A Little Bit Fancy

Food is fun.  Especially when you have amazing friends who make amazing food which in turn inspires you to make amazing food.  The only problem is, I don't have a lot of time to make amazing food and I feel bad asking Zan to take a lot of time to make amazing food while I do reading.  So instead, we settle for little bits of fancy.  For example, last week we whipped up this great creamy-cheesy chicken recipe, but we added sauteed mushrooms and onions to the cream of chicken soup called for in the recipe.  Super easy addition to a super easy recipe, but it made it so much more fun and flavorful.  Zan has also gotten really good at making a tortellini carbonara with edamame and bacon.  Pair these with a glass of wine or some French hard cider, and it's a fancy meal!

But I think our favorite new, easy, fancy food is the artichoke.  Most people have had artichoke hearts on pizza or something, but artichokes themselves are so much more fun.  My friend Sarah made them for us last time we had dinner at her house, and now we are addicted.  You simply steam the artichoke for about 40 minutes, melt some butter, then pull off the leaves of the artichoke one by one, dip in the warm butter, scrap off the white edible part of the leaf with your teeth, and enjoy the amazing flavor of warm butter and artichoke.  They make a great little tapas style dish, appetizer, or side vegetable that feels so fancy and European. 



(Photo of artichokes found here)

Snoopy Butler

I had a dream last night that Judith Butler had provided the voice for Snoopy in the Peanuts movies and I was so excited when I found out that I made a blog post about it in my dream.  My dream blog post, announcing this big news, came with a very large picture of Snoopy-- like so:

Unfortunately, it was only a dream.  Does Snoopy even talk in the Peanuts films besides a kind of "urrnngghh" sound?  And "blegh?"  Hmm.  In my dream he did, though I don't remember anything that he said.  What would Freud say about this?

In other news, we changed the syllabus today in my textuality class, so now we get to read Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy!!!  I'm so excited!  Oh goodness, what would Freud say about that?

Why am I invoking Freud?

(Snoopy photo from here)

Of Kittens and Movies

Suddenly, yesterday, I started really, really wanting a cat.  I watched videos of munchkin kittens meowing, and other kittens listening to ukeleles, and then I started looking up cats available for adoption nearby.  There are some really cute ones that are eight or nine years old who have lived with families, love to sit in your lap, but for some reason need a new home (allergies in previous home, deaths of former owners), and maybe I'm just the one for them!  The thing is, this probably isn't the best time for me to get a cat.  Or cats.  First of all, adopting a cat is a huge financial and emotional investment.  Plus, I'm going to be gone for awhile this summer and I wouldn't want to leave my new furry friend alone.  But, on the other hand, wouldn't my new furry friend rather be at home than in a shelter?  No.  Bad Abigail.  Can't get a cat just yet.

To take my mind off cats, and also because we'd been planning it all week, Zan, my friend Liz, and I all went to see Cabin in the Woods last night.  I really liked it.  I felt that it had some elements of epic theater, pointing out the apparatus of horror films and questioning why horror films, with their stereotypical plots, continued to draw in audiences year after year.  I think it ultimately questioned whether or not humanity needs to see blood 'sacrifice' through horror films to keep our darker urges at bay.  Are we the Eumenides, who demand blood vengeance?  Zan and I had a long discussion about the deeper philosophical aspects of the film and the somewhat ambiguous ending (was it good, or bad?) for about an hour last night.  I'm still thinking about the levels and layers of it.

But, enough about horror films-- I leave you with a munchkin kitten.  Enjoy!

 

Languages and Textuality

In my perhaps-bi-annual attempt to do something linguistically productive with my life, I have purchased a few brush-up French books, including an "Easy Reader" and a verb review, along with an Introduction to Sanskrit book. Why? Because... maybe it will come in handy. I mean, who DOESN'T want to know how to speak Sanskrit? Also, I'm into studying British imperialism. Just saying.

So cool fact: Sanskrit is written in a script/alphabet called devanagari, which literally translates to "city of immortals." This is really, really cool I think. The oral language-- Sanskrit-- means "perfecting" or "putting together," but in writing it becomes immortal. Ties in nicely with what I'm studying in my Shakespeare/Materialism/Textuality course right now: 1623 Hamlet, folios v. quartos, and setting down things in "tables" to remember them-- literally, "tables" were portable blank books with erasable pages. So it really calls attention to textuality and materiality, writing down vs. human memory, and the always interrelated functions of remembering and forgetting.

