Christmas In NM

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Waiting for Godot

I have been rereading some of my favorite books all in anticipation of the movie versions that have come out or are coming out soon (Harry Potter 1-7, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings).  I always feel a little guilty rereading books, since there are still so many left to read and such little time remaining to me (compared to the number of books left).  There was a delay getting The Hobbit from the library, so I decided to read something else in the meantime, Waiting for Godot.

This may not have been the best idea.  After binging on good, children's literature it takes a while for me to be able to appreciate anything modern or adult.  As I was going along in Godot I could feel my brain turning to mush and leaking out of my ears.  But, Godot finished and The Hobbit came in, so my brain is back in its happy place.  Maybe there is plenty of time to read the books that matter and make sense and skip the rest?

One of my very wise and dear friends, who always knows how to cheer me up said I should check out the Muppet Godot.  I love Muppets.  Their particular brand of humor really amuses me and their interpretation of meaningless stuff makes me laugh.   So, this seemed like a winning combination.  It is.  She was right.  And I present it here for your edification and enlightenment. 



 

Tastes Like Beef, Only Better

We decided to try a new kind of meat.

When we lived "Out West" you could find small herds of bison kept for consumption. They are huge, and it is not hard to imagine how a bunch of them together could stop a train.  Thankfully for the City Child in me, Wegman's has bison ready in small packages and you don't have to go deal with the entire animal.  

We did not add much when prepping the ground meat, since we really wanted to try the flavor. It cooks up quite easily.



Add your favorite cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and some bread and you are ready to eat your bison burger.  Bison has a stronger flavor than beef.  It was very good, just more like real meat.  It also had less grease, something I consider a plus in the foods I eat.  We definitely recommend you try it if you have an chance. 

Quote of the day

"When you walk by trees, do they try to attack you in anger?"

--Deputy clerk of court, on seeing the stack of paper I had to file.

Man Loose In The Kitchen, Vol 2

This evening, I present Jonathan's latest creation.  Volcano Chicken!  Chicken breasts stuffed with bacon, cheese, & spinach, with baked red potatoes on the side.  Toothpicks for stability only.  It was scrumptious.

Word of the Day

thwart \THWAWRT\, verb:

To oppose successfully; prevent from accomplishing a purpose.

adjective:
Passing or lying crosswise or across; transverse.

Thwart relates to the Old English theorgh, "cross," though the verb form didn't come into usage until the 1500s.
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I would have thought that word was in common usage earlier than the 1500s.

Found on a classroom whiteboard

Man Loose In The Kitchen, Vol 1

Jonathan is amazing.  If the model of man that lives in your house does not cook then you should really get an upgrade for him.  Having one who takes good care of you with more than just stuff from a box is fantastic.  Jonathan has started cooking weekly, which is terrific for me.  I plan to post pictures when I don't forget to take them.  I started in on this meal and then grabbed the camera.  His presentation was a bit more arranged.  You can blame my fork.

This evening he made for me to enjoy: salmon topped with spinach & cheese, onion & tomatoes; garlic bread; and lightly steamed Brussels sprouts!

Cherry Blossom Ice Cream

Foul Ball

"It suddenly hit me, like a foul ball when you're turned the other way calling for a beer."

~The Brain

National Union of Women

" 'Well, there was that odd feeling that she and her mother were jumping different ways,' said Peter. 'It all felt pretty tense. If she does make contact, Harriet, I shall make myself scarce, and leave it to you. I think this might be a matter for the National Union of Women.'

Harriet thought about it. There was indeed such a thing; a wide swathe of life that women of every kind had in common. One could always talk to another woman; love, men, rationing, children, running a household, the servant problem, the problem of working as a servant. The list was endless.

'Is there a National Union of Men?' she asked.

'Oh yes,' said Peter. 'Cars, horses, and guns.' "

A Presumption of Death
By Jill Paton Walsh based on the Wimsey Papers by Dorothy L. Sayers

Corn Maize

We started the evening with an amazing dinner. Janelle made ratatouille, and I made cheesy potato cassarole. There were some other amazing autumn dishes for our enjoyment.

We decided to start the maze by taking our pictures, so that in case anyone got lost we would remember who was in our party.

And boy are they a party!!

It was so much fun. We even broke out the night vision monocle.

