Recent Images

I have a cold and seem to remember a whole bunch of blogging intentions I experienced over the past week or so. However, I think my brain is congested. So, if you've seen me recently, take a vitamin C, and for your viewing pleasure:

We got weird looking when you had your backs turned.

Monte's mom came to visit us for almost an entire week. It was GREAT.

Me from an unflattering perspective with a beautiful sky above.

Curry. Is it me? Or has she gotten even CUTER?

In other news: The "surge" isn't working in Iraq, "Waitress" is a good movie, Dutch researchers are trying to grow pork in petri dishes, and Japan has three times as much solar power being used as the U.S. even though it has far less land and gets half as much sun as California.

Word of the Week

antinomianism (n) - the theory of the doctrine of divine grace that believes Christians are released from having to obey moral law.


In other news: Norway is currently the most peaceful country in the world (studies show); I am confused on how the world works in terms of economics - thinking of Darfur at this point; the Scripps National Spelling Bee is this week (click this link for an interesting article on spelling bees in other countries); and celebrities are stupid...... or the fact that Americans choose to give these crazies celebrity status is stupid. I'm not sure. No - I'm sure.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

I just finished reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. WOW. Of course, I have known the story for years (who doesn't?) but for some reason I had never read the book. I had gotten maybe three chapters in on one occassion and couldn't get much further at all. This time however.......... this time.....


Oscar Wilde is such a brilliant writer. I remember getting roped into reading transcriptions of his trials one evening browsing at Barnes and Noble. He was a hero of a speaker!


In this book, his thoughts on life, age, society, morality - are all so generously and wittily explained through the two rakish characters of Lord Henry and Dorian Gray. Wilde questions how intrinsic our virtue really is and what kind of relationship we have with art.


I have so much more to say on the book, but I feel sort of strange about it - it being such a staple in literature, I feel much like I might if I were reviewing Goodnight Moon or Green Eggs and Ham. So, I'll be terse: read it. It is thoroughly disturbing (and the disturbing ones are always the good ones)!



In other news: My internet connection seldom works properly; Children of mothers who eat plenty of apples during pregnancy are less likely to develop asthma, research suggests; Seven US soldiers and an interpreter have been killed in insurgent attacks in Iraq, the US military says; and the U.S. government has issued a quarantine order, the first since 1963, for a man with a rare and dangerous form of tuberculosis.

The autumn winds blow chilly and cold

Today, when I was thinking about friends I hadn't been keeping up with, I was surprised to find myself wondering if they had blogs. Everyone seems to have them these days; I'm not sure how I feel about that. Many of my friends keep themselves abreast of the goings-on in my life by reading my blog and I do the same with them. However, in doing so we avoid any real connection , don't we? Is blogging a way of connecting with the world or disconnecting from it?

I think of you out there. Let's have coffee sometime. I'll blog about it.

I get all the news I need on the weather report.

In the spirit of competition, I share with you a cribbage board. A used one. One that shows the score of the most recent game that Monte and I played.


I'm red. Do you see my little red peg at the far right of the game tracker? Do you still see Monte's at start? Not having even left the harbor? Yes. What is that called? A sweep? I SWEPT this week's cribbage game! HaHAH!

In other news: White tea just doesn't do it for me and it is becoming overcast and windy outside...... THUNDERATION!

I just can't seem to get enough of the sky out here. This was yesterday.

As long as you have a sane reason from a reliable source.

The show Gilmore Girls has come to an end and so (sorry mom) I devote this post to the show. Last night the CW aired the last episode. Though the last season didn't seem as good, though the ending seemed kind of hasty, and though I stopped blogging about it, it still remains one of my favorite shows and I'm going to miss it every Tuesday night! (until I find something else to celebrate with my pizza and wine)

I loved the various relationships in this show: The embarrassing, stressful, and supportive family relationships. The odd, estranged, and even more familial friendships. The schisms in generation, community, and social class. Unlike other popular shows, the characters grew and changed over time. The relationships between them did the same - becoming closer or filled with more tension season by season.

