Happy Birthday Auden

February 21st would have been the 100th birthday of the great poet W.H. Auden. He is perhaps one of the most important and prolific poets of the 20th century, and many people know his work even if they do not know his name. Auden was born in The U.K., but spent more than half his life in the U.S. and died an American citizen. His poetry often celebrates various aspects of the U.S. during the jazz age. His beautiful love poems were often written with careful neutrality to conceal his homosexuality. Auden's style is widely considered to have influenced the next generation of American poets, and he personally mentored many young students who would later become well-known in their own right.

Much of his poetry really is quite wonderful, but he often made his readers work for understanding. Critics often try so much to "get" him that they lose sight of the actual meaning. Slate actually mentioned that a poem was "... with Augustinian theologies and the raiments of Kirkagarde." Which strikes me as a very silly thing to say.

Perhaps his most famous work, "Funeral blues, is a truly heartbreaking, but also delicately beautiful piece. Many people recognize it from its use in the movies, but it is best heard in a recording done by the author. Both the original title of the poem and the person for whom it was really written are subjects of great debate:

Funeral Blues

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone.

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling in the sky the message He is Dead,

Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last forever,

I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

What Time of Year is This?

Yesterday was March 1st. Usually this signals a hint of possible spring on the horizon. Not warm sunny days, mind you, but at least a patch of blue sky or a few blooming crocus. Yesterday, however, the crocus were trying their best to bloom through a good inch of snow. Most of the region only got a little hail or slush, but in our neck of the proverbial woods it came down hard and stuck.

On Wednesday night I was heading over to see a friend, and I left our neighborhood with the sun shining and the pavement dry. However, just about a fifteen minute trip later I was actually slipping and sliding up a hill as it hailed all around me. Several cars around me needed to pull off to the side because they didn't have the traction or momentum to make it up. I was feeling very happy about being in a front-wheel drive car at that moment. There was some spinning and slipping, but I made it in the end. Heading home a few hours later, our sidewalks were still dry. Then, just an hour or so after I got home, it all began to fall with a vengeance.

We still have snow on the ground around our house and around school. Even having temperatures up in the 40s hasn't melted things very quickly. I would REALLY like to think that this was our last little flirt with winter, but that remains to be seen. The real question is will next winter be quite so exciting?

Ethics Panels Run Wild

The ethics of ethics appear to be out of hand at American colleges and Universities. Yesterday, the New York Times has an interesting article about the way college ethics panels are expanding their powers over an ever-greater sphere of academic study. The power and questionable value of ethics panels was a common discussion in my graduate classes, so my interest was peaked by this article.

Ever since the horrors of Tuskegee colleges and universities have made an attempt to provide protection for people participating in research. Panels were formed to review proposed research projects, and to vet them for any possible danger or abuse to participants. Originally, these protections were intended to cover biomedical research with human subjects only. However, as the years go by it seems that the scope of these panels has increased dramatically. For example, virtually all psychology, sociology, and anthropology research has been subjected to oversight for some time. One could certainly make the case that these schools work in areas where harm could come to study participants in the form of mental distress or exploitation.

However, when these panels begin to encroach on fields such as history and art, people begin to think twice. There are hundreds of stories about stupid requirements or even research completely denied because of panel decisions. The article has several of these stories, but my favorite is about the anthropologist who wanted to study a pre-literate tribe. The panel required that he have them read and sign a consent form first. Do you think the members of the panel even noticed the irony?

Oscars #79

I don't care what any reviewers say, I liked the 2007 Academy Awards. I must admit that I had not seen so many of the movies as I have in other years, but I still wanted to watch the show and root for some of my favorites. First of all, Ellen DeGeneres did a decent, if not excellent, job. She bantered nicely with the audience, and did her standard self-deprecating shtick. Not fall on the floor funny, but good enough to make you smile a few times.

I was most pleasantly surprised by the interpretive dancers. Usually anything being called interpretive dance is painful in the extreme, but this was actually quite clever and impressive. Behind a shadow screen several dancers would jump onto the strange and quickly form themselves into shapes representing the movies. A van with people inside for Little Miss Sunshine, a trio of penguins for Happy Feet, and so on.

The musical number with Will Farrel and Jack Black was really very funny. They sang (badly) about how they will never win Oscars because they are comedians. Then John C. Riley (I think it was him) jumped out of the audience to sing about how he had made the leap from comedies to serious roles. It was, I think, a statement about Eddie Murphy's nomination (and loss). I still believe they should create separate categories for comedies/musicals and dramas. You just can't compare the power of a performance in, say, Schindler's List with one in a comedy. That doesn't mean that there aren't some great comedic performances out there.