Ham Strada

At church we eat a lot. And often. So, for the ladies' brunch I decided to make a strada. I started with my mother's recipe and I modified it a bit.

This was my first attempt about a week before the brunch. It was good, but I decided that the items in the strada should be cut in smaller pieces and the cheese should be shredded.

This is the strada that I took to the brunch. It went over really well. I received four requests for the recipe.

I even made a little one for Jonathan. I did not want to leave him with dull breakfast cereal while I enjoyed the luxurious brunch.

Here is the recipe.

Strata

12 oz cooked ham, chopped

2 c heavy cream

1 med red onion, diced

8 eggs, whipped lightly

1 loaf pane bread, sliced thinly

1 Tbs fresh basil, chopped

2 beefsteak tomatoes, diced

12 oz fontina, shredded

1 cup broccoli, chopped

Sautee onion. Spray 9x13 pan. Place 1/2 bread in baking dish. Layer 1/2 ham 1/2 tomato slices, and 1/2 cheese, then repeat. Put broccoli on the top layer. Mix cream, eggs, and basil in medium bowl. Pour egg mixture over layers. Cover bake at 350 for 1 hour

Enjoy!!

Bumperstickers of the Day

"Hogwarts Quiddich"

And on the same car:

"My other car is an earthworm. Yep, flunked transfiguration."

While breaking into the Beast's treasure chamber...

Ludovic - (Belle's brother) - "I'm not scared, I'm thinking."

Avenant - (His friend) - "Same thing."

Belle et la Bête

1946

Jean Cocteau

Chronicle of Cocktails: Indian Summer

1 oz. rye whiskey
1/2 oz. amaretto
1/2 oz. creme de cacao
rocks

New Fall Decoration

Thanks Ang!

While at the Jackson Junior League Ball & Benefit

...Eleanor Causwell, an original found of the League frowns. "Bosoms," she announces with a hand to her own, "are for bedrooms and breastfeeding. Not for occasions with dignity."

"Well, what do you want her to do, Eleanor? Leave them at home?"
[Eleanor's husband who is decidedly older than 75]

The Help

Words of the Day

quaggy \KWAG-ee\, adjective:

1. Marshy; boggy.
2. Soft or flabby.

Quaggy ultimately derives from the Old English cwabba, "shake or tremble," in the sense of viscous fluid.

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ambrosial \am-BROH-zhuhl\, adjective:

1. Exceptionally pleasing to taste or smell; especially delicious or fragrant.
2. Worthy of the gods; divine.

Ambrosial comes from the Greek ambrosios, "of the Gods." Ambrosia refers to the food or drink consumed by the Greek pantheon.

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kith \KITH\, noun:

Acquaintances, friends, neighbors, or the like; persons living in the same general locality and forming a more or less cohesive group.

Kith finds its origin in the Old English cunnan, "to know." Can and other English words stem from the same source.

Out West

Only in Santa Fe (and places like it) can you get a weather report which includes Heavy Thunderstorms and 0.00" Precipitation. I miss the West. Sometimes.

Nook Farm

Mark Twain's House

You know you are not a Lit major when...

... you like Hellboy II over Pan's Labrynth.

Walking Unprotected

"Dragons don't kill people, people kill people. They kill themselves by walking unprotected in a world where there are dragons."

~General Kynot
Son of a Witch

Good v. Well

"In this house we cherish our adverbs."

~Michaela Odone
Lorenzo's Oil

Go Cards!

The Cards have great fans, and the fans have great friends!

Word of the Day

tare \TAIR\, noun:

1. The weight of the wrapping or container that holds an object.
2. The weight of a container or wrapper that is deducted from the gross weight to obtain net weight.
3. The weight of a vehicle without cargo, passengers, etc.
4. Any of various climbing plants, generally with edible seeds.

Tare ultimately comes from the Arabic verb taraha, "to reject," تقيأ .

You know your best girl friends are geeky when...

They use phrases like:

...come *Dante’s Inferno* or high water...

< pouty face> I want my Black Dragon back! < /pouty face >

You know you're from Northern Virginia if....

...they give away reusable shopping bags as the prizes at the community concert kiddie hiphop dance competition.

Word of the Day

koan \KOH-ahn\, noun:

A nonsensical or paradoxical question to a student for which an answer is demanded, the stress of meditation on the questions often being illuminating.

