"we will have these moments to remember..."

go-go-gatchety-kitchen!

more than ten months ago, i listed some of the things i would register for, were i in a position to solicit gifts. well, here's some news: you can buy kitchen stuff yourself! you don't have to wait to get engaged and ask other people to buy it for you! here's some of the progress i've made:


gadgets and tools:
- oil mister - got one in our secret santa random exchange! how lucky am i? so lucky!
- mandoline - bought one last spring and have only suffered one mini-amputation so far!
- good spatulas - bought one yesterday! it's cranberry-coloured!

appliances:
- rice cooker - got one in july for sushi making! have also made mamaliga and quinoa in there.
- i said that if i had a food processor and an immersion blender i wouldn't need a blender qua blender, but then one day at steven and chris they gave all of us kitchenaid blenders! it's not yet clear if this will be mine in the long run, 'cause i'm definitely leaving it here when i go off to law school. but let me just say: i love this thing!

now that i know i'm moving, buying stuff is a bit different. i'm trying to figure out what will be important to take with me. which clothes? which of my elephants? which books? which household things? it's a little early to make decisions, but certainly not too early for my impending move to affect my shopping. my boyfriend lives a very "spartan" life - his words - and took his time to settle into his new place. i put art up on his walls when i came to visit more than a month in. his couch came after i left, and bookshelves later still. i admire how careful he is about investing in his home, but the place was so much warmer once i put some pictures on the wall! maybe there's a happy medium there - a way to achieve practical nesting.

how do you decide whether to buy something?

in my defense

first off, thanks to all those who voted for my juicy watermelon cupcakes! while my entry received the most votes, that only got me as far as the random draw, which i did not win. the winner's cardamom and pistachio cupcakes look amazing, however, and she's a victoria girl living in vancouver!

second off, i've been thinking about gym class.

it seems to me that there are a few things this respite from the drudgery of coursework slash kafkaesque nightmare is supposed to accomplish. playing sports teaches you team work and organization. it improves your coordination and cardiovascular health. it trains you to be an accomplished enough liar to convince your classmates that you wanted to be picked last and your teacher that you just menstruate really damn often. how else will younguns develop perseverance, strategy, and the strength to survive public humiliation?

when i was in junior high school, once a year a self-defense instructor would come and work with all the gym classes. i remember that this was the only time during the year when i woke up every morning in pain. i wasn't accustomed to using my muscles. indeed, most of gym class was about cardiovascular work. when we did runs, my lungs hurt and i thought my heart would explode, but my legs were all "aw, come ON! we can do better than this!" my muscles weren't challenged at all - except during those two weeks per year.

being active is so important. and it's fun! and in high school i often found myself wishing that phys.ed. was still mandatory. but i can't help feeling that there was something wrong with the way it was taught. weight training is something you can only really start transitioning into in your mid-teens, but i wish my gym teachers had said to me, "it's not just about how many times you can skip in a minute. it's not just about how far you can hit a baseball (if you manage to hit it). it's about being at home in your body and using it well."

i wish i had been taught to be strong, and not just told that i wasn't fast enough.

down by the bay...

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this is an entry into sweetest kitchen's december mystery box challenge!
please please please please please please please please vote for me!
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when this month's mystery box challenge came up - "a cupcake for someone special" - the first thought that popped into my head was "didn't i just do this last month?!" i quickly realized that there were plenty of lovely brunette, blonde, and black-haired people in my life, and that surely one of them could inspire a delectable dessert. in fact, one of my favourite people on the planet doesn't have a whole lot of red hair - just the occasional natural highlight. she has been my little sissy for twenty-eight years and three months, and, for the most part, we've both enjoyed that immensely.

within minutes a stroke of brilliance befell me!

or maybe i just read my sister's blog. in the canon of our family history, alongside "the ugly picture," stories of my breaking christmas ornaments, and our obnoxious habit of quoting "singin' in the rain" to one another, this photo of slightly/aubergine devouring watermelon and clinging to maimuța holds a very special place.

the only question left was "can i really make a watermelon cupcake?!" cupcakes are creamy, buttery packages of sweetness and comfort and warmth - even when served at room temp! how can a cupcake taste refreshing and juicy and, well, watermelony? the answer came with a jiggle: watermelon jell-o! i prepared the jell-o juice and used it in place of milk! the first batch came out tasting great, but lacking that cheerful and intense pink that we've all come to expect from watermelon. so in went some food colouring, and the second batch was perfect!

rather than icing, i mixed tinted whipped cream with watermelon jello-o juice for the frosting, and sprinkled on green decorative sugar to create watermelon stripes.

paired with a delicious watermelon and cucumber rum cocktail, this juicy cupcake injected sunshine into one of the longest days of the year!

dodi dodi, i love you and your watermelon munching face! say "hi" to maimuța for me!

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

this is an entry into sweetest kitchen's december mystery box challenge!

please please please please please please please please vote for me!

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the winner of december’s mystery box cupcake challenge will receive prizes from:

• Bake It Pretty; a $5 electronic gift card
• Beanilla; Tahitian vanilla sugar & 3 Madagascar vanilla beans
• Hello Hanna; a pack of Sweet Stands cupcake stands
• Lisa Orgler; a handmade cupcake poster
• Miss Kitty Creations; a handmade cupcake charm of your choice
• Simply Caked; 600 brown greaseproof cupcake liners
• Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a prize pack worth $25
• Tundra Books; a selection 3 very sweet children's books

many thanks to all our lovely prize sponsors!

there will be fudge

i made fudge and wrote about it!

you should read and then make some yourself!

what is this?

is it necessarily the case that the fellow on the left isn't a feminist? isn't it possible that he is, but that he's also a jerk? kinda like a lot of other feminists?

being a feminist doesn't mean you're always a nice person, just like being a skeptic doesn't mean you're always rational.

it's funny, though. i'll give it that.

the choosy warrior

i recently abandoned an on-line forum that i'd been a part of, on-and-off, for about four years. it wasn't easy to walk away, but it's been a long time coming, mostly because the atmosphere was very divisive and toxic. the political landscape in the united states is such that some americans seem to be willing to consider any tactic that might undermine their opponents. they're also quite reluctant to concede any ground to said opponents.

that's not the kind of "discussion" i'm interested in. i'm also not into being bulldozed over and interrupted whenever i try to make a point. and, finally, i've been tapping into some newfound maturity on the matter: recognizing that in some cases my contribution is either redundant or unlikely to be fruitful... and then choosing not to make that contribution.

i've also become more aware that, when it comes to real debate, i'm often most critical of people with whom i generally agree, but who are making particularly awful arguments at the moment. this is because i think they're making my fight harder by misrepresenting me and my cause. when a feminist is anti-science or a skeptic offers a facile critique of religion or a liberal calls conservatives "the reich wing," i want to puke and rebuke. i hate misogyny and blind religion and conservative rhetoric, but it doesn't burn the way bad feminism or bad skepticism or bad liberalism can.