Another very interesting segment was the sound effects choir. This was a group of about 40 people who created a soundtrack for a movie montage. If they were really providing all the sounds, then they were truly awesome. Many people are doubting the authenticity of this piece, but I can't imagine it being included if it was fake. The sounds they created for airplanes, trains, water, and several other images were amazingly convincing.

Oh yeah, I guess there were movie stars winning awards too. They were okay I guess. No one was really very moving or breath-taking though. Al Gore was probably the best "actor" there with his acceptance of the Best Documentary award. People delighted by his humor, and everyone wondered all over again where this warm and charming person was during the unfortunate presidential race. If only he'd run (sigh).

On the whole, I have more complaints about the slate of movies than I do about the awards show. At least the Oscars was relatively fresh and amusing this year. If only I could say the same thing about the film industry. Better luck next year I suppose.

Risotto in Seattle

Warning! Spoiled bourgeois and ranting vegetarian content ahead!

Proof that we are, in fact, yuppies is that our favorite Seattle area restaurant promotion is back on. Every November and March 25 of the nicer restaurants (although not the uber-fancy ones) do a special pre-fixe menu for $25. Usually you can choose one of three starters, one of three or four entrees, and one of three desserts from the set menu. At most of these places the normal prices are such that this represents a pretty good deal, and so M often takes me out (generous person that he is) for a few semi-fancy dinners. Lucky us.

The perennial challenge in all this is to find places that deign to include a vegetarian option on their pre-fixe menus. Now, I must admit, there are some restaurants where change is not a problem. The Barking Frog, for example, was more than happy to swap in something meatless and still honor the 25 for $25 deal. However, most restaurants are not so accommodating (I've eaten dinners of buttered noodles or mashed potatoes more than once), so finding something already on the menu is a very good thing indeed.

This year a 14 of the 25 have vegetarian options available. Andaluca, Brasa, Cascadia, Earth & Ocean, Fish Club, Market Street Grill, Nells, Nishino, Ponti, Zoe, Sazerac, Sarafina, Six Seven, and The Yarrow Bay Grill are all very thoughtful indeed. They deserve a round of applause for thinking of all the people who, for one reason or another, don't eat meat. I'm truly grateful because I know that in many parts of the country not a single vegetarian item would be offered. For that, I am happy to live in the Seattle area.

That said, I can't help but offer one small complaint (aside from the 11 restaurants who ignored me of course). Risotto. Risotto, risotto, risotto. Don't get me wrong, I do like the stuff, but when 7 of the 14 serve risotto as the only veggie option it does tend to get a bit old. Now I know this sounds terribly spoiled of me, but when you are facing the third plate of risotto, you too will start to feel a little green. Perhaps we could try out a pasta dish for the veggie option? Or a nice veggie pie? Or some sort of veggie stew? Or a delicious fancy pizza? There are so many options, and they are so inexpensive to prepare. Here is the menu in case you want a cheesy rice fix:

Andaluca--- Mushroom risotto
Earth and Ocean--- Carrot, that's right, carrot risotto
Nell's--- Butternut squash risotto
Ponti--- Red and yellow beet risotto
Ray's Boathouse--- Farro risotto cakes
Zoe--- Roasted beet risotto
Tulio--- Lemon risotto (but this one really doesn't count because it has chicken)

Once again, hooray for those restaurants who stopped to think of us freaks. We really do appriciate the notice. Now if we could just break out of the usual, and get a teensy bit more variety it would make it even better.

Snow Drops

Hooray! There are Snowdrops blooming in our front yard! I thought for sure that the squirrel had eaten all of them just after planting in the fall. However, low and behold, several came up! I'm so happy to see them. They are such perfect little white bells, and it almost seems a shame that they aren't blooming through the snow. It's proof that spring is out there somewhere.

I was also very happy to see a little patch of irises begining to bloom under our Japanese maple. M said they were there, but I couldn't for the life of me remember having planted them. They certainly weren't there last year. Then I remembered having a pot of irises on my desk at school. When they were finished blooming I couldn't bare to throw away the healthy plants, so I took them home and poked them into the ground. I guess they liked the spot just fine, and now we have beautiful little mini-irises.