Koan is Japanese, ko "public" and -an, "matter for thought." It enters English though Zen Buddhism before achieving a more general sense.

Ethics

"The task violated all her principles - and, I hardly need say, my own. However, I never all my principles to interfere with common sense."

~Amelia P Emmerson
The Hippopotamus Pool

Salada Tea Lines

After the music conference minuets were typed.

Baby snakes have rattlers.

Gourmet's dream: shiprecked on a desserted island.

Fantasy Novels

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

~John Rogers

(Thanks to The Brain and NB for passing on the quote!)

Salada Tea Lines

Archimedes screwed up the water works.

Crash diets always let you down.

Free thinkers don't charge for advice.

Saps: found in a lot of family trees.

The debate turned into a tirade show.

Violinists are high strung during performances.

Summer Supper

Jonathan has been working late recently. So, I have had a bit more time to add an aesthetic touch to his supper.

Ingredients
Pita Sandwiches
whole wheat mini pitas
hummus
cherry tomatoes
fresh basil

Skewers
sandwich pepperoni
colby cheese
kalamata olives

Rabbit Food
carrots

Twill Tape

This summer Jonathan has been taking a welding class. For this class he needs to to wear fire-proof clothing. This hideous shirt is part of his bi-weekly class ensemble. I was working on a sewing project which required twill tape in light cyan. When Jonathan saw the tape he had an inspiration on how my tape could make his fire-proof tunic more advantageous to him. A few moments, stitches, and drops of fray guard later....

You can see the results yourself.

For Charles

The Dowager Duchess of Medway, "Oh, my dear, the house is going to be over-run with policemen. Such a nuisance. I suppose it can't be helped."
"Oh, I think it's a good thing," said Peter. "I have rather an unwholesome weakness for policemen."

The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question
Dorothy L. Sayers

Timeliness

"A man who has not finished half his day's work before ten runs the risk of not finishing the other half at all."

--Mrs. Dean, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Anyone who has clients or customers call in the middle of the day knows how true this is.

Collectivism

"We have followed you." they said, "and we shall follow you wherever you go. If danger threatens you, we shall face it also. If it be death we shall die with you. You are d@mned, and we wish to share your d@mn@tion."

~The Golden One
Anthem

Salada Tea Lines

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some Just don't have film.

Shoe tree: shoemaker's dream.

Temper tantrum: letting off scream.

The noblest revenge is forgiveness.

The Journalist

"Don't be more of a fool than you can help, Man!"

~Kevin O'Connell
The Deeds of the Disturber

Summer Travels in the Truck

Just a few quotes for your amusement from our summer vacation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trolleyman: Jen, did you bring a table cloth?
Brain: Yes, unfortunately it doubles as the pair of pants you're wearing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brain: I'm doing some math in my head.
Trolleyman: Want my odd numbered toes?

Efficiency

He did not approve of anarchy.  Well, he knew he was in lazy doubt about everything.  Doubt was much more energy efficient than conviction.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
By Gregory Maguire

Salada Tea Lines

Fancy Picnics serve haute dogs.

Happy pearl divers go overboard for work.

I couldn't repair yours brakes, so I made your horn louder.

Congrats J&C

Man

"Man? What is man? He's just a collection of chemicals with delusions of grandeur. Man's metaphysical pretensions are preposterous, a miserable bit of protoplasm full of ugly little concepts and mean little emotions and it imagines itself important."

~Dr. Pritchett

Atlas Shrugged

Riverdace at Wolf Trap

We were able to enjoy an afternoon at Wolf Trap seeing Riverdance in their farewell performance.  We even bumped into our dance instructors who said we would get extra points in class for the extra curricular!  Thanks to Tiff for working out the logistics and Kiki for all the pointers on what to bring along.  It was a marvelous time.

Salada Tea Lines

Frantic people are usually on errants.

Many tree surgeons work out of branch offices.

Politeness is the art of choosing the thoughts you express.

What Men Think of Women

"The young woman," Emmerson went on, "is, if I know young women, weeping wildly in her room. That is what young women do when they are in a state of emotional confusion."

~Professor Radcliffe Emmerson
Lion in the Valley

Words of the Day

scuttle \SKUHT-l\,

verb:
1. To run with quick, hasty steps; scurry.

noun:
1. A deep bucket for carrying coal.
2. A small hatch or port in the deck, side, or bottom of a vessel.
3. A small hatchlike opening in a roof or ceiling.

verb:
1. To sink (a vessel) deliberately by opening seacocks or making openings in the bottom.
2. To abandon, withdraw from, or cause to be abandoned or destroyed.

noun:
1. A short, hurried run.