For a show that was half soap-opera, half teen drama, it did a surprisingly good job of keeping up. Fiction is supposed to imitate life. However, this is one of those fictions that for me, opened up aspects of the world that I might not have otherwise noticed (high society, renaissance fairs, private schools, bards in today's society). The show's cultural references to literature, film, politics, current events, and music were at times over my head, and at other times, when I got the joke, felt like little high fives. Is this me being maudlin?

Anyway, I learned a lot from Gilmore Girls. I learned that a devilled egg is one part yolk and two parts mayonnaise; that if you don't get into a good school, your only other option is to marry rich; if you work for eleven years at 1500 jobs, you can afford to buy a house; themed parties are cool; anything can be a competition; boys don't like funny girls; one night in a hallway does not a true naked man make; and that Vicious Trollop is an excellent name for a lipstick.

Now that I will no longer be watching television on Tuesday nights, I am left with The Office and Scrubs on Thursdays. Perhaps I don't watch enough television.

my breakfast

In other news: (what I learned from my TV watching last night): There is going to be a Nancy Drew movie! It comes out on June 15th! Cingular is the new AT&T! Cingular's name is now AT&T! I don't get it. Maybe I do watch enough TV.

A Gallimaufry of Recent Adventures

I am currently enjoying a bowl of wok-seared lamb; so if this post sounds a little sybaritic, that is why.

My dear friend, Megan, came to visit this week. It was great to see her, since it is seldom we have the leisure for true and lengthy chats. We ate a lot (clearly - just look at the picture below) and spent a lot of time reminiscing and catching up.

We are impressive eaters!

Gilmore Girls is coming to an abrupt end. I have long sensed that it was time for the show to go off the air since it has pretty much extended all story lines as far as possible quite some time ago. Since I have yet to watch this week's episode, I have two left. I'm sure I will blog about them when the show has finally finished, despite my mother's rather dramatic sighs at having to read such inane posts.

Today's sky.

In other news (already censored for depressing content): The Queen toured Goddard space center in Maryland on her recent tour of the eastern U.S. before returning to England; After a search of more than 30 years, an Israeli archaeologist says he has found the tomb of King Herod; Pamela Anderson wears see-through shirts; And there exists an Oxford Companion to Food and Drink.

The Diamond Age

Today I finished the book The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. I read it in three days. I could NOT put it down.

When an illustrated primer, which is really an extraordinary computer of the nanotechnological world, is stolen, it falls into the hands of a very young girl who happens to be a member of a poor, tribeless class. This child, immersing herself in a fairytale world that closely mirrors her own troubled life, is educated and raised outside of any system that is in place or understood at the time.

In this futuristic world where Matter Compilers can produce anything material, national governments are obsolete, and law seems arbitrary; Nell, the primer's rogue engineer, and the woman whose voice has kept Nell company through the primer's pages some long years are all on an odyssey which may end up changing the entire future of humankind.

Though the book started a little slowly for me, I soon found myself unable to put it down. Each thread of story-telling was so creative and each character so well written, that I found I could perfectly picture the book's world and all its wonders. It was such a fun and exciting read! Thank you to those who recommended it to me!

In other news: Delegates say that experts at a major UN climate change control conference in Bankok have reached a deal on how to best handle the problem; Now they have to actually do something; Walter Shirra of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs died yesterday; Wolfowitz blames 'unclear' bank rules for the scandal over his girlfriend's pay; and Paris Hilton's boyfriend is an idiot.

One Weekend at a Time

A few highlights from the last weekend in April:

Strawberry Mousse Parfait

The above is a weekend in itself! We had our neighbors Don and Isabella over for dinner on Saturday night. I made Stuffed Mushrooms, Guinness Stew, Buttermilk Soda Bread, and the above pictured dessert. And a pitcher of margaritas. I talked to Don today and he said he thinks we got his wife drunk (Oops, they're in their 70s!).

Mexican Redknee Tarantula

Today, Monte and I went to the Butterfly Pavilion in Denver. Besides butterflies, this indoor insect zoo has horseshoe crabs, tarantulas, cockroaches (shudder), starfish and many more interesting species to view and touch.

me, holding a Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula

I got to hold a tarantula! It was so cool! The Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula is one of the most docile species and whose lifespan is around twelve years. She crawled all over my hands and started out on my arm before she was kindly plucked back by her handler.