Last, but not least, are the bulbs that show promise, but have no flowers as yet. The crocus I planted in the fall ALL came up. I think there must be something about them that squirrels don't like because these didn't even get disturbed let alone eaten. The daffodils were all dug up and thrown around several times, but I kept putting them back. I think most all of them are now sprouting including the one that lay on top of the ground all through the snow and ice, and even sprouted some nice green leaves before I noticed it. All in all, the future looks good for spring flowers. Now if we can just get through the end of winter without another snowstorm...

T' Latte

For a while there M and I were spending quite a bit of quality down in the old town part of Bellevue. My long-time mechanic is down there, so every time I would take a car to be inspected, I had an hour or more to kill. My usual solution was to walk up to the mall, but on these inspection days the time was just too short. On the most recent visit M and I decided just to wander around a little bit.

We've been to a truly awful tea shop in the area before, and we were glad to see that it had gone under. I've also noticed the bakery and the Rudy's barbershop housed in the old gas station. Wandering a little further we found a nice looking coffee shop called T'Latte. It was very cold outside at the time, so the warm steamy atmosphere was very welcome. The coffee smells were pleasant, but not old or acid-smelly like some coffee shops I could mention. They had a nice array of goodies, and the selection of coffees seemed reasonable. I ordered a decaf mocha (damn you school schedule!) and M had a regular mocha, but with Dilettante chocolate (I think). The coffee came in real cups and the taste was very good. Over all, I would really recommend the place. The next time you are in old Bellevue near the bridal salon, visit T'latte for yourself and see what you think.

So Long Molly Ivins

A few weeks ago author and newspaper columnist Molly Ivins passed away. This is truly a sad loss to the realm of political thought and to the world in general. About politics she famously remarked that "We can't cry so we might as well laugh." and that seems quite apropos here as well. Her razor-sharp wit and keen sense of justice made her a vocal and sometimes vicious commentator on politics and on the foibles of the political elite.

She first began writing and the current president when he came to office as governor of Texas. Her opinion of him did not improve with time, and she frequently criticized his policies as well as his failure to turn a phrase. The president was not her only target, and her columns almost always elicited laugh-out-loud responses from many. Some of her most famous quotes are included here:

• The first rule of holes: when you're in one, stop digging.

• What stuns me most about contemporary politics is not even that the system has been so badly corrupted by money. It is that so few people get the connection between their lives and what the bozos do in Washington and our state capitols.

• It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America.

• It's hard to argue against cynics -- they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side.

• Being slightly paranoid is like being slightly pregnant - it tends to get worse.

• I am not anti-gun. I'm pro-knife. Consider the merits of the knife. In the first place, you have to catch up with someone in order to stab him. A general substitution of knives for guns would promote physical fitness. We'd turn into a whole nation of great runners. Plus, knives don't ricochet. And people are seldom killed while cleaning their knives.

• I still believe in Hope - mostly because there's no such place as Fingers Crossed, Arkansas.

• Any nation that can survive what we have lately in the way of government is on the high road to permanent glory.

I especially like that last one. It is a commonly held belief that people from Texas tend to be larger than life. Molly Ivins was one of those characters who really makes that idea seem true. She will certainly be missed.

Soothing Soup

I started to feel sick on Valentine's Day. It made for a really romantic evening:

"Hi Honey! (SNEEZE!) How nice to see you (SNEEZE!). Come and have some of this dinner I've made for you (SNEEZE!). What a lovely present! Thank you. (SNEEZE! COUGH! SNIFF!)"

I tried to take the next day off of work, but there were no extra subs, so I had to go in anyway. It was the LONGEST day of the whole year. I put in for a sub before I'd even gone home. By the time I got home I had such chills that I was shaking. M brought me medicine and tissues (with lotion!) and some nice little bits and pieces. I went to bed at 8pm and did not get up until 9am the next morning. Today was very quiet. I still have some fever, but the chills are gone and my bones don't hurt anymore.

M is out tonight, so I needed to think of something that might actually sound good for dinner. My mom always used to make soups for us when we were sick, and this is sort of an approximation of one of her soups. It does have a decidedly hippie element with the brewers' yeast, but it melts in and gives a nice depth of flavor (and lots of good B vitamins). Amounts are for one large serving but double or triple nicely.

Vegan Onion Soup

1 onion per person

1 tbs olive oil

1 sprig thyme

2 cups vegetable stock

1 cup water

1 tbs miso or soy sauce

1-2 tbs brewers yeast

opt. black pepper

Slice and saute the onion in the olive oil. When the onion is brow (but not burned!) deglaze the pan with stock. Add the thyme. Simmer for at least 30 minutes (more if you have time). When the onions are falling apart, take from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add miso or soy sauce and brewers' yeast. Stir until combined, ladle into bowl or mug, add a good hearty bread if desired. Feel better soon.