Scuttle may be related to the similar verb scud, "to run or move quickly." Both words probably derive from the Middle English scottlen, "to move away."


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threnody \THREN-uh-dee\, noun:

A poem, speech, or song of lamentation, esp. for the dead; dirge; funeral song.

The source of threnody is the Greek thrēnōidía, where thrēnōs is "lamentation" and ōid is "song." Also the root of ode.

First Feis

First Feis - Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann at Mount Saint Mary's University, what better place to dance if you are going to look like you just got out of school anyway?  After seeing some of the costumes of the other schools, I am perfectly content with looking like I should be following behind a black clad Sister to the Solarium.  

Thanks to Jonathan and Beth who came out to support me!  Thanks also to Tiff for all the practice, Jen and Christine for all the critiques, pointers, encouragement, and jewelery!  And since it does not matter anyway, I want to point out that I painted my nails red for confidence.  I danced the reel and the light jig, and took 2nd and 3rd.  Then we went out for milkshakes!  Not a bad start to competition. 

Salada Tea Lines

Light travels faster than sound; That is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

Archaeologists work in the lost and found department.

Senior Prank - 2010

Perfectly Splendid

"With the right person, under the right circumstances - it is perfectly splendid!"

~Amelia Peabody
Crocodile on the Sandbank

In A History Paper??

Since the beginning of the month I have been working on a history paper for Dr. A's Modern Terrorism, which I am taking for credit, and I have to write the paper, and take the tests. I was having trouble coming up with a topic, so I polled my classmates. Asking History majors about History paper topics is always fun. For some reason JW's suggestion first struck me as vastly more interesting than anything I had devised. I decided it was worth spending three weeks obsessing over the topic, so I submitted it to Dr. A for approval. #1 - thanks, thanks and more thanks to JW.

After getting out the draft and finding that I would need to cut a section to meet the word limit. (I love limits - but lets hope Dr. A is not as much a stickler as Dr. S - cause I was 24 words over, but you don't count the words in the block quote or the little in-text titles, right?)

My first dilemma was "Does one capitalize "western powers" when talking about the WWI allies?" I had already used the more formal "Entente Powers" earlier in the paragraph and I hate reusing names in the same section, since English has so many nice synonyms it just seems like a waste to keep reusing one thing. I am sure I could have looked it up, but I am not really sure where, and to save time I called upon CC, who is currently writing about WWI. I was sure he would know. Per expectations, CC let me know that in my usage of "Western" should be uppercase and "powers" should be lower case. I had surmised this to be the case (haha, yes, I mean that), but it has been ever so long since Western World, and I am not sure I have ever written much about WWI.

#2 - Best regards to CC, even if he does think that 1066 was the death of the English language. I am not going to argue with something that gave England stone castles instead of wooden huts on top of muddy mounds and interesting adjectives from around the world, but I guess he is a purist or something.

So, I was going along equanimitably, and then I ran against the Marxist-Leninist system of tyranny and was not sure when to capitalize that particular odious ideology. Marx and Lenin were dudes, so were Stalin, Guevara, and Castro, so when you talk about their specific brands, as well as Bolshevik and Soviet, they all get capitalized. But what about plain, old communism? Where is Dr. MRS when I need her??

Lacking Dr. MRS, I again called on CC, who started his response with, "Eehhhh..." (which is not a good sign) and ended with "Hope that helps" (which it did). CC posited that when talking about the party, Capitalize! However, the ideology could be lowercase. He also suggested consistency throughout the paper (cross your fingers and hope you get 50% of them correct).

The paper is done, and turned in; not always the same thing, but in this case I was satisfied with my work about half an hour before it was due. (Dr. A is perpetually 10 minutes late for class, so it is good he is a PhD and not a MA, actually giving me 40 minutes to stew about whether I should have gone over it again.)

While I was messing about on Wiki, looking for all the details of the world, and then references from reliable sources to back them up (we all know that Wiki is as accurate as Britannica, but NOT something you want in a scholarly footnote) I found this old poster. I want to print it and put it up in the guest room along side the flags and world map. Seems like it would fit there.