Malay Lacewing Butterfly

Above is one of the most intricately designed butterflies we saw. There were so many beautiful ones that I had never seen before. I had hoped to see a Malachite butterfly, but since they are green, like the stone they are named after, I imagine that had there been any out at the time, they would have been quite difficult to find. We did see ten different types of butterflies and at least eighteen different beautiful and exotic flowers.

Curry, with her new toy

Coming home, we stopped at the pet store to get a new nest for our rat, Hamlin. Monte saw the above toy and couldn't resist. Curry now knows the word, "burger," however it only means small stuffed toy to tear apart to her.

In other news: The Vatican had a conference on climate change recently and the pope declared it against God's will to abuse the environment (does that mean that global warming isn't part of the inevitable downfall of society and the precursor to armageddon?). My garden is starting to bloom. And finally, video games may be related to violence.

Word of the Week

Welcome, once again, to this very educational blog designed to expand our vocabularies (or expose how pathetic my vocabulary is).

The word of the week/moment/day is one of the following (can you guess which one is correct?):

otiose (adj.) - hateful; detestable; repugnant.

otiose (adj.)- immensely large; vast.

otiose (adj.) - indolent; futile; superfluous.

Two points to the best sentence!

dazzling new levels

Welcome back to the work-week! I hope everyone had as good of a weekend as I did! On Saturday, I threw a party for the students of mine who received superior ratings in the local festival and are qualifying for state. We had a WONDERFUL time. Sunday, we bought bushes to plant in our front yard (I have yet to do the planting though) and went to a Decemberists concert. (Their new album has a cleaner and more mainstream sound to it...... and thus I like it BETTER).

I also put down the book Waiting for Gertrude by Bill Richardson. This is one I won't be finishing. The idea of the book was cute; a community of cats live in the main cemetery in Paris and they are reincarnations of such famous Parisian artists as Chopin, Rossini, Isadora Duncan, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, and others. I think the author missed a step though, in making his characters a bit too crass. It is cute that the characters retain much of their former-life personalities while being primarily concerned with things like licking their paws and scavenging for their next meal. In putting this book down, I either quit too early, or this book would have made an excellent short story. Either way, I don't have the time to waste reading a book from which I'm getting neither enjoyment nor information. So, my copy is available to anyone who wants to read it after such a glowing review!

In other news: Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal win through to the run-off of France's presidential poll, Maradona is treated for alcoholism (I originally read that as "Madonna." I don't know who Maradona is.), Mischa Barton can't dress herself, and my tea is ready. Cheers!

Often, vanity is the only thing that keeps us going

Check out my friend Reid's blog. It made my day.

Shroud by John Banville

John Banville tells the story of a man, who reaching the end of his life having successfully hidden his true identity from the world, meets a young girl, overwhelmed by madness, who unravells it all.

The tale is not quickly moving, but the telling of it is wonderfully done. Banville's use of language is so poetic, making each instance in the story enchanting.

Intelligent, literary, philisophical, and historical; Banville touches on themes of madness, isolation, travel, and language.

I think there were a lot of things in this book that I misunderstood or passed right by without appreciating, and I feel that it may be an entirely different experience for another reader. But an experience definitely worth your while.

In other news: I dropped a bit of eggplant in my computer keyboard (you shouldn't eat at your desk), eating less salt can cut the risk of cardiovascular disease by one quarter, and Jessica Alba flashes her panties. All in a day's work!

In a World where Everything is Funny

What's in your Water?

A while back, I posted a blog about Fiji water. Well, as it turns out, it is not only not worth the cost to the environment to drink Fiji water, but it isn't worth it to drink ANY bottled water. With the costs for bottling and transporting, and especially the cost of the plastic bottle, we should really all go back to tap water. If the thought grosses you out, check out the National Assessment of Tapwater Quality Database to see how clean (or dirty) your water is and keep in mind that most modern communities have cleaner tap water than typical bottled water.

