planted yet, but I am planning on getting started soon. I am planning on growing lettuce, tomatoes, squash, and some potatoes, and maybe some peppers - things that we eat a lot of. I'm also planning on some herbs to accompany my poor mistreated oregano and lavender and maybe some flowers, just for fun. I grew zinnias at the end of last summer, and enjoyed them.

So, I want to hear about it. Has the economy prompted you to consider some home gardening? Are you digging up the yard? Buying containers? What are you tips and tricks for growing your own on a limited budget?

Half-Shell Bag

2009-02-22T16:07:00.001-05:00

Although I love the Vera Bradley bag that my sister gave me for Christmas a year ago, I wanted something a little smaller to carry every now and again. I looked at my usual stores: TJ Maxx and Target, and found several contenders, but none seemed just right and I couldn’t justify paying $14 when I didn’t really need a new bag. So, instead I worked this up. The idea came from a pattern for a bag on Knitty.com. I had planned to make it, but decided it would be quicker to crochet instead. I used the half-shell pattern, and then added a border in single-stitch and handles, and lined the bag with some excess fabric. I also made pockets in the lining for my cell phone and sunglasses, which always seem to get lost in the bottom of a bag. I took only a few hours and cost nothing, since I used left over yarn and fabric. Here are the instructions for the half-shell (courtesy of NE, a couple of years ago =)
Crochet chain in multiple of four
*Single crochet in fourth chain from hook
Chain three, and dc three times in same hole as first single crochet
Repeat from * across
Turn and repeat

Super Easy Meals Part 3

2009-02-22T16:06:00.002-05:00

My husband and I don’t eat as much meat as we once did, but occasionally we like to have a traditional Sunday lunch. I have borrowed another recipe from my mom – crock-pot pork chops. Pork chops are a common entrée in the south (in the town where my sister now lives, you can even get a pork chop sandwich), and there are a variety of ways they can be fixed – baked, grilled, or even (gulp) fried. Most of these methods, however, can lead to a very tough, chewy pork chop rather quickly. And they take time. My favorite method is to just place the chops (actually, they aren’t really chops, they are the boneless thin pork medallions) in the crock pot and pour in a can of chicken broth. Cook on high for four hours. This is almost no work, but the pork comes out very tender (you can cut if with the side of your fork). For this meal, I paired the chops with green beans (just canned, seasoned with salt and pepper and some of the broth from the crock-pot). I also wanted something like stuffing, but decided to use couscous instead. With the whole-wheat version, it cooks up very quickly, and I seasoned it with salt and pepper and sage and some of the broth from the crock-pot.

Super Easy Meals Part 2

2009-02-22T16:04:00.001-05:00

My family has long been fans of Mexican food, although, of course, this is not authentic Mexican fare. It is not even Tex-Mex, but instead, what I call Mamma-Mex – dishes that my mom has put together (Still, every time we go home we ask her to make Taco Salad). One of my favorite Mexican dishes that is really easy is quesadillas. These are quite versatile and can be made with a variety of ingredients. The ones pictured feature corn and black beans (always a winning combination) along with cumin and tumeric (which are super good-for-you cancer fighters). Other quesadillas might contain cooked chicken or ground beef. Here are the basic ingredients and procedures:

3 whole wheat tortillas
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salsa
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa and sour cream to taste

Combine the mayo, chili powder and 1 teaspoon salsa and spread on half of each tortilla. The layer chicken and cheese on top. Fold the tortilla in half. Spray a sauté pan with cooking spray and heat each quesadilla on medium heat, then flip to the other side. The tortilla becomes crispy and brown when it is done. Cut the folded tortillas into triangles and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Location, Location, Location

2009-02-22T16:03:00.000-05:00

I have a problem with reading. I can’t seem to do it while I am at home. Other things get into the way. Like the fact that I need to do laundry. Or perhaps I should work on my much neglected blog. Or maybe just sit on the couch and watch TV. So, out of desperation, I have begun doing my reading in the library. It seems like such an obvious thing, but for some reason I had always done my reading at home. Now, I can confine my work to a few hours, spent in the library, where I can focus entirely, free from distractions. The only problem I have encountered so far is that I need to read poems out loud to understand them, which is kind of hard to do in the library… So, any thoughts on the best locations for getting work done?