The Kayakers

Some ants had taken up residence in the smaller of the kayaks

and the boys tried to evict them to no avail.

We took the larger kayak out first

having a great time on the water,

and the other waited patiently,

with Jake, who did not want to go in the water,

even if he did want to go in the kayak.

Then we traded off

and they had fun too!

The Lady Shooters

We had a blast, litterly, at Ceil's shore place.


It was a goreous day, and we had lovely friends around us to top it off.

Many thanks to Uncle Johnny and the boys for providing the firepower.

Words of the Day

I love English because it has so many delightful words that have come to us from so many other languages. Below is a selection of my current favorites.

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megrim \MEE-grim\, noun:

1. A migraine.
2. A fancy; a whim.
3. In the plural: lowness of spirits -- often with 'the'.

Megrim is from Middle English migrem, from Middle French migraine, modification of Late Latin hemicrania, "pain in one side of the head," from Greek hemikrania, from hemi-, "half" + kranion, "skull."

I have a migrane and my skull is halved - that is not exactly how a migrane works, but when you have one you do want to cut your head off from your body.
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land of Nod \land-uhv-NOD\, noun:

A mythical land of sleep.

Land of Nod is a pun on the biblical place-name, the country to which Cain journeyed after slaying Abel. Genesis 4:16 "Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden." (ESV - footnote Nod means wandering)

Sleep, sleep, sleep....
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malversation \mal-vur-SAY-shun\, noun:

Misconduct, corruption, or extortion in public office.

Malversation comes, via French, from Latin male, "badly" + versari, "to be engaged in, to take part in."

Related to old meaning of conversation, but I leave you to figure that one out.
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slake \SLAYK\, transitive verb:

1. To satisfy; to quench; to extinguish; as, to slake thirst.
2. To cause to lessen; to make less active or intense; to moderate; as, slaking his anger.
3. To cause (as lime) to heat and crumble by treatment with water.

intransitive verb:
1. To become slaked; to crumble or disintegrate, as lime.

Slake comes from Middle English slaken, "to become or render slack," hence "to abate," from Old English slacian, from slæc, "slack."

I guess I have always thought of slack as something moving away... like a boat, if you have slack in the line to the dock the boat moves away.
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bedizen \bih-DY-zuhn\, transitive verb:

To dress or adorn in gaudy manner.

Bedizenis the prefix be-, "completely; thoroughly; excessively" + dizen, an archaic word meaning "to deck out in fine clothes and ornaments," from Middle Dutch disen, "to dress (a distaff) with flax ready for spinning," from Middle Low German dise, "the bunch of flax placed on a distaff."

German - something about spinning > Dutch - something about clothing and ornaments > English - something gaudy
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matutinal \muh-TOOT-n-uhl\, adjective:

Relating to or occurring in the morning; early.

Matutinal is from Late Latin matutinalis, from Latin matutinus, "early in the morning; pertaining to the morning."

Not sure why we need this word, since anything before 7AM is still night, but I am sure someone likes it.
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palliate \PAL-ee-ayt\, transitive verb:

1. To make (an offense or crime) seem less serious; extenuate.
2. To make less severe or intense; mitigate.
3. To relieve the symptoms of a disease or disorder.

Palliate derives from Late Latin palliatus, past participle of palliare, "to cloak, to conceal," from Latin pallium, "cloak."

Cloaks are cool, sorry.
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popinjay \POP-in-jay\, noun:

A vain and talkative person.

Popinjay is from Middle English papejay, popingay, meaning "parrot," from Old French papegai, deriving ultimately from Arabic babagha.

Arabic has more to do with English than we all think. Bother the Mongols anyway.
================================================================= grok \GRAWK\, verb:

To understand, especially in a profound and intimate way. Slang.

The slang word grok was coined by Robert A. Heinlein in the science fiction novel "Stranger in a Strange Land", where it is a Martian word meaning literally "to drink" and metaphorically "to be one with".

Who knew Martian would assimilate itself into English.
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Haddock

Last night we tried haddock. Joy recommends baking the fish with Mornay sauce (white sauce with parmigiano and worcestershire) and shimp. It also recommends parsley, but I used fresh chives from the herb garden instead. We also enjoyed fresh steamed broccoli and italian herb bread. I am not sure it is going to be a favorite, but it was fun to try something new.