Those of you in Chicago and New York? Use a filter. Mom? Your water is good! Drink from the tap! My water is contaminated mostly with arsenic. Lovely.

Take a Walk

I would like to share with you a recent article by Garrison Keilor I think you will enjoy.

He urges you to go out into the world and take a walk. I urge you to do the same. Unless, of course, your world looks something like this:

my neighborhood

If that is the case, I understand and urge you to remain indoors and look at better parts of the world online.

mine, despite the snow

The Namesake

Yesterday I saw the movie The Namesake.


The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri and set in both New York and Calcutta. Telling the archetypal story of an immigrant family starting a new life in the U.S., we meet the Ganguli family from India. The movie centers around three important characters: Ashoke, the father, a professor who marries, and moves his wife to New York hoping to raise his family with the opportunities that America offers while holding on to his traditions; Ashima, the mother, who marries to escape the tradition and provinciality of her hometown only to find that she misses them desperately; and their son, Gogol, who is a callow and resentful youth who doesn't fit in completely with his peers, and rejects many of the traditions of his homelife.






The acting is magnificent; the scenes in Calcutta are colorful and realistic; and the story is moving. Though I was a little wary at first of the formulaic nature of the story, it was done so well that I just loved it.



In other news: Every house in the UK is being given a device that monitors exactly how much electricity is being used moment to moment; Severe obesity has tripled in five years despite education and weight-loss surgery (could something be wrong with our food?); An eyetracking study caught men, but not women, staring at a batter's crotch; And there is a theory that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives.

Straight, No Chaser.

It is Friday, April 13th and the world, it seems, is covered in snow. My world is, at least. I am drinking tea, missing the cream in Ireland, and listening to Thelonious Monk.

Curry and I just checked on our sad little tree, and I am cheered to see that it is going to make it even though the spring seems it will never arrive.

a bit of green!

In other news: The military has lowered its standards for new recruits taking the military aptitude test in order to allow more people to enlist (we've already enlisted all the smart people willing to make the sacrifice). A kindergartner in Avon Park, Florida was picked up by the police and charged with a felony for having a tantrum in class. And Happy Birthday to my step-grandfather who has turned 93 years old today!

Have you sent in your taxes yet?

Welcome to April. We are having a snow storm here. If that tickles your fancy, move to Colorado. If not, you have my permission to feel sorry for me.

The Word of the Week is quotidian, and its definition is one of the following:

quotidian (adj.) - alluding to something previously stated.

quotidian (adj.) - daily, ordinary or commonplace.

quotidian (adj.) - medicinal, unpalatable, disagreeable.

What does quotidian mean to YOU? Two points for using it in a sentence! (So far, it is two points for Lil Megora and two points for Dawn!)

In other news: Recently in cricket, Graeme Smith fell in the seventh over, nicking behind after he charged down the pitch and slogged wildly. Kate Moss has fat friends, Brandon Davis has NO friends, and I don't know who Brandon Davis is. And Isreal has set conditions on the upcoming talks with Syria demanding that they cut ties to Hamas, stop assisting Hizbollah, and alter its relationship with Iran.

Happy Passover!

It is my pleasure to bring you a new Word of the Week, which ought perhaps to be called Word of the Day, or Word of the Moment, or Word When I'm Inspired.

This moment's word is:

crapulent (adj) sick from gross excess in drinking or eating.

or is it.......

crapulent (adj) intellectually or morally ignorant.

or is it.......

crapulent (adj) characterized by or using low buffoonery; coarsly jocular or derisive.


For those of you who thought you might learn something from my blog, you can thank Lil Megora for the brilliant suggestion. Regardless of its meaning though, I think this word is just fabulous. Two points for using it in a sentence!

No Stamp in my Passport

I've been out of the country again! But now I'm back. Aside from causing me to feel foolish using loonies and toonies to pay for things, Canada is quite nice! (Here is a tidbit that I didn't learn until returning to the states: the nickname loonie was adopted because there is a picture of a bird on the one dollar coin).

The highlights of my trip (which was really to attend a conference though there are no pictures here of that since there were none worth taking):

A view of Toronto from the window of the Sheraton and a welcome respite from conference sessions.