Super Easy Meals Part 1

2009-02-14T19:32:00.002-05:00

Barbeque is a big deal in this state, with various regions championing their own particular concoctions and methods. Being a mountain girl, I can appreciate the “Down East” vinegar based bbq, but still prefer the tomato based flavors of home. Actually, I don’t think that mountain bbq is so much about tomatoes, as it is about sweetness. We love a brown sugar, honey, molasses sweet taste (I have found this to be in true in other areas – my family puts butter and sugar on not only grits, but rice as well).
Barbeque is surprisingly easy to make. Of course, I’m not talking about slow-roasting over a pit barbeque, but you can get quite good results with a crock-pot. And you only need two things: pork tenderloin and your choice of barbeque sauce. Put the loin in the crock-pot and cover with a good bit of sauce, cook on high for about four hours. By that time, the meat will be falling about and sooo tender. All you have to do is tear it up, shred it a bit with some forks. We like to fix this for Sunday afternoon. We come in from church and the smell greets us at the door. Traditionally (at least for us) barbeque is served with slaw – chop up some cabbage and shred some carrots, mix up with just a bit of mayonnaise and salt and pepper. Finish off the meal with some French fries.

Be Careful What You Ask

2009-01-09T15:06:00.002-05:00

I just had my watch battery replaced - for the fourth time this year. This time I actually took it to a jeweler, but he couldn't find anything wrong with it, so the battery is replaced and working for now. I have heard before that some people can't wear watches because the electricity in their body is off and causes them to run down (I heard this from the watch-battery-replacer at Wal-Mart, and I am pretty sure that I had also heard it in a family-sitting-around-telling-weird-phenomena-stories context).

Anyway, so I am also currently reading a book about migraines, and it mentioned briefly that
migraineurs experience "abnormal electrical activity" in the brain. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure that my batteries started dieing a few months after I started getting headaches.

So I do some Google searches for "migraine and dead watch battery." I find one website written by a 16 yo girl who thinks she is psychic because of her migraines and electrical phenomena. Then, I find a Yahoo answers forum. The asker wants to know what's up with her friend whose watch batteries die and blows out light bulbs (I've blown out the bulb in the lamp in my office twice this semester, but I think its probably just a short). Anyway, the answers she got ranged from crazy to psycho. I don't know how to read these. Are people serious? Are they being sarcastic?

Here's one: "Your friends electro-magnetic fields are out of whack. What you need to do is on a daily basis pray for her, with her. Lay a hand on her shoulder or wrist and command her electromagnetic fields to line up and become normal in the name of Jesus. This may need to be done on a daily basis until she sees results and asks Jesus to come into her life."

Faith healing over dead watch batteries?! This can't be serious - "become normal in the name of Jesus"!

Then, there was this one: "I can't go into the specific reasons why, but for the safety of you and your friend it may not be wise to talk about this online. If the govermental agencies that are responsible for your friend's "abilities" aren't already monitoring her, they probably are now. Be safe, be discreet and remember: Tinfoil helps...a lot."

That's a joke...right?

Anyway, just a bit a fun...or maybe I am psychic and being monitored by the government.

Knitting Bits

2009-01-09T09:22:00.002-05:00

I finished the first little bird bag – I think I’m going to add an outline of embroidery in white – the blue doesn’t show up as well as I would like – and I’ve started another using the same pattern. This time I’m using an ella rae yarn (100% wool) and it’s in a muted teal color that sometimes looks more gray. I love it. I’m not sure I’m a fan of the mohair. The last bag came out rather fuzzy, but still a success. I messed up the gusset, and the bottom is out of line with the top, but it still works, and is still giftable I think.