anyway, all that to say, i'm working on being better at picking my battles. as always, thanks for listening.

p.s. here's a snippet from a recent discussion about progressive enlightenment: if a misogynistic, racist, homophobic, classist idiot stops being classist, that's a step in the right direction.

istanbul (not constantinople)

today i am turkeying and gobbling. this is about the tenth turkey i've ever prepared, and it's always a bit of an adventure. i love the whole process, with the possible exception of the stress over whether the bird will be thawed out in time.

i love dicing apples.
i love mincing celery.
i love plumping raisins.
i love watching the stuffing swell.
i love whipping up butter and sage.
i love using my digital meat thermometer.
i love peeling back the tin foil.
i love wearing an apron.
i love eating the final product.
i love remembering all the thanksgivings, christmases, and easters past for which i made turkey, and thinking of the friends who sat around that feast with me!

i still don't know how to carve the turkey or make a gravy i'm really happy with, but... yay! it's turkey day!

i think i'm going to put on "white christmas" while i wrap a couple of gifts and wait to unveil my masterpiece!

food and memories

when i lived in calgary, i occasionally followed a vegan or vegetarian diet. the food buzz project blog competition has reminded me of this and made me miss the city through one of this challenge's competitors: angela of "oh she glows" review the coup, a vegetarian restaurant on 17th ave!

five things

pick five things that you want to achieve this month. they can be related or quite distinct, serious or fun, permanent or temporary. but they should be concrete.

my five things for december are:

1) lose five more pounds.
2) complete the december cupcake challenge with time to spare.
3) read a novel not written by agatha christie.
4) blog twice a week.
5) talk to new people at the holiday parties i'm attending.

what are you doing this month?

joy! joy! joy!

after a long wait, good news at last: i've received acceptances from five law schools so far, two of them in the top tier!

when i opened the first exciting envelope (the fourth envelope of the five), i blinked. it starts with "congratulations"... does it go on to say "no, thanks"? it didn't! looks like i'll be a law student after all! look out world!

as i told my parents, drank champagne, made my phone calls, sent text messages, and eagerly awaited a skype conversation, i felt a little like jane bennet.

it's been over a year now of preparing and writing and rewriting and rewriting and hoping and receiving devastating news and crying and regrouping... and finding so much love and support and faith around me. my family, my friends, my professors and employers who wrote recommendations for me... they shared in my low times with me and pushed me to keep at it. i am so happy to be able to bring you all joy by sharing my very good news.

i can't even begin to express how grateful i am.

stay positive

today's xkcd comic is just brilliant:

please vote!

if you liked my ode to ginger(s) cupcakes, or even if you just like me, please vote for them!

merci!

an ode to ginger(s)!

after watching with interest for quite some time, i've taken myself off the bench (and dared a few friends to join me) by participating in the sweetest kitchen's mystery box cupcake challenge! this month's featured ingredient is... ginger!


to be honest, i was very tempted to recreate my ginger-matcha sushi cake from birthday 2009. it was delicious, innovative, and fun to look at. besides, the wasabi icing blew my mind! but as i wandered around bulk barn, looking for cupcake-sized sushi ingredients, i was conscience-striken. the whole point of this was to try something new!


so i thought about ginger. and then i thought of gingers! having decided that my cupcakes would be an edible tribute to redheads both real and fictional, the perfect ingredient with which to pair the ginger instantly sprang to mind: carrots!

i scoured the underworld of the internets, bravely seeking a carrot-based cupcake that would defy expectations of carrot-cakey-ness! to no avail! in the end, i had to resort to adapting and tweaking to make these cupcakes masterpieces!

get these dry things:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour OR 2 1/4 cup cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp crushed cloves (ask your mom to mortar & pestle these for you. she's prolly tops!)

get these wet things:
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1 cup melted butter
- 1 large carrot, chopped, steamed, and then pureed with 1/4 cup buttermilk

la piece de resistance: ginger chunks in cane sugar syrup chopped up into minichunks!

do this:
- preheat oven to 350
- combine dry ingredients and whisk
- in another bowl, combine wet ingredients and whisk
- pour the wet combo into the dry combo (i'm still not sure why) and stir ten times
- toss in ginger chunks and stir a few more times
- fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way up
- bake for 20-25 minutes, turning halfway through
- cool
- frost!
- decorate!!
- serve!!!

here i am with my favourite ginger:

and that was my tribute not only the delicious and versatile ingredient that is the ginger root, but also to the carrot-haired among us, from conan to ariel, from archie to anne of green gables, from my older sister to my younger brother-in-law, from pippi longstocking to my boyfriend.

if you like what you see, please vote for my entry in the sweetest kitchen's contest!
the winner of november’s mystery box cupcake challenge will receive prizes from:

• Bake It Pretty; a $5 electronic gift card
• Beanilla; Tahitian ground vanilla & 3 Mexican vanilla beans
• Hello Hanna; a pack of Sweet Stands cupcake stands
• Miss Kitty Creations; a handmade cupcake charm of your choice
• Simply Caked; 600 brown greaseproof cupcake liners
• Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a prize pack worth $25
• Tundra Books; a selection 3 very sweet children's books

merci beaucoup to all our prize sponsors!

is it always sunny?

tomorrow i fly out to philadelphia, where idris will meet me! we have a weekend full of catching up, sightseeing, thanksgiving, and cooking planned, and i fly home just in time to teach my tuesday evening class.

truth be told, i can't believe we've survived eight weeks of being apart!

yaaaay for reunions!

lsat 101: conditional statements

welcome to lsat 101!

today we'll be covering conditional statements. consider the following:

if it rains, i will bring an umbrella.
this means that if you see me without an umbrella, it must not have rained. let's symbolize that:

rain -> umbrella
~umbrella -> ~rain

now this one:

"only experts can recognize a phony work of art."
that means that *if* you can recognize a phony, *then* you must be an expert.

recognize phony -> expert
~expert -> ~recognize phony

now, if you're like me, you watch "glee."
(like m -> watch "glee")

and this week they sang "only the good die young"
if you're even more like me, you immediately think of the conditional statement this billy joel tune implies:

die young -> good
~good -> ~die young

miranda abroad

thanks to the wonders of television and film, we've all probably heard police officers informing a suspect's of his/her miranda rights as the latter is arrested. thanks to a landmark case in 1966, police are required to say something along the lines of:

"you have the right to remain silent. anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. you have the right to speak to an attorney. if you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"

that most common formulation is, of course, american. it's also not the only permissible description of those rights - i.e. if the cop goes off-script, as long as the above is clear and the suspect is asked whether he/she understands, it counts as legitimate mirandizing. so what about here in canada? in my cursory research, this caught my eye:

"while section 7 of the charter guarantees the right to remain silent, canadian law does not entitle the criminal suspect to have counsel present during the course of an interrogation. once a suspect has asserted their right to counsel, the police are obliged to hold off in attempting to obtain evidence until the suspect has had a reasonable opportunity to contact legal counsel, however suspects do not have the right to have counsel present during the questioning.