Well, I found my favorite restaurant there! And I insisted on eating there every other day! Above, lemongrass and eggplant curry. Perfect with a cup of Ginger tea and mango juice.

Niagara Falls of course!

My wonderful hosts, Dawn and Erik, freezing and getting wet in front of Niagara Falls!

I also stopped in Chicago and was able to see almost everyone in my immediate family. Though I was pretty exhausted, I had a wonderful time and I should have taken pictures!

In other news: The E.P.A. is responsible and has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emited from automobiles, Tara Reid's bikini almost fits, the Darfur conflict continues to spread violence to its neighbors, and Gilmore Girls is a rerun again this week.

Word of the Week

Frustrated with my small vocabulary relative to what is out there, I have decided to start a word of the week blog. It might happen more often. It might happen less often..... as blogs do. Feel free to use the word in your OWN sentence!

Appropriately, this week's word is nescience (n.) - lack of knowledge; ignorance.

The Soloist by Nicholas Christopher

Max Randal, a pianist of the caliber of Rubenstein is now 32 and preparing a come-back tour. A child prodigy, his pursuit of wine and women and a bit of a professional burn-out has gotten him to where he is now. Alone, nervous, and stuck. His first wife is dying, his second wife wants to get back together, and the mother of his only child is leaving their young daughter with him for the summer as he tries to prepare for his tour.

I think this book is mostly a tale of past relationships, deiscipline, and the passion in life aside from romantic love. Though the author has a hard time refraining from including the fantastic in his novels (in this case a just discovered never before heard Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody), he sure weaves a magnificent story.

Sometimes very technical (I actually jotted down some great practicing advice), Max talks through the work of preparing for a recital..... the memory, the nuance of playing, the mind games involved in keeping a repetoire in one's head and the pain of repetitive motion. Other reviews have called the writing pretentious (I found it right on, and actually quite enjoyable to read), the plot improbable (it is fiction, right?), and the characters flat. However, I enjoyed it. Being a pianist myself though, I cannot really recommend it to anyone else because they just might find it flat and pretentious!

In other news: Researchers are working on the development of artificial livers from stem cells of umbilical cord blood (so drink up!); the Cleveland Public Library, Harvard Law School, and Brown University all have books clad in skin stripped from executed criminals or from the poor (gah!); and Paris Hilton may face a three-month prison sentence for violating her probation by driving with a suspended license.

Garden of the Gods

My youngest brother is out here to visit for his spring break. Spring is an excellent time to come visit Colorado (hint hint). Yesterday, we spent the day hiking way off the paths (to my husband's law-abiding dismay) at Garden of the Gods. Here is a visual account of our day:

The view from up pretty high after scrambling up there, getting dirty, and falling on cacti.

Taking a nap in the coolest tree!

Luke. Smartly dressed without cuffs in his pants to collect rocks and dirt!

That's me above.

I know I slept well after our day. And since Luke still isn't up yet, I'm assuming he was as exhausted as I was!

In other news: The world is ignoring Iraqi refugees, Lindsay Lohan forgets to button her shirt, and I'm going to Toronto on Thursday!

The Devil in the White City

I just finished the book The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. A historical biography that reads like a novel, I learned much from this book.


Taking place in Chicago during the preparations for the 1893 World's Fair, the main driving plot of the book surrounds the lives of two men at the time; Daniel Burnham, the leading architect that designed and brought about the success of the fair upholding the pride of Chicago (then just an ambitious hog-butchering town), and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer whose criminal compulsions the bustle of the fair masked.


Featuring such famous characters as Frederick Olmsted (the landscape architect known for New York's Central Park), Buffalo Bill, Frank Lloyd Wright, and George W. Ferris (the man that out-Eiffeled Eiffel and his famous tower), the story proceeds from the initial days when Chicago first put out its bid for the honor of hosting the fair, through the struggles of the leading architects to work together, maintain the integrity of the fair, and prove to the world that Chicago was as deserving as it had boasted, to the opening ceremonies, to the final days of each of the fair's designers.