10 Randomly Selected Things I Love About M

In no particular order. Don't read if you don't like schmaltz.

10. The way he makes the tastiest tomato paneer and preserved lemons EVER.

9. The way he hardly ever takes himself too seriously.

8. The way he always remembers to put the seat back down.

7. The way he listens to my ideas crazy and not.

6. The way he gets excited about things and MUST know more.

5. The way he is kind to people; even the ones who don't deserve it.

4. The way he is convinced that all foods are better on toast.

3. The way he lets me set the pace when we hike because he knows I'm a wimp.

2. The way he drinks tea and reads the paper with me on Sunday mornings.

1. The way his eyes crinkle when he smiles.

Vocabulary Fun

Vocabulary is very much a regular part of my curriculum. Regardless of what else might be going on, we have a vocab lesson every single week. I give them the list of words and definitions, and then they have to write down the example sentence that I give orally for each word. For example, if the word "ecstatic" is on the list for the week, I might say "Jose was ecstatic on the first day of summer." I always try to give hints about the meaning in my sentence, and the kids then have a week to study before the test. Every week we have a list, and every week I make up sentences.

Last week I decided to have a little fun with the list, and I made a little story out of the words.

1. Bob had a tough dilemma because he couldn't decide whether to invite Nicole or Sarah to the dance.

2. Bob ran down the hall towards the lunchroom because he was famished.

3. In the hall Bob met Sarah and invited her to the dance, but she just looked mortified.

4. Sarah rebuffed Bob's offer because she said he was not rich or handsome enough for her.

5. Sarah swaggered off down the hall with her nose in the air.

6. Poor Bob just lolled his house doing nothing and feeling sad.

7. Pious Nicole attended temple as she always did on the weekend.

8. After temple, Nicole decided to travel in a convoy of cars to go hiking with her friends.

9. As they began their ascent of the mountain they saw their friend Bob in the distance.

10. Bob was crooning a sad song to himself, but then he saw Nicole and smiled.

I know some of these are a little weak, and I do take certain liberties with grammar to make some of them work. However, the kids did get all excited about the prospects for Bob and Nicole. We'll have to see what might happen next week. The list is as follows: amiable, habitual, apparition, ghastly, opponent, diligent, navigate, placate, shambles, and exuberant. Any great ideas?

Coping With Stress

Few could argue that stress is an ever-present part of life. Part of becoming a healthy adult is learning how to deal with stress in a way that does not harm yourself or others. Some adults choose to take baths, light candles, meditate, or go for walks. Unfortunately not everyone is able to use calming strategies to combat this problem. Young people often have an especially difficult time learning to cope. In middle school we often see tears and stomach aces, and sometimes we even get shouting, stomping, and penises. "Penises?!" you are probably asking. "Why penises?!"

Fortunately I am not talking about actual penises (if I never see one of those at school I'll be a happy woman) just pencil drawings of them. One of my students was very upset a few weeks ago over an essay we were working on in class. He very much wanted to avoid finishing the essay, and he was very unhappy when my aide and I would not let him off the hook. His solution to this problem was to draw several pictures of well-endowed aliens and cavemen all over his essay packet. He was shocked and very annoyed when we simply brought him a new packet and made him START OVER ENTIRELY!!! It seems that Mrs. H and I are not so easily rattled as all that. Perhaps he can take up yoga in the future.

Obit For A Little Blue Car

I promise to keep this short, but be warned that it may be both maudlin and saccharine at the same time.

Seven years ago I was in graduate school. I was in the middle phase of my studies which meant a full class load, a major research project, and full-time teaching. It's one of those times in life when you are in danger of forgetting what your friends and family look like. My teaching assignment was 9th grade American history in a small town not far from the university. I hated this class. The amazing thing about 9th graders in this school is that half of them hate you before you even walk through the door simply because you are the teacher. I did not drink at the time, but they almost convinced me to take it up. Did I mention the part where I had less than no money? In short, I was feeling more than a little sorry for myself.

My car was also a source of trouble. I was driving a Toyota with more than 250K on the clock. The compression was gone from the engine, the water pump was going, there was a serious dent in the frame from an old accident (not mine thank you very much), and every time you used the turn signal the brights would come on. The car did get me where I needed to go, but it was not much fun keeping it running. Then came Christmas.