"also, in canada even if the suspect emphatically asserts his decision to remain silent, the police may continue to interrogate him." (from wikipedia) so, they can keep asking, he just doesn't have to answer.

in germany, "though the courts may not draw inference from the complete silence of the accused in any stage of criminal proceedings, inference may be drawn if the accused is selectively silent." (also from wikipedia)

while grateful that i live in a country that values these basic rights, i think it's fascinating how each state tweaks the details.

nesting

everyone else seemed to be moving, so i've found myself a new home as well. i'd been at the other address since october 2003, but there were anonymity issues there. also this week, my hotmail address was hacked and i considered closing down the account i'd had since 2000.

it's strange how i cling to old homes, but also how quickly i nest in new ones. as i mentioned in my previous post, i recently applied to a law school in the states. even though i knew very little about it a month ago, i'm already getting attached.

sigh.

anyway, how do you like the new wallpaper?

applique

update: i've applied to a law school in the states under early decision and am holding off on further applications until i hear back from them, which should be by the end of the month. that way i don't invest money in applications that may be irrelevant come october 1st.

it's a little weird to be in this breathing space. but i'm learning to just enjoy it while it lasts.

lessons

i really love this article from cracked.com, which explores the ten most important things they didn't teach you in school. it's clever, often hilarious, practical, occasionally touching, and more than a little wise. here's their rundown:

10: sex ed. (for girls): how to spot a douchebag
9: sex ed. (for boys): why porn is a not a good way to learn about sex
8: phys. ed.: practical self-defense
7: industrial arts: emergency repairs
6: business: success = meeting the right people
5: health: how to stop throwing your money away on snake oil
4: health: why losing weight requires some amount of suffering
3: home economics: how to cook cheap food that won't kill you
2: political science: why talk radio is a terrible source of information
1: social studies: life is hard and you will die, get over it

that summary really doesn't do it justice, so i highly recommend you just read the whole piece.

1913 - 2010

i stopped checking messages because i didn't want to hear the news without my parents. i lay in bed last night, and i thought, "what if he's already gone?"

and, as it turned out, he was.

"ninety-seven is a ripe old age" but you always hope for more time, more opportunities to be together.

it's weird to hear other people talk about him, to read news coverage that describes him as a national figure, a party leader, a signatory on an important letter... he's just papaşa.

self-helpless?

so, in the course of reading a motivational article on sparkpeople.com, i came across this tip for when you're feeling discouraged by your lack of progress:

"Activate your imagination with the Miracle Question.
The Miracle Question is a great way to help yourself focus on solutions. Imagine that tonight while you’re sleeping, a miracle is going to happen that will completely solve the problem you are struggling with, once and for all. How will you know, when you wake up, that the miracle has happened and the problem is solved? What will be different for you — how will you think, act, or feel differently once the problem has been solved? What will be different about the day ahead of you? Are these questions already helping you think or feel differently now, at least a little bit? How can you make this happen more often?"

this is a little bit silly.

my mom once said, "problems that can be solved with money aren't really problems." she wasn't being flippant, and she's not ignorant... but she's also not entirely right. still, i like the idea of imagining what life would be like without the problem. sometimes that motivates you to do what needs to be done, sometimes it helps you break up the big problem into its bite-sized, easier to tackle parts... and sometimes it makes you realize that you've misidentified the problem.

if i won the lottery (without playing?), i could pay off my student loans and other debt. and i could afford to just volunteer at cool places this year. but it wouldn't magically parachute me into a good law school. it would just make life easier once i got there by the sweat of my brow.

if i do get into a good law school, that won't magically make me in the physical shape i want to be.

if i got into shape, it wouldn't magically solve my financial problems.

it's helpful for me to realize that life is a little bit like playing whack-a-mole. there's always something new popping up. and laying in bed at night, hopeful that one particular problem will be resolved and anticipating the next opportunity to show creativity and integrity and grit... well that can help, too.

lawpunnery!

you know you've been reading a lot (too much?) about scotus decisions vis-a-vis the establishment and free exercise clauses of the first amendment when you get a hankering for lemon shebert.

i got you, rusch!

i recently got crafty and revamped a rusch clock from ikea. this simple, cheap plastic clock is easy to personalize, as has often been mentioned on ikea hacker.

all you have to do is pop off the clear plastic front-piece, pull off the hands, and decorate your blank canvas: the clock face.

because the clock was for idris, and because we watched "groundhog day" on groundhog day when we'd just been dating for two weeks, this is what i went with:

i actually came across the picture while brainstorming ideas, and it was too perfect for words! all i had to do was print it to size, cut it out, and make sure the numbers corresponded to the appropriate time.

i love how it turned out (and so does idris!), and am planning on making one for myself! that way whenever i check the time i can be reminded to make each day matter.

three gifts

i eaves-read another person's book on the subway today and was inspired by this question: "what three values would you most want to instill in your children?"

the first one that sprang to mind was generosity. dr. mark greene's dying words to his daughter, rachel, were: "be generous. with your time. with your love. with your life... be generous, always."



i kind of want those to be my first words to my children.

curiosity: the world is a wonder, and when i catch myself less than in awe, i know i am in trouble. i don't want my children to be often in that kind of trouble.

integrity: even when it's all you've got, it can keep you warm at night.

what would you give?

a letter

dear luck,

you may remember that i invoked you in a brief message to idris, dated 13 may 2010. it's attached below, but basically in that missive i articulated my anticipation of your impending successful navigation to his doorstep.

and, within a week, he had both a job offer and an interview for another job! now, that's some kind of successful navigation! well done, you! your orienteering skills are second to none!

in recent weeks, you have also taken the time to visit both of my brothers-in-law and my younger sister. you've been very busy and even on two continents your knack for finding folks has proven itself flawless. i certainly appreciate your timely arrival at the doorsteps of people about whom i care so deeply. as you well know, i'm a big fan of yours and these particular people deserve all the you in the world.

but, dear luck, i occasionally worry that you have lost your way en route to me. i feel i've completed all the necessary preparations for your arrival - laid out all your favourite fingerfoods, put fresh linens in the guestroom, and all that - but, alas, i have yet to be honoured by your presence.

are you lost? because if you're using mapquest that could be the problem right there. sometimes that site is a little misleading. maybe you should try googlemaps. and turn the gps on, just to be on the safe side. please?