Throughout this enchanting and intricate telling of the process which brought about such an amazing event, the author alternated the story of the serial killer who was able to get away with the murder and exploitation of so many people that crossed his path at a time when the world had not yet come to terms with the rampage of Jack the Ripper, and the Chicago police department couldn't handle the constant stream of missing persons in the area.


At the beginning, it was the gruesome story of H.H. Holmes that made the book so compelling, but at the end, it was the architect's tale that I appreciated. Reading the book with a map of Chicago tucked in my purse, I was able to appreciate and visualize Jackson Park, the wooded island, 63rd street, and even buildings like the Rookery and the Reliance Building which made me miss and appreciate the history of Chicago even more.


Now only one more book in my stack of Christmas books to read!

Abstract Art Vs. Talk Radio

The February issue of Psychology Today had an article on the more inherent differences found in people who call themselves conservative and people who call themselves liberal. Apparently it goes beyond simple views and values to include underlying differences in temperament.

Several studies have been done on different aspects of this phenomenon. Home decor, travel and education experience, personalities as children, and of course, some sneaky priming are all clues in determining whether a person calls himself conservative or liberal.

In one study done on home decor, it was shown that typically conservatives are neater, their rooms are cleaner, better organized, more brightly lit, and more conventional. Liberals have more books which cover a greater variety of topics and more color in their homes. Conservatives are more likely to be religious while liberals are more likely to like classical music and jazz. Conservatives tend to prefer country music (deal breaker for me right there). So far, all of these seem pretty obvious and stereotypical.

Interestingly though, in 1969, a couple of professors from Berkely went on a child personality study asking nursery school teachers to rate the temperaments of the children in their classes (three year olds). The children that grew up to be conservatives were indecisive, fearful, rigid, inhibited, and vulnerable. Those that grew up to be liberals were described as children as having close relationships with peers, were self-reliant, impulsive, and resilient. Researchers hypothesized that the insecure children most needed the reassurance of tradition and authority which they found in conservative politics. Interestingly, later in life, conservatives are more typically very decisive with less tolerance for ambiguity and are also typically less vulnerable seeming.

The article sort of loses its focus and starts talking about scare tactics and priming which is easy to get people to change their focus and priorities temporarily. But, we all know about this type of psychological manipulation. It is old news.

And now I have started losing focus.

Check out Pandora.com. It is a website that allows you to put in favorite artists and the site will then put together a sort of radio playlist for you with similar sounds. I have been listening to it all morning. For this new addition to my daily aural experience I would like to thank Mike, the comic book shop guy (I do actually learn something while my husband is browsing!), and Doug, who reminded me of it this weekend in between drinks, rich food, and games.

In other news: Dutch Blitz is fucking rad (oops! excuse my language! it is an Amish game!), the UN clears Serbia of genocide in the 1990 Bosnian war, and Jessica Biel doesn't need a bra.

How I Became Stupid

I just finished the book How I Became Stupid by Martin Page. A very cute, short french novel about a young man going through a bit of a spiritual crisis. The book gets ridiculously silly in some parts while the author maintains a very grave tone.



Twenty-five year old Antoine is burdened by his intelligence. It permeates every aspect of life leaving him in a constant state of worry and depression. After trying, and failing at various apparent panaceas (alcoholism, suicide), Antoine decides to become stupid. He deliberately rids his apartment of every reminder of the worthwhile and sets on a quest to study all the well-adjusted stupid people he encounters. He gives his friends a time limit of six months...... if he is an absolute jerk by that time, they need to bring him back.



A fun, quick read, that scarcely got me thinking at all. But for its very judgemental separation of all the author deems intelligent and worthwhile from what he assumes to be stupid, inane, and therefore evil, the book was innocuously cute.

In other news: Britney Spears is in rehab, Chimpanzees make wooden spears for hunting, and a 'bat demon' is blamed for sex attacks on Tanzanian men.

Environmentally Conscious

According to some source I recently encountered but don't recall, Fiji water, one of the best tasting and coolest packaged bottled waters (my opinions) is not worth its price to the environment.