Also, I got a bottled sweet tea the other day before going to my textuality seminar (because man, I miss southern sweet tea like my mom makes and how sweet tea always meant reading outside on porches come spring, and I needed to remember my roots). But the cool thing about this bottled sweet tea was that the little label on it had a story about sweet tea that started "Remember simpler times? When a text was something you carried in a book bag?"

Too. Perfect.

I hate "Twilight" so much

So, I just started watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Yeah, yeah, I know I love Joss Whedon how is it that I've never seen this show before, etc., etc. Well, suffice it to say, I haven't, but now I am and I can't stop. I've watched seven episodes in about five days which is quite a lot considering I don't have much free time. Anyway, the point is, Buffy is so much greater than Twilight. I knew it already (because, frankly, what isn't better than Twilight?) but watching Buffy just reminds me of how terrible Twilight really is. Whereas Bella is a hole for young girls to project themselves into, Buffy actually has a personality. Whereas Bella is emo, has no friends, and obeys Edward's every command to the point of offering herself up as a sacrificial lamb with no fight whatsoever to save the "life" of that soulless demon (who wants to kill her), Buffy is loving, caring, has friends (who she protects) and, while she displays some normal annoying teenage tendencies, she never blindly obeys anyone. It's so great to see a strong and complex character in a teenager/vampire story.

In honor of how much greater Buffy is than Twilight, I give you this video. It's an oldie, but a goodie.

you try to move your feet

I keep wondering if I'm in the right place. Sometimes I stop and think, "If you could do anything, if you weren't bound by constraints of economy or what other people thought, what would you be doing?" And I don't know. I think I'd be traveling, reading books that really interest me, learning languages, and writing. I'd want to take an intense yoga class and maybe study world religions. I'd want to live someplace sunny and warm. At the very least, I think maybe I should be in a history program. But, given the realities, I don't know what else I would do besides be here.

Hoppity-Hop Hop, Easter!

Happy Easter, to everyone who celebrates it, and Happy Beautiful Sunday, to those who don't! Zan and I have had a lovely Easter so far-- see our Easter Baskets above! The Easter Baskets were a gift from my mom, who sent the baskets, paper stuffing, and candy a few weeks ago. We just had to put them together! Mine is the kitty, and Zan's is the dinosaur. He only got the dinosaur because I was in a generous mood. :)

Last night, spur-of-the-moment style, Zan and I went to see Titanic in 3-D. So good. So good that I almost called this post "Ship of Dreams." I saw the film six times in the theater when it first came out, and while I now see that parts of it are kind of cheesy, it holds up well. I am pretty sure that I haven't actually watched it all the way through since I was ten. If it's on, I usually turn it off after they hit the iceberg. But I have to say, it's incredibly compelling on the big-screen. Really just takes you in, makes you forget about everything else for 3 hours. And now Zan can't stop looking up Titanic trivia on Wikipedia.

This morning I woke up, took a shower with my new organic pear-scented conditioner, and since the weather was nice, I walked to an Episcopal Church in the U-District. They held a morning Eucharist in the small chapel, we sang "Jesus Christ is Risen Today," and after the service I walked home in the sunshine. Then, Zan and I went to the zoo for a few hours. We saw the gorillas, lions, red pandas, lots of birds, an ocelot, beautiful giraffes, sleeping hippos, curious meercats, and more! Such fun! I do love the zoo so much. But school calls, so home we came, for some sandwiches, reading, and Easter Basket-making. This evening we're going to a potluck that a friend of mine is hosting! Hope everyone else is having a great weekend!

here's a fine spring morn

There's not a cloud in the sky this morning. I bet it will be warm-ish, too, by the late afternoon. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 64 degrees-- if that happens and there's no breeze I might actually feel hot! I have lots of work this weekend, as the last week was completely shot work-wise, but I'm going to attempt to complete it all today so that tomorrow I can properly celebrate Easter with going to church (hopefully, if I can find a good one) and going to a potluck that my friend is holding (complete with a plastic egg hunt). Or, if all else fails, just going out into the sunshine and thanking God for my blessings and for a glorious Easter.