was it something i did? 'cause whatever it was, i'm sorry. i hope you can forgive me and we can move past this soon. to be honest, hard work, perseverance, and wit have done all they can, and it's really starting to look like it's sort of up to you now.

somewhat-patiently, ever-hopefully, a-little-bit-desperately,
~m


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to: idris
from: ~m
sent: 13.05.2010, 9:45 p.m.

luck will find you.

can't believe the news today

i want my city back.

read more here.

di: id

this is my boyfriend.

in addition to being awesome in countless ways that matter to me, idris is awesome in ways that are relevant to and have come to the attention of a mathematics department at a university in the mid-atlantic. i bought him the flowers to celebrate the long-awaited job offer - they're tiger lilies, 'cause he's a fan of cats. so much a fan is he that he just happened to be wearing the tiger beer shirt at the time!

this is my boyfriend and a delicious trio of chocolate desserts we shared just before we took turns crying a little.

he's been waiting for a career opportunity like this one for a long time, but the mid-atlantic is a bit farther away from me than we're used to. so, that's tough... but it's only tough because he's special. and having someone special is very, very good.

2421 sunrises and sunsets

welcome to my 500th post! this milestone will be commemorated with a nod to the main genres of blogpost we have seen here at "can you hear the sound of laughter..."

the mundane (yet somehow bizarre):
i was just stung by a bee in my basement. at just after midnight. while i was trying to iron my shirt. on my left ring toe. no - i wasn't trying to iron my shirt on my toe... that's just where the bee stung me. this probably means i'm in for a feverish dream.

the momentous:
today i graduate for the fourth time in my life, and officially add the letters "m.a." to the end of my name - instead of just the beginning. there's an awful lot of hard work buried in those two little letters! finishing things is so good!

the miraculous:
michelle and idris are joining my parents in the audience at the convocation ceremony, and all four of them are making significant sacrifices to be there. i am loved, and i know it.

the mmmm:
there will be caramel crunch cake and champagne when we come home tonight! yum and sigh.

the musing:
what's next?

good grammar can improve airport security!

while waiting in a long, long airport security line at lester b. pearson international airport today, i saw a sign warning unruly passengers that they may "be denied boarding and/or prosecuted."

oh, and/or. apparently, you're not as straightforward as i imagined you to be.

i'm pretty sure this particular sign used "and/or" wrong, because it implies that there are two possible punishments for being unruly: (being prosecuted) OR (being prosecuted and being denied boarding.) thaaaat's fairly silly. if they're going to prosecute you, i really doubt they'll let you board! but that's just my gut talkin'.

the sign should probably read: "unruly passengers may be prosecuted and/or denied boarding." subtext: being a jackass won't help you get on the plane faster. not even if you're a cabinet minister.

don't you dare let yourself believe that this issue doesn't apply to you! pondering such grammatical nuances has effectively diverted and distracted me as i've stood in long, long airport security lines. were it not for those distractions i may have become unruly!

and we all know what happens when you become unruly in an airport. or we would, if the sign was clearer.

une petite blague

what do you call a surprise kiss?
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an am-bouche!

hitting the road

the terry fox run is in just five months, and this year i'm really training for it! (are you running? you should! it's fun!)

last year i completed the 10k in 100 minutes. this wasn't super, but i was very happy with the fact that 10 min/km wasn't just my *average* speed but also my *consistent* pace throughout the course.

so, training: the ravine near my house is a wonderful place to get ready for september. it's only 2km from end to end, but that's a decent start. here's the plan i'm following, brought to me (and now you!) by sparkpeople.com! it's your basic "walk a little, jog a little" routine, where the proportion of walking to jogging decreases over a twelve-week period. i've been out there twice this week, and here are my observations, so far:

- midday isn't the best time for jogging
even though i walk/jog in a ravine, there are lots of clear patches, and it gets really, really hot. that climb out of the ravine nearly killed me today! drinking more will definitely help, but so will getting out of the house before noon.

- good shoes are super; laces that like to undo themselves aren't
i need to find a solution to the latter problem!

- having to check the time constantly is annoying
i've created a week 1 playlist for my ipod shuffle. it alternates between four-minute and one-minute songs, that way i know to switch gears when a new song starts!

- 4k ain't so bad!
because the twelve-week plan slowly increases the amount of jogging, it starts at about 4k per outing and peaks at just under 8. that leaves me about a month to go from 8 to 10 k... i hope that's feasible!

even if i end up walking the last bit at 10 min/km, i'll finish in 83 minutes - 17 minutes better than last year! and if i stay on pace with the first 8k, i'll finish in 78, an improvement of 22 minutes! (these numbers aren't perfect because, if i really keep this up, even my walking might be faster!)

this project comes at a good time for me: not only do i have lots of openings in my schedules, but it feels wonderful to be moving again... and with purpose. when i used to work out on an elliptical machine, i knew how much time to aim for, how many calories i typically burned, and what the difficulty level was. it wasn't aimless jogging because i had information and knew more or less what i was accomplishing. although the gauges are a bit different here, it feels similarly intentional.

and intentional feels good.

plus, there were dogs and blue-purple flowers today. and beauty is very good.

:)

from way across the ocean, my little sissy asked me why i was smiling. in response, i offer this partial list of my reasons for glee:

- haircuts
- sushi
- defenses and convocations
- job postings and auditions
- pub trivia successes
- a mom who takes care of me when i sacrifice part of my finger to the mandolin* gods
- a boyfriend who listens and is teaching me when to stop talking
- friends who have big! changes! going on in their lives
- the impending return of little sissy and her husband!
- seeing nyc for the first time soon
- big sissy's wedding in june!
- cats
- diet coke
- phone calls with michelle
- apples and peanut butter
- a pink sweater
- dibs

oooh... dibs! see ya!

* the vegetable slicer, not the musical instrument

how to succeed at pub trivia - an introduction

i need feedback on this lesson, please!
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before you can hope to succeed at pub trivia, you must first understand what success means in a pub trivia context. now, there may be some people who show up to a bar on a weeknight with no intention of answering any questions correctly. and there may well be others who will refuse to accept "gangster's paradise" as the title of coolio's song from "dangerous minds" because, actually, it's "gangsta's paradise." but the vast majority of attendees strive for an evening that is filled with lots of check marks in their answer booklets and plenty of fun with friends.

in short, success at pub trivia means having fun and getting questions right.

1) your team: you will be spending about two hours huddled over an answer booklet with two or three teammates. remember: the more well-rounded your team is, the more likely it is that you'll be able to handle questions on such diverse subjects as history, sports, pop culture, language, geography, and religion. on the other hand, you will be spending two hours with these people! recruit a team that is defined by camaraderie, diversity, and an ability to resolve conflict quickly.

speaking of teams, which north american cities have more that one major league baseball team?