Apparently, taking into account the true cost of producing and transporting it, it takes 26 times more water than is actually in the bottle to get it to us here in the states. And according to Treehugger, the the manufacture and transport of that one kilogram bottle of Fiji water consumed 7.1 gallons of water, .26 gallons of fossil fuel and emitted 1.2 pounds of Greenhouse Gases.



For more information on the study, click here..


In other news: Paris Hilton has no friends and throws weird parties, I just found out that Newt Gingrich is a novelist, and ineluctable means not to be avoided, changed or resisted.

What else are weekends for?!

Carbohydrate squalor, and proof that I have a friend in town.

..... and that I didn't eat all of that on my own.

Happy Valentine's Day

My Backyard This Morning

A Spot of Bother - by Mark Haddon

I just finished A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon this morning. It was a lot of fun to read. Stressful and funny. While Jean has been having an affair with David and Katie is having cold feet and Jamie is desperately trying to get Tony back, the wedding is being planned and George is losing his mind quite properly.

The book focuses on one family and all the separate but connected issues they are dealing with in their personal lives. Haddon does such a good job of making his characters real and quirky and interesting. Each chapter is thoughtfully told from a different family member's point of view, sometime with action overlapping making it extremely urgent that the reader continue. (And of course, not everybody's reality is the same).

"And she could see them turning slowly into the people they were pretending to be, the problem they were meant to solve drifting slowly into the background, the two of them turning into a team whose job it was to bring up a child and run a household despite the fact that they had nothing in common, having conversations about what was needed from Tesco and waht they were going to do at the weekend, going to bed and putting out the light and rolling away from each other and trying not to dream about the lives they could have led."

"It seemed so obvious what he felt. But when he tried to put it into words it sounded clumsy and unconvincing and semtimental. If only y ou could lift a lid on the top of your head and say, 'Look.'"

"Seven or Fifty-seven, they needed their projects. Bringing something dead back to the cave. Setting up the W---- franchise. A solid lunch, 20 minutes of playtime and gold stars to show that someone was taking notice."

Enjoyable. Perfect for the two days I spent with the flu. If you have the flu, e-mail me and I'll send you the book to read!

The Female Brain

I just finished the book The Female Brain by Louanne Brizendine. Unless I spelled her name wrong. Then it is by somebody else.


First, let me tell you, that research involving rats piques my interest much more than any other kind. I think I have more sympathy for rats than I do for humans. Especially those on cocaine and those with research instigated brain issues.


But, some things I learned from this book about humans: (a) In some societies, anthropologists have found that the presence of a grandmother improves a child's prospect for survival much more than the presence of a father. (b) After menopause, a woman's drive to tend and care, as well as her urge to avoid conflict at all costs is significantly lessened. (c) The female's brain is only half as likely to be wired for same-sex attraction as is the male brain. (d) Young girls are better at mirroring than boys and are thus able to understand others' emotions more easily.


I don't know how all this applies to rats, which is a question of more concern, but from this research, we can probably gather enough information to see an improvement in their quality of life!



In other news: I think I have the flu, The Superficial is less compelling since Anna Nicole Smith died, all of my students received superior markings in the piano festival this weekend, and Reverand Ted Haggard is cured of homosexuality and is being urged to leave Colorado Springs.



(Pictured above, Hamlin is the dark rat, and Shortbread is the light one. The have their own bedroom and would have smiled for the camera, but I woke them up from a nap. You know how that is).

The Importance of Macaroni and Cheese

After a hard day of teaching and being in Colorado, sometimes what I need is not a martini or a glass of wine (though if you were to pour me one and place it in my hand I'm sure I'd polish it off out of politeness). Sometimes what I need is macaroni and cheese.

Now, there are several ways of eating macaroni and cheese. First is the basic: Kraft out of the box? Frozen and very cheesy? At a restaurant? (IHOP, Village Inn, and Perkins do not count as restaurants) Or as a base for the rest of the meal (chili mac, tuna mac, etc).

I choose Frozen and cheesy. And if you order macaroni and cheese in a restaurant, well. Don't get me started. Of the frozen and cheesy macaroni and cheeses out there, I particularly choose Amy's Kitchen Macaroni and Cheese.

