DangerChicks (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} dangerchicks) wrote,@ 2004-11-08 10:35:00 |
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| Current mood: |  crushed |
| Current music: | Song:Dreams Of Deep Water - Artist:Four Bitchin' Babes - Album:Fax It! Charge It! Don't Ask Me What' |
Marcy: Okay, I Think I Am Coherent Now
I am very depressed about what we have done to the world. However, I am going to avoid spewing my vitriol in this forum, because that's not what it's for. The thing I just can't let pass without comment is my memory of all the offended "I would NEVER!" crap our newly re-elected president was saying before the election in response to reports that he would privatize Social Security in his second term. I wish "lying in order to get elected" were a capital offense.
Oops, there is some vitriol. Sorry.
On Friday night, I was channel-surfing, as a way of avoiding climbing the stairs and crawling into bed, when I ran across a 20/20 show on SEX MYTHS. Now, normally, I would have surfed right on by, but they were showing a teaser for the segment after the commercial, and I couldn't pass it up. Nope, I had to stay glued to the TV set where I then got to watch some bozo male reporter who was clearly concerned for his own sexual prowess engaging Joy in a discussion of whether size matters. I feel dirty just typing this.
When I lived in San Francisco, I used to do my grocery shopping at a market that was really five different businesses under the same roof. There was a cheese shop, a produce market, a dry goods market, a butcher, and a fish/poultry market. I totally adored it, especially since it was walking distance from our apartment, and I could stop there on the way home from work if I took a fancy to make roasted duck for supper, or something. The poulterer and the butcher were both wonderful. For example, that poulterer is the one who showed me how much easier it is to bone a double chicken breast than to bone a half breast. And the butcher sold this fabulous chili grind which was ground beef, only really coarse. It made a surprising amount of difference, and I have never figured out how to make it for myself.
I did, however, make chili this weekend, in between lengthy naps and long sleeps at night. In my view, the trick to making good chili is layering the flavors carefully. And also, using freshly ground spices that have not had time to lose their oomph. No beans, of course. And tomatoes are optional. I did put tomatoes in this time, as it happens, largely because last time I did not use them.
Ah, you have questions!
1. Been reading any interesting non-fiction lately? I read a remarkable book called The Way of Transition by William Bridges. It's many things, most of them valuable, but I was most struck by a lengthy section on his first marriage (which ended when his wife died of breast cancer). I don't believe I have ever read a more honest description of an ordinary marriage.
2. Will you be following the election returns? I watched briefly, became depressed, and then retreated to reading space opera.
3. Do you have any favorite post-election consolation reading? I've used a variety of things in the past to console myself. This time, it's space opera, because the underlying assumption, that we will survive long enough to colonize the stars, is strangely comforting.
4. Speaking of Heart of Darkness: Have you ever read a work of non-fiction that changed the way you viewed a work of fiction? Probably, although nothing leaps to mind. Like way too many people, I read Daughter of Time as a teenager, which forever changed how I veiwed Shakespeare's Richard III. You know, made me think of the play as a work of fiction.
Me, I have questions, too....
1. Are you looking forward to new TAR good times, starting next week? I know I am.
2. Am I the only one who has trouble thinking of questions to ask? Actually, that's not an entirely fair way of asking the question. Sometimes, it's difficult to limit myself to four questions, and sometimes I sit here and look at the empty screen, and have No Ideas Whatsoever. I suppose the discipline is good for me, or something.
3. What dishes do you think are quintessentially Winter Food? For me, the most winterish of all foods is a truly good roast beef. I can really only afford to make one prime spencer roast each year, so it's become inextricably linked with the turn of the year in my mind. In fact, each season for me has an archetypal roast and an archetypal stew-ish dish. The roasts are... Winter: beef, Spring: duck, Summer: salmon, Autumn: turkey.
4. What's the best way to eat scallops? I have this thing I make with scallops, garlic, white wine, spinach, and fresh pasta (and lots of black pepper) that I really like, but I need new ideas for how to cook scallops.
I'm taking today off to get my ducks lined up for school on Friday, and a Degree Committee meeting on Thursday. Other than that, my life just carries on in its normal path. It's hard to believe that it's only seven months until graduation. I think by then, I will be able to say, "I learned a bunch of stuff, got a useful (I hope!) credential, and made a really good friend." I can think of worse ways to spend two years of my life.
P.S. As far as I know, there's no rule that says we have to make these entries strictly alternating. Really.