2) your prep: read the newspaper, browse wikipedia, play sporcle, and watch "the simpsons," if you enjoy doing those things already, but remember that the point of pub trivia is to make use of the seemingly useless - hence trivial - facts your brain has clung onto. ideally, playing the game makes you more curious and more present to the mundane details of everyday life. it does not require you to pursue an additional degree.

speaking of research, the library in alexandria is the oldest in the world, but it is no longer active. in which country would you find the oldest active library in the world?

3) your answers: talk it out with your team, but err on the side of going with your gut instinct. if you get it wrong, you get it wrong. but if you ignore your instinct and it turns out that instinct was right, it may ruin your evening.

speaking of your gut, crohn's disease was first documented not by the american gastroenterologist from whom it takes its name but in 1904 by a surgeon from which european country?

4) your guesses: there will often come a time when neither your collective knowledge bank nor deductive reasoning produces an answer in which your team is confident. usually, there's no penalty for guessing, so here are my tips for that. mara-approved guesses come in two species: a) wild and b) tame.

a) the wild guess is so crazy that whoever is marking your booklet might think you were joking. on the other hand, if it turns out you are randomly right, your grader will be very impressed
b) the tame guess, while possibly wrong, will never inspire anyone to judge you or assume you are an ill-informed twit. if it's about a female american poet, and you have no idea, you might as well guess emily dickinson.

speaking of questions requiring a guess, what is halle berry's middle name?

my third and fourth points demonstrate that there's a close relationship between the two prongs of the pub trivia fork: it's hard to have fun when you keep kicking yourself for not going with your gut or when your ego is bruised. follow my tips and you'll prevent those catastrophes.

what you must remember, however, is that it is possible to have fun even when you don't win. in the final analysis, there are no tricks to getting every answer right. as my mentor in pub trivia once said, "there's no such thing as easy questions or hard questions - there are only answers you know and answers you don't." succeeding at pub trivia means allowing yourself to celebrate the answers you knew and the answers you pulled out of the air... and being surrounded by people who won't dwell on the answers you missed.

highlight the following to find out the answers to the trivia questions!

1) there are three such cities: the los angeles angels of anaheim and dodgers, the new york mets and yankees, and the chicago cubs and white sox.

2) egypt - st. catherine’s monastery in the sinai is home to the oldest active library in the world!

3) poland - his name was antoni lesniowski

4) halle - her first name is maria.

the great cola challenge of 2010: yes, we can or bottle!

what do you get when you combine eight types of cola with two nerds? a homemade cola taste test, patterned after the pepsi challenge!

idris and i are both loyal fans of coca-cola products: he's committed to the classic variety, while i have a mild addiction to diet coke. but would these preferences hold true in a double-blind taste test?!

we acquired a bottle or can of each of the following: pepsi, diet pepsi, diet caffeine-free pepsi, cocacola, diet coke, coke zero, compliments cola, and life brand diet cola.

using eight identical glasses and twice as many post-its, we achieved this:

i numbered the glasses and then, in private, wrote down which type of cola each number represented. i then left the area while idris rearranged the glasses and labeled them with letters. he also kept his code-key to himself.

in order to ensure that the test results were untainted, we did the taste-testing separately.

as we sipped from each of the glasses we tried to answer the following questionnaire:

a) which was your favourite?
b) which was your least favourite?
c) which was sweetest?
d) which tasted most like chemicals?
e) which ones were diet/zero? (5)
f) which one was caffeine-free?
g) which ones were coca-cola products? (3)
h) which ones were pepsi products? (3)
i) which ones were store brand? (2)

our answers were all over the map. we both correctly identified three of the five diet drinks, and i picked out the diet caffeine-free pepsi. diet pepsi fooled idris, while coke zero fooled me!

(i also knew which one was the store-brand cola, but that was a cheat: it was purchased last and was noticeably warmer than the others. by the time idris drank, the difference in temperature was probably negligible.)

while neither of us did a bang-up job of figuring out which drink was which, we did eventually each choose a favourite. the results, after this drumroll....



idris chose coke and i chose diet coke!

tada! sweet vindication!

word to the wise: if you want to recreate this, i'd suggest sticking with fewer options. the tastes are actually quite similar from cola to cola, so eight is, well, more than enough.

also, if you can swing this, buy cans and keep them all in the fridge for 24 hours before embarking on this adventure. that way, you can't cheat and when you're done you won't be swimming in quite so much pop you never intend to drink.

plans for the future: this might be worth repeating with other combinations. for instance, i arranged a quick follow-up test with just the colas, and idris was then able to distinguish between the coca-cola, the pepsi, and the store brand cola. you could also do one with kosher coke and regular, the former of which uses cane sugar while the latter uses high fructose corn syrup. or coke, diet coke, and coke zero. but, i repeat: the fewer samples, the better read you'll get on the differences between them.

amendments

oh, right! you're probably thinking that i just underwent the longest thesis defense of all time! in actuality, it only lasted two hours or so and my thesis was accepted with minor revisions!

it's been nearly a week now, and i've done the bulk of those revisions, most of which were additional footnotes and teeny typos. (it turns out there are no such things as "god mines.") i have a little more to do at the library tomorrow morning, and then i'll be done!!!

hurrah!

getting defensive

this morning - in just two minutes or so, in fact - i'm off to hamilton to see a committee about a degree. yes, today is my thesis defense.

as i look back on the last year and a half, it's hard not to regret the things i could have done better. still, it's amazing how something has come of nothing, how ore has turned to valuable metal, and how new stories are being heard because i once idly wondered how vietnam war draft dodgers were received by canadian churches.

it's a good day.

thesised!

my thesis was due yesterday... and i submitted it on friday! woo-hoo! i've already found things to correct, but i'm ok with that.

here's my foreword, in case any of you find that sort of thing interesting :-)

In the weeks before the first draft of this thesis was submitted, a senior Canadian diplomat, formerly assigned to Afghanistan, made some startling allegations. Robert Colvin claimed that in 2006 and 2007 he had tried to inform his government that suspects apprehended by Canadian forces and handed over to Afghani authorities were likely being tortured. These allegations spurred a political circus, a parsing of memos sent by Colvin to his superiors, and denials by high-ranking generals. In the face of their own potential complicity in the torture of Afghani citizens, Canadians responded in a variety of ways. On 30 November 2009, one letter to the editor of the Globe and Mail implied that the quotidian lives of Canadians had nothing to do with those of Taliban collaborators. “What a non-issue,” wrote Gordon Friedrich.

Here, forty years later, was a descendant of so many men and women I had encountered in the pages of the United Church Observer and The Canadian Mennonite. While the academic stakes of this project are described in its formal introduction, the ideology implicit in that Globe letter compels me to reflect on the practical impact of my work.