Or going to the zoo. I pretty much always want to go to the zoo. And maybe it's fitting on Easter since animals are God's creatures, too? It's a stretch, but I think I can make it work. :)

The Chocolate Maker

Yesterday morning I found out that my friend, Jim Gay, had passed away. Jim was the chocolate-maker in the Colonial Williamsburg Foodways program. He was my supervisor during my two internships, and a large part of why I even wanted to do two internships instead of only one. He was generous and gentle, one of the nicest people I've ever met, with an adorable smile and a kind word for everyone. He was an incredible interpreter, teacher, scholar, mentor, chef, and friend.


Some of my best memories of Jim are of chocolate-making days. He would always let me eat a few of the cooked nibs with sugar. He also made an amazing chocolate shell tea, a drink once enjoyed by Martha Washington. On cold mornings, no matter what day, he would let me grate some chocolate down for drinking chocolate. You've never had such good hot chocolate. My schedule usually didn't allow for breakfast before going into my internship, and he (with the lovely Barbara) always made sure I had something to eat-- a roll with some cheese, a piece of the meat we cooked that day... yum. Another great memory I have is of our "Cast-Iron Chef" competition-- another intern and I made pound cakes with different additions and at the end he and the other Foodways staff judged the pound cakes. What a great day.

But I think the best times were when we would just go walking down DoG Street on Foodways business together, or when we had a moment to talk when the tourists had gone from the Randolph Kitchen. He was so intelligent, and so willing to share his knowledge and his life experience. Even after my internships were over, I loved to go visit Jim in one of the kitchens to catch up on life. While I lived in Williamsburg I would go about once every month or so, and sometimes I would just run into Jim on DoG Street-- those were the best times! He loved his family, his triplet granddaughters. He seemed to have such a joie de vivre that you don't find much anymore. I am so glad that I've had the ability to keep in touch with him through Facebook since I moved to Seattle. He posts Food Quotes of the Day each morning, and always has a kind word for me on my statuses. Hearing from Jim always made my day.

Today is the first Tuesday of the month-- chocolate-making day. I hope the angels are enjoying some delicious dishes and some amazing company. Jim, I will never, ever forget you. You are missed.

Emerald City Comicon

So, yes, I'm a nerd. In case you couldn't, you know, already tell from my blog. I love Firefly, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter (though I'm not as huge a fan as some of my friends) Legend of Zelda games, Mario games, watched the miniseries and first season of (and need to see more of) Battlestar Galactica, read the first book of A Song of Ice and Fire (and plan on reading more), basically all of Neil Gaiman's books, read xkcd, Hark a Vagrant, etc. The list goes on. Plus, I'm a history nerd, but that's a different kind of nerddom. And a musical theater nerd. There. There are my credentials. So yes, I was pretty much totally psyched for Emerald City Comicon. I managed to carve one day out of my busy grad school life to indulge my passions!

My pseudo-costume:
Sort of a mix between Firefly, The Hunger Games, maybe River Song in Doctor Who

Emerald City Comicon did not disappoint. I wish I had gotten to spend more days at Comicon, but one day was still great! Zan and I got to see Summer Glau, got to hear Adam Baldwin sing a bit of "The Man They Call Jayne," got to listen to an interview with Oliver and James Phelps (the Weasley twins from Harry Potter), saw Lea Thompson, got George Takei's autograph, and my absolute favorite part of the day-- we got to sit about five rows back from Edward James Olmos for an hour while he spoke. He's incredibly interesting, and he touched on a lot of topics that I might take into my Drama 101 sections. Olmos ended his interview with a rousing "So say we all!", to which we all shouted back "So say we all!" We gave him a standing ovation. It was a very, very moving moment.

I wish we had had more time to visit the booths to visit the comic writers/graphic artists, to see the voice actors, to people watch (the costumes were amazing!), and to do a million other things. I felt so sad as 5:00 approached and the stalls were shutting down... until next year.

Here are some pictures from my fantastic Sunday!

Zan with a guy dressed as the Borg Cube

The hilarious Adam Baldwin

The adorable James and Oliver Phelps

The amazing Edward James Olmos

Can't wait for Emerald City Comicon 2013... plus we heard a rumor that Joss Whedon might show up??? Here's hoping!!!