Once this initial choice has been made, there is yet another step in how one eats macaroni and cheese. I know people who eat it plain, with salt, with garlic salt, with tabasco sauce, with chili sauce, with ketchup!

If you know me, you will know that I have been a staunch supporter of ketchup on my macaroni and cheese all of my life. And I have never wavered. It has been an important aspect of my general self-identity. Until tonight. Tonight I actually preferred my macroni and cheese with garlic salt. Preferred it. Not just tried it. I suddenly feel like I have no ground to stand on! I no longer know what is right and what is wrong! Is this a sudden change? Or have I been this way all along and just not known it?! Am I suddenly obligated to try all the different options when it comes to macaroni and cheese? Has ketchup been my friend not out of real likeness but only out of tradition?

Sigh.

Tomorrow I am likely to go absolutely crazy and try raspberry sorbet with gummy bears!

After 145, bad things start to happen

Today I finished the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

It is a book about intuition, first impressions, and quick decisions. We all make decisions based on information we have inside us that we aren't even aware of accessing. We do this all the time, and a good portion of the time, our instincts are helpful. They keep us out of dangerous situations; they tell us when something is not quite right; they tell us when someone is lying. However, there are times when the biases we have cultivated inside us lead us astray.


Gladwell explores the quick decisions and gut feelings made and had by emergency room doctors, police officers, interviewers, and other experts in various fields. He talks about the physical symptoms and the intellectual process that takes place. And interestingly, he discusses how people are hurt by, helped by, exploit, and develop these habits.


While the book was very interesting (it led me to the fascinating Implicit Association Test) I wanted a lot more from Gladwell. He presented his topic well, and had all of the examples to explain it. However, I felt like he never really got past the examples. I'm not exactly sure what more I wanted. I'll have to think about it; maybe I wanted him to take a more quantitative approach to his research. I am going to recommend this book though to those who want a quick and easy read that gets you thinking.



In other news: I cooked with quinoa for the first time today. Quinoa is cross between a grain and a cereal and is known for its nutritional content high in protein and amino acids (thank you Wikipedia) and is very tasty baked with tomato sauce, corn, spices and cheese and stuffed into green peppers (thank you Aubrey's taste buds).



Anything else of importance going on today? Nope! I didn't think so!

Mango Custard

If you thought from the title that this blog is about food - you're right!

My husband is away in Chicago to watch the Superbowl with other Bears fans. I do not qualify because though I am from Chicago as well, watching football really only leaves me with intense interest in floorboards….. ceiling tiles…. split ends.

But so, regardless of reason …… my husband is away and I had chocolate cake for breakfast. I had a stir fry for lunch fifteen minutes later. I had mussels in a white wine garlic butter sauce for dinner. Garlic butter sauce? Ah yes…. You know what my breath is going to be like tomorrow and also why I only eat like this when he is away!

But wait!

There’s more!

Hehehe. For supper I had an entire bud of garlic, roasted and spread on toasted French bread. And a glass of Strathisla.

Now, you may recall the foodgasm I had over the Strathisla vintage I had over the holidays out of my dad’s cabinet to soothe my poor Laphroaig-abuse tongue. Well, THIS….. is not the same. Not quite. It is very fresh, just like the one I first tasted. And the aroma….. ahhhhh – very much like dried fruit I think. It is spicy and cedary (my words…. So take them with a grain of salt)…. and the author of my scotch book gives it an 80 on his scale. I give it a burgundy heart-shaped medallion. But my scale isn’t based on numbers, and is thus less helpful.

Cheers! And enjoy the Superbowl tomorrow!

Important Inventions that Were Not Mentioned in the President's Speech

Please check out my friend's blog on this very topic at: http://elizabetherin.blogspot.com/.

There are a few inventions however, that she failed to incorporate that I think our President might have bothered to mention:

The cross-nationality noodle steam reducer! Now you can start eating your hot meal RIGHT AWAY!

Our calorie deficit is getting out of control! Now we can apply butter to our toast without the hassle of using a butter knife and spreading!

And in other news: Lindsay Lohan has a healthy appetite, Brandy is getting super sued (with lasers!), and lo and behold...... the earth's climate change is 'very likely' due to human activities.