The Vietnam War invited all Canadians to consider the degree to which their seemingly innocuous actions constituted complicity in the assault of vulnerable people. One need not be a Christian to grasp that our common human experience binds us to one another. Even apart from that fundamental spiritual kinship, however, we now have extraordinary grounds for leading lives defined by extraordinary compassion. We live in a complex eco-political network, and our interconnectedness refuses to be dismissed as the figment of a sentimental imagination; it is an undeniable reality, documented by copious paper-trails.

As voters, as tax-payers, as inventors and proliferators of goods and ideas, and as consumers, our decisions cause not ripples but tidal waves throughout the world and, for the first time, we can track them. The advent of modern telecommunications has given us access to an unprecedented volume of information about one another, at an unprecedented speed. None of us can lay claim to innocence on the grounds that we are ignorant: more than at any other time in the history of our species, we in the developed world are equipped to understand the suffering of others and our complicity therein. As a result, the very definition of “neighbour” has dramatically changed.

By documenting the moral crises Canadians underwent during the Vietnam War, I hope to move the discussion forward, so that as we redefine “neighbour,” we may also redefine our politics.

delishulous orange chicken

warning: for better and for worse, this is not manchu wok's sticky, breaded, and deep-fried orange chicken!


i made a ridiculously delicious chicken dish last night and it's definitely worth sharing, particularly if you're trying to address these two key concerns:

1) will the chicken be cooked through? will it be dry?
i love preparing chicken in a slowcooker because i rarely have to worry about this.

2) will this hurt my stomach?
i live with people who can't handle a lot of "tasty" things: heat, exotic spices, onions, or excessively acidic ingredients can irritate the stomach or me hard to digest. it's been a challenge for me to find ways to make things that are healthy and tasty for them.

to solve this problem, we often rely on my favourite cut of chicken: the thighs. not only are they tasty but in this recipe they release a lot of moisture as they cook. in other words, they provide a delectable base for their own sauce. and, even though this dish has orange juice in it, the acid doesn't seem to survive the cooking process.

so, without further ado, i present a meal that feels bland to the tummy but yummy to the tongue!

the stuff:
- chicken thighs - boneless, skinless
- orange juice
- orange marmalade + sesame oil
- soy sauce + your favourite spice combo (i used garlic & herbs)
- flour + butter

the steps:
1) combine marmalade and sesame oil and slather onto the chicken.
2) place the meat into your slowcooker and add orange juice about two-thirds of the the way up the meat.
3) add a splash of soy sauce and a healthy pinch of your spices, then turn the slowcooker on high.
4) around the 2 hour mark, turn the slowcooker to low.
5) make a roux out of equal parts butter and flour. add liquid from the slowcooker to the roux, one ladle-full at a time, and combine well.
6) return thickened juices to the slowcooker and stir.
7) at this point i also added (frozen and defrosted) asparagus to the chicken, but you can use another vegetable (carrots would nice, i think!) or skip this entirely. if you're using fresh produce, think about adding it around the 1.5 hour mark so it has time to soften and soak up the juices. (let's call that step 3b.)

orangeyness is a very subjective thing, and you should figure out how much tang works for you. without too much figuring, the sauce came out sweet but not cloying and the chicken was hearty when served alongside some roasted zucchini and orange peppers (drizzled with sesame oil).

so yum! i need to start taking pictures again!

regisdream?

isn't it a little sad that unless you're getting married it's not normal to register for gifts? maybe if i'm still not married by the time i become a lawyer and have my first real "permanent home," i'll just have an "i'm a grown-up" party and register for that. like a "housewarming plus."

here are some of the kitcheny things i would put on my registry. i was inspired to write this list down while reading "back issues" of alison's blog. she mentioned the first item a while ago. without further ado, my kitchen dreams:

gadgets and tools:
- oil mister (instead of using pam, you fill the spray bottle with your preferred oil)
- mandoline (for pretty slices)
- good spatulas (safe for good pots/pans, won't leech/melt into the food. yay!)
- pepper mill
- food mill (mashed potatoes made any other way are just wrong for me)

cookware:
- pots with glass lids with adjustable vents and a steamer insert
- dutch oven
- tart pan (with the separate bottom, so you can remove the tart/pie from the pan easily)
- springform pan (vital, no?)
- pizza stone

appliances:
- slowcookers in large and small
- rice cooker
- food processor
- high quality immersion blender (i figure if i have this and the above, i don't need a blender)
- obviously, a kitchenaid tilt-head stand mixer, without which no woman is complete

other:
- a sign that says "i only have a house because it came with the kitchen"
- a real fireplace in the kitchen - i know i can't register for that, but it's my dream. sigh.

options

a friend of a friend, on facebook: pro-choice has ALWAYS been code for pro-abortion. They use those words to make what is absolutely horrifically murder, a more palatable swallow.

me: friendofafriend, respectfully, along with being unfair and untrue, your statement is quite offensive.

the right of a mother to make medical decisions about her own body and that of her unborn child, in consultation with a doctor, is much more complicated than you make it seem.

while i don't advocate abortion, i'm humble enough to admit that i can't possibly imagine the painful burden of hearing that my baby will suffer tremendously if carried to term. or of being a pregnant fifteen-year-old living in a broken, abusive home. or being diagnosed with cancer the same month i find out i'm pregnant.

that's why i'm pro-choice.

if we were sitting across from each other over coffee right now, could you honestly tell me to my face that you suspect i'm just a really big fan of murder?

way too many abortions happen every day. demonizing people like me won't actually solve that devastating problem.

on telepathy and dumplings

i have a new friend and one of the things we like doing is being psychic.

said i on january 24th: hey, do you have plans not this tuesday but the one after? bonus points if you can figure out why i'm asking.
said he: you're not going to believe this, but i was totally going to suggest watching that movie, too!

so, on february 2nd, i brought over "groundhog day." before we watched the movie, though, we headed out to the grocery store to get what we needed to make pork and leek dumplings. see, he'd hilariously suggested that we cook something with "ground hog." i had amusingly joked that the store would be sold out of minced pork because everyone would be doing the same thing that day.

and it was!

or maybe it just doesn't carry it? anyway, in order to mimic the tasty concoctions of the working class foodies (see video below), we bought plain pork sausages (and de-sausaged them), leeks, green onions, ginger, and wonton wrappers. we combined the meat with soy sauce and the veggies, loaded the goods into the wrappers (carefully but not super neatly!), and then boiled them for 8-10 minutes.



we dipped our delectable little parcels into a vinegar-soy-ginger-green onion sauce. and sighed and self-congratulated and went back for more. and watched bill murray repeat the same day over and over again.



and you know what? it was a day worth repeating.