The next project will be a tote bag in Shetland lace (Brighton patter on knitty.com) It is knit in the round, something I haven’t mastered yet, and calls for linen yarn. I’m using elsebeth lavold in hempathy, a blend of hemp, cotton, and modal (what is modal? These textiles are tripping me up). The color is not exciting – a plain beige – but the pattern should be the real attraction. I’m sure the lady at the yarn shop was crazy because I would pick up one color and carry it around, and then switch it out for another. I hope I got enough, because I plan to make it a bit smaller than the pattern (which is very long and would come below my knees when I carried it).

The Meal Deal

2009-01-09T09:20:00.004-05:00

Planning the meals for the week always takes me an inordinate amount of time – we’re talking hours. So in an effort to simplify things, I have assigned each night of the week and different type of dish – Sunday is slow cooker night (necessary because we come in from church starving and it is nice to have something already ready), Monday is new dish night, Tuesday is Mexican, Wednesday is Italian/Mediterranean, Thursday is Asian, Friday is fish, and Saturday is pizza. This is much simpler because I have several recipes for each category, and this way I can be sure not to fix the same thing every night of the week, or spend too much time racking my brain.

Last night was, of course, Asian, so I fixed stir-fry. Lately everything I fix has started with sautéed onions and garlic in olive oil. I added this to the stir fry, along with diced chicken, mushrooms, fresh minced ginger, a frozen vegetable mix that included edamame (sp?), the noodles, red pepper flakes, and an Asian Sesame dressing. Pretty good, and pretty easy.

I also got a new pan – the lovely red number in the picture. I need a bigger pan to do stir-frys and such so that everything can fit in it. The one I had before was a Teflon deal that got scratched, and since I am doing everything I can not to get cancer or send my kidneys into shut-down mode, out it went. This new one is great, because it has enough volume upwards, but the base is not so big that it is hanging out over the burner. Best of all, it’s a quality pan made with green materials, that only cost $13 at T.J. Maxx. Love that store. So any tips on how you simplify meal-planning? Anyone else have Asian Thursdays, or other standardized plans?

Home Made Bread

2009-01-09T09:18:00.001-05:00

In stark contrast to my recent experience in gluten-free eating, I am now the proud owner of a bread machine. The new toy I got for Christmas is fun and easy. I made bread the old-fashioned way, and let me tell you, it is tough. Ingredients have to be the right temperature and mixed in certain orders and for long periods of time. Making one loaf of bread literally took all day, what with kneading and rising, and punching down and rising again, and then finally baking. The bread machine pretty much does all the work. You put the ingredients in (in the right order) turn it on, set it, and it churns away for a few hours and you come out with a loaf of bread. Take that Sara Lee. The whole wheat bread recipe that came with the machine turned out a little bland, but I think the next round will be better. The texture is great though, soft with a chewy crust. Although I think hand-made is still the ultimate in bread, the bread machine is a close second, and a whole lot more likely to happen.

New Year

2009-01-01T16:29:00.004-05:00

I am one of those people who love New Years. I love new beginnings: a new month, a new school year, even a new week. I love that things are always fresh and unspoiled, but also that time passes in a spiral, we are always coming back to moments and traditions we have encountered before. I love the sense of everyone resolving to change, to improve, to get organized and do better, to be healthier or smarter or kinder. (I think this is related to my love of training montages in movies – upbeat music, cut scenes of the character working hard and getting their life together).

I am eternally optimistic about what I can do at the new year. I have not yet nailed down my specific resolutions; and while they will likely include things like less sugar, more yoga, what I really want is to become stronger, not physically, but spiritually.

This is the first year that my Christmas cactuses have bloomed since I have had them. When I was in college I wrote a poem about them for a class I was taking:

Green flats of puzzle pieces
Shoot linearly, up and out,
The new jigsaws
Lighter than the others,
The promise of blossoms
To appear on winter days.

These are the cuttings of
My mother’s cactuses
Which sit in regal pairs,
The cuttings of my grandmother’s
Cactuses, congregating on
Low sun-lit tables,
The cuttings of my great-grandmother’s
Cactuses, which must have
Brightened the old farm house.

A pair now sit in my
Northern window,
Full of the dignity of
Living heirlooms. ©

I have always loved the thought of the connection I have to my mother, her mother, her mother through these plants. And now they have bloomed for the first time for me. This seems to be a perfect symbol for this moment. Perched on the edge of a new year – a new beginning, but still part of the continuous cycle of time and renewal. My cactuses have bloomed. May I do so also.