can't believe the news today

apart from a brief mention of my disappointment with the possibility that our military might have enabled afghani authorities to torture suspected terrorists (read: random people), i haven't talked a lot about international affairs lately.  i want to take a minute to mention what happened on friday.

on 29 january 2010, around 9:45 est, the supreme court of canada handed down its ruling on the omar khadr case. this young man has been held by american authorities since he was fifteen. he is canadian-born, but was taken to afghanistan by his father at the age of 11. four years later, in 2002, during a skirmish with american forces in afghanistan, he was shot and then allegedly threw a hand grenade, killing an american soldier. (that soldier had medical training, so this is often reported as the murder of an american medic.)

since he has been in guantanamo, khadr has been tortured. the canadian government, under both the liberals and the conservatives, has been mostly silent on the matter. they did go and interrogate him early on, while he was victim to the "frequent flyer" program - being shifted from room to room every few hours so that you can't actually sleep. ever. so, when canada was involved, it tacitly endorsed the treatment he was receiving.

given the fact that he has been held for seven years *without trial*, it should come as no surprise that there has been a movement to seek khadr's repatriation. his lawyers are, of course, part of that movement. intervening in the case on his behalf were:

amnesty international, human rights watch, the university of toronto faculty of law, international human rights program, david asper centre for constitutional rights, canadian coalition for the rights of children, justice for children and youth, british columbia civil liberties association, criminal lawyers' association, canadian bar association, lawyers without borders canada, barreau du quebec, group d'etude en droits et libertes de la faculte de droit de l'universite laval, canadian civil liberties association, and national council for the protection of canadians abroad.

all bleeding hearts? i think not.

the issue is complicated: does a fifteen-year-old qualify as a child soldier when war hasn't been declared and when he's not wearing a uniform? will khadr face trial if he is repatriated? is it within the scc's jurisdiction to intervene in "foreign affairs"?

on friday, the supreme court of canada held that khadr's charge against the canadian government was sound:

"Canada actively participated in a process contrary to its international human rights obligations and contributed to K’s ongoing detention so as to deprive him of his right to liberty and security of the person, guaranteed by s. 7 of the Charter, not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice...There is a sufficient connection between the government’s participation in the illegal process and the deprivation of K’s liberty and security of the person.  While the U.S. is the primary source of the deprivation, it is reasonable to infer from the uncontradicted evidence before the Court that the statements taken by Canadian officials are contributing to K’s continued detention.  The deprivation of K’s right to liberty and security of the person is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.  The interrogation of a youth detained without access to counsel, to elicit statements about serious criminal charges while knowing that the youth had been subjected to sleep deprivation and while knowing that the fruits of the interrogations would be shared with the prosecutors, offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects."

(the full decision can be found here! i urge you to read it!)

i have seen several troubling things happen in my country over the last few years. our prime minister pretends to be "tough on crime" and does what he can to take away judges' discretion. for instance, he advocated for minimum sentences in child molestation cases. when some people (i.e. the bloc quebecois) disagreed with him, he used *government funds* to paint them as pedophile sympathizers. never mind that lots of legal authorities have problems with the whole idea of minimum sentences!

harper has also undermined judges' discretion by introducing "truth in sentencing" legislation. judges would no longer be permitted to give (up to) 2-for-1 credit for time already served while awaiting trial. this is time that *alleged* criminals spend in *crowded, unsanitary* conditions, while they are *presumed innocent.* one of the functions of the 2-for-1 credit is to create a powerful disincentive for prosecutorial stalling. it helps ensure a speedy(ish) trial - a right guaranteed to all those charged under canadian law.

but, no.

also, maybe the state has the right to seek out your internet browsing history without a warrant.

also, maybe csis can tap your lawyer's phones and monitor your calls.

also, we may or may not have been involved in the torture of afghanis... but it doesn't really matter.

i don't recognize us anymore! when g.w. bush was re-elected, i was agog. if we let the same thing happen, i will actually weep. but i feel like this shouldn't have to wait until an election, you know? somehow, we have to care enough about justice today.

only... how?

(photo from theglobeandmail.com)

hodgepodge

as a result of a solar conspiracy of unprecedented proportions, it looked like it was fifteen degrees outside today! it was somehow easier to put up with the crazy wind and the minus five because... well, isn't blue the best colour for a sky? i asks ya!

i submitted a draft of my thesis last night and, though it wasn't everything i'd hoped it would be, i'm reasonably happy with its progress. it'll be super by the end of the month, and i look forward to defending it in march. i even have shoes to wear for the defense! :-D

it's been a while since i've talked about my cooking adventures, and there have been two notable ones: first, i made clementine cookies that pretty much rocked my world. they were based on sydney's lemon sugar cookies and made the entire kitchen smell like satsuma. these will certainly be repeated! the same week, i baked some berry muffins with oatmeal, cherry yogurt, and orange juice in them. while they tasted like a good morning, the blackberries were a little seedy and made some bites a little awkward. i think i'll stick with bluebreeze and raspbreeze in the future.

in other news, i'm seriously considering playing the euphonium once in a while. when no one is at home, bien sur.

finally, do yourself a favour: cook up some minced pork, rent the bill murray classic, and make your groundhog day a special one. i know i will!

by contrast...

... i don't always have a lot of faith in myself. it's not my abilities (in the abstract sense) that i question, but my trustworthiness with deadlines. i don't know if it's laziness or fear or sheer overwhelmedness... probably a combination of all three.

someone - maybe dr. phil - said that just as you stop trusting people when they keep failing you, you also lose trust in yourself if you keep making promises you don't keep. i'm very bad at being disciplined. i shouldn't even be blogging right now.

but, come hell or high water, my first complete draft is due in ten days. i always say things will get done on time "because they have to." but, really, *i* should get them done because *i* have to. this isn't my thesis' responsibility, but mine. and it's a really daunting responsibility, in terms of its scope and volume and significance.

i'm at the 36,000 word mark.
i know all things are possible.
i know that i have the data.
i know that i can write.
i know that this is important.
and i know that no one is going to do it for me.

i want to have reason to trust myself again.

education causes cancer, but only in women

tonight i attended greg mortenson's lecture at the the toronto reference library. for an hour or so, he talked about how he started his pennies for peace initiative, which builds schools in afghanistan and pakistan. (here's an article about his ongoing work!) he emphasized the impact educating children can have on a community, and came back again and again to the importance of giving girls in particular access to schooling.

this wasn't brand new to me. campaigns like because i am a girl also make the argument that "when you educate a boy, you educate an individual; when you educate a girl, you educate a community" (african proverb cited by mortenson tonight).

in the part of the world in which mortenson is investing, this plays out in at least one amazing way: educated women are less likely to grant their sons permission to join tribal gangs or terrorist cells. because their culture is built around the importance of a mother's blessing, educating girls will have a marked impact on the recruitment of young men into such enterprises. yay!

but here's what really grabbed me by the (proverbial) collar and shook me: mortenson said that the education of girls in bangladesh coincided with a drop from 8 births per woman to 2.8 births per woman, over her lifetime. actually, he claimed that it caused the drop.

again, this wasn't earth-shattering by itself. there are a couple of options here: either this education includes some information about birth control, or educated women get married later (if at all) and pursue careers alongside child-rearing, or a (liberalized) community that values the education of girls doesn't tend to treat women like baby-makers... or (my guess) some combination thereof. education and industrialization/ urbanization go hand in hand and i suspect that the latter always lead to smaller families.

the thing is... cancer. i've been reading malcolm gladwell's what the dog saw, which is a collection of his best essays (according to him) from the new yorker. between insights into the clairol/l'oreal hair-dye market and an investigation into dog whispering (the title of the book came from the latter) is john rock's error,which describes the limitations of the birth control pill, the impact of modern medicine and lifestyles on female physiology, and the danger of too many periods.

yes, dangers. see, because today's woman starts menstruating earlier than ever before and spends fewer years of their lives pregnant or breastfeeding than ever before, she ends up ovulating many, many more times than her ancestors did. like 400 times, compared to 100. one result seems to be an increased risk of ovarian cancer, endometriosis, endometrial cancer, and other "below the belt" diseases.

simply put, both ovulation and the preparation of the uterus for pregnancy are processes which involve cell division. the more division, the higher the statistical probability of something going wrong... and cell division gone wrong is a loose definition of cancer. studies suggest that each full-term pregnancy reduces a woman's chance of ovarian cancer by 10%. when taken over a long period of time, birth control pills also go a long way to protecting against some of the perils of modern life.*

there's a lot behind this argument, and i encourage you to read gladwell's piece on this, if you have a chance. (the whole thing is available at the link above!) but the bottom line is this: a society in which women are educated is one in which they tend to menstruate much more often... and in which they will therefore be at far greater risk of developing cancer.

all things being the same, that average bangladeshi woman was about 41% less likely to develop ovarian cancer when she was having eight kids.

so this is the inconvenient truth: our biology is not only confused, but also endangered, by our self-made destiny.


* because the birth control pill suppresses ovulation but still leads to a period, the risk of endometrial cancer is not much diminished. read gladwell's fascinating piece to find out why the stupid 28-day cycle was maintained by the co-inventor of the pill, john rock.

[implicit]

during our very productive and entertaining meeting today, my thesis supervisor gave me a copy of the reference letter he had contributed to my law school application.

it was so very generous. not that it contained anything embroidered or necessarily untrue, but in the sense that... it told me that he's been looking to see the best in me from the beginning. and, because he's a man of integrity, i know he would only write such lovely things if he believed them to be true. and i also know that the words he used are meaningful for him, rather than empty compliments. as an academic reference he was not called on to do this, but he went out of his way to highlight aspects of my character that he admired. "i trust her implicitly," he wrote.

this note was so moving and so timely: i'm preparing to submit my first complete draft at the end of the month, and there's a lot to do. by mid-april, i will have defended my thesis. a few weeks later, i'll graduate again. the work has been tedious, thrilling, heartbreaking, provocative, inspiring, infuriating, and edifying. but what i am most convinced of is that the work has been important, not by virtue of my brilliant treatment of untapped primary sources, but by virtue of the subject matter. the stakes of this work go far beyond the boundaries of the academic world.

so... it's nice to know that he trusts me.

the funniest thing so far today

parental guidance - or a sense of humour that allows for gratuitous swearing - required. but seriously. awesome stuff: the author of f u, penguin furiously responds to the paralyzing cuteness of the animal kingdom... one species at a time.

i'm serious about the degree of swearing, btw: it's quite something. you really won't find this funny if that's a problem for you. don't say i didn't warn you.

update: if you're not into swearing at cute animals, but enjoy a little snark, cake wrecks
may be right up your alley. it features hilarious baked creations five days a week and actual works of cake art on sundays. enjoy!

just a dribblin' fool...

after tasting anna's pavlova at the big family christmas party in london, and seeing it on so many british dessert menus, i decided to give it a try for christmas dinner.

for those who didn't know (like me, a few weeks ago), pavlova is a dessert from new zealand. apparently it was named after russian ballerina anna pavlova. but i think its name is an allusion to the fact that whenever i think of it, i drool.

basically, it's a meringue that is chewy in the middle. this is not due to undercooking, as far as i can figure, but to the addition of corn starch or lemon or something. i mean, it bakes for quite a while. ANYway. it's typically baked as a circle 9" wide, allowed to cool overnight, and then topped with barely-sweetened whipped cream and fruit. if you want to go traditional, with kiwis!

i opted for individual portions of pavlova, which makes everything look prettier longer. plus, there were only three of us for christmas dinner. unfortunately, i used the recipe for a typical 9" round. if you're going to make these minis, you can safely half the recipe and still tempt four people.

my recipe, based on this one i found at allrecipes.com:
4 egg whites
1.5 cup white sugar (some comments on allrecipes recommended cutting this down to 1 cup. the original recipe does yield a very sweet dessert.)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice (i used clementine juice, which was inadvisable due to its relatively low acid content. it still worked, i'd like to point out... plus, i didn't know i had an alternative. vinegar will also work - the point is to add an acid.)
2 tsp cornstarch (i subbed in 1.2 tsp arrowroot because that's what we had on hand - the point is to add a thickener.)

- preheat oven to 300 and get parchment paper ready on a cookie sheet. it may be helpful to draw the shape of the pavlova you intend to create (one 9" round or many 3" rounds or what have you) onto the paper and then flip the paper over.
- start out by beating the egg whites into stiff peaks, then gradually add the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time. you're done beating when it looks thick and glossy.
- the recipe emphasizes the importance of keeping yolk and grease away from the egg whites. this appears to be crucial. also, for the love of all that is yummy and delectable, don't overbeat the whites!
- gently fold in the vanilla, acid, and thickener.
- i separated the batter (so to speak) into three groups and added green food colouring to one and red to another, but the natural colour of the pavlova is actually quite lovely and this sort of meddling is utterly unnecessary. perhaps even counterproductive! ok, i'll stop now.
- spoon or pipe onto the circles you've drawn on the parchment paper, making the perimeter of the circle slightly higher than the middle. (i may have ignored that last part.)
- pop in the oven for an hour.
- some recipes recommend letting them cool in the oven with the door ajar, some say remove to a cooling rack. i did the former.
- before serving top with lightly sweetened whipped cream and fruit.

the pics:

your ingredients!

yummm...

now, give them some privacy.

pretty in pink!

the verdict: these pavlovas were chewy, crispy, sweet, and satisfying. definitely worth repeating!