Little Bird Bag

2009-01-01T16:27:00.001-05:00

Now that I have finished the afghan for my brother-in-law, I am starting a new project. I found a very cute bag on Knitty.com (http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter08/PATTlittlebird.php) and I am currently working on it. It shouldn’t take too long, despite my less than perfect knitting skills. Crochet is easier, but there are so many things you can do with knitting, I would like to be better at it. I also found a new store to buy yarn. Since I have given up on Wal-Mart, I found a store nearby that has a large variety of quality yarn – which means shelling out more for it, but, I think it’s worth it. The yarn is great, the selection is great, the lady who works in the store is very helpful, and its local, not an evil corporation. I like it. Yay for the Hillsborough Yarn Shop. For this project, I’m using Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride in Cranberry Swirl, a bright reddish pink with a slight variegation, 85% wool and 15% mohair (what is mohair, anyway? I need to look it up). Anyway, I will be making a foray into felting as well. This may end up as a Christmas gift, and if it works out, I may try another with gray yarn and red embroidery.

Dress Remix

2009-01-01T16:24:00.004-05:00

Being small means that a lot of my clothes don’t fit when I buy them. And being financially limited means that I don’t take them to a tailor. I do a lot of alterations myself. My most recent was not necessarily a fit issue. I have had this dress for almost ten years, and only wore it once. I received a lot of compliments on it, but I felt that all the material was a little overwhelming, and looked rather sack-like on my frame. I needed a black dress for our choir’s Christmas cantata, so voila – I pulled this one out and hemmed it. Really hemmed it. I added a sash that I already owned to cinch the waist a bit, and it rather worked. Not a huge deal of work – just hack the bottom 12 inches off and sew a hem with the sewing machine, but I think it turned out well.

Possession

2008-12-08T20:31:00.002-05:00

For some reason, I had resisted reading A.S. Byatt's Possession after it had been suggested in one of my first graduate classes. (We had a choice, reading Possession or read her Angels and Insects. I chose the later because it was the end of the semester and it was shorter). However, the other day, with nothing to read, I came across Possession in the library and decided to give it a try. I really enjoyed it, partly because it gives such a different perspective on academia. In this model, English studies is full of intrigue and romance - rather different than the actual experience (although I find it satisfying). I am still not a huge fan of the poets, still preferring Victorian fiction, but it is nice to think about how poems might have had personal context for the poets, rather than being something I have to read without any hope of understanding it.

November Snow

2008-11-21T09:44:00.002-05:00

An unprecedented event has occurred. Never in my memory have we had snow this early in NC. Usually, we are lucky to get this kind of heavy dusting in January or February, much less in November, before Thanksgiving no less. However, it seems to be confirmation of what my mom has said is in the Old Farmer's Almanac - colder weather this winter with a lot more snow than usual - at least for our area.

Listen to Your Reading Assignment

2008-11-21T09:31:00.002-05:00

While I am largely a visual learner, I have found that audio reading has its benefits. Sometimes, reading assignments are so long that if I were to sit and read the entire thing, I would have time to do nothing else. But, if I listen to the book, I can do other things, like clean, crochet, cook, etc. Librivox is a website catalog of audio recordings of books that are in the public domain - which means it's free. They have most of the books I have needed for my 18th and 19th century classes. I have found that it works well if I listen to every other chapter, reading the ones in between. The only downside is, of course, that you can read faster than someone else can read to you - but it does mean that you can multi-task. And some of the readers have rather nice reading voices and they make attempts at reading with feeling and voice.

Gluten Tolerant!

2008-11-19T19:22:00.002-05:00

Wow, after three months of near starvation (OK, a gross exaggeration), and no gluten, it now appears that I do not, in fact, have a gluten intolerance. Which is super good news on the one hand - pizza! pasta! bread! cake! And just in time for Thanksgiving, too. But, on the other hand, it means that I still don't know what's causing the headaches...