Well, okay, it was actually a little before Christmas, but still. My older brother called, and asked if I might want a different car. His co-worker was going to donate his extra car to charity, so my brother offered him a very small purchase price instead. I jumped at the chance. I didn't really know what I was getting, but anything with fewer miles had to be an improvement. My sister-in-law drove it down the following weekend. It was nearly mid-night when she arrived. I went out into the frosty November night, and... words fail me. I know this sounds overly dramatic, but it really was one of those moments.

At the time, the car was already nearly ten years old. However, it had only 40k, and it had been garaged through most of its life. In short, it was mint. Driving it for the first time was also quite the experience. The power and handling of that car were the perfect fit for the Mazda jingle "Zoom Zoom." That was only the beginning of our good times together. I won't bore you with too many (more) details, but having the RX-7 really was as good as I imagined. Perhaps my favorite drive was Peoria road where the pavement was in good shape and road curved and went over gentle hills. You could drive fast and not meet another car for miles.

Of course, there was the sad bit at the end where she got less and less reliable. However, none of us can help our failings when we start to get old. It was really hard signing the papers to sell, but it was time. I am grateful that I got the chance at all. I could have spent those years driving some other nice, reliable, and totally boring car, but I got to have my little blue RX-7 instead.

The Grand Car Parade Part 5

If you're growing tired of this endless car story, rest assured that I'm almost done. If you're really tired of it just skip the next post or two. What can I say; car buying is not something I do every day.

Okay, back to the story, we went o Michael's Toyota after striking out at a number of other places. Our cheerful, purple-clad saleslady had two possibilities in my price range. In fact, she did an elaborate interview and search thing that resulted in the two cars I'd identified online. One was an '00 Honda Civic with 62k, and the other was an '02 Toyota Corolla with 42k. On that level this Corolla seems the obvious choice. However, adding difficulty to the decision was the fact that the Honda was an automatic (a feature I wanted) and had a smaller price tag. We decided to take them both for a test drive.

The Corolla reminded me strongly of the Tercel I used to have. It is a stripped-down model down to the manual windows and the cassette deck. However, the driving experience is decent with tight steering, peppy engine response (at reasonable speeds anyway), and responsive brakes. The turning radius is good, and the clutch does not drive me crazy (I have a thing about clutches), and the visibility is okay. Over all, it's a good little car without many extra bells or whistles.

The Honda had many more "features" such as power windows and locks, a cd player, and an automatic transmission. Perhaps because the car is older it also had a much noisier more rattled ride, and the brakes were not as crisp. You just can't beat that Honda steering though. There was a slight shimmy at all speeds. The engine was also less peppy (partly because if the automatic of course), and it had annoying high whine when going up hills. In hindsight the choice seems obvious, but at the time it was a real struggle to decide which was the better deal. In the end, the warranty left on the Corolla sealed the choice.

Once I'd decided, it was time to argue about the trade-in value of the RX-7. This part was not fun. The salesman (oh yeah, our purple lady was, of course, replaced by a tough guy) tried at first to offer $1600 for my little blue streak. I was horrified, and told him so in no uncertain terms. After some finagling he agreed to double the price. I was still not happy about this, but I was willing to accept. The price of the Corolla also came down a bit, so I was feeling at least okay about the whole deal.

Lastly, we had to go to the back and finish up with "the financing guy." Why him when I don't need financing? Good question. He spent some time trying to sell me extra warranty coverage. I sincerely hope that M will blog about this because he will have a better memory for the tactics used. The man spent quite a bit of time showing us an extended math problem about why warranties on new cars are stupid, but warranties on used cars are smart. He also tried to tell me that Toyotas are not as reliable as they used to be (was the saleslady lying then?). Finally, he tried to get me to buy a glass-etching service designed to protect against theft. Did you know that 85% of car thefts happen in King County? (Yeah, and about 85% of the people do too) It was very helpful to have M sitting next to me. Every once in a while I would glance over at his face. He had incredulity written all over him, so I knew I wasn't wrong to resist. Finally, I wrote one of the biggest checks of my life, and we were all finished.

Now I am the proud new owner of a Toyota Corolla. It isn't glamorous, but it is safe and reliable. I took it to my mechanic for inspection, and he said that it needed new windshield wipers and nothing else. It was hard getting rid of the RX-7, but in the end it really had to be done. The best part is that I own the car outright, and I didn't need a co-signer to do it.

The Grand Car Parade Part 4

Wheew! As you can tell from the previous posts, this whole car thing is getting pretty wearing. Not only is there the sorrow of losing the RX-7 and being rejected for the car loan, but I also have to put up with Slimy (note the capital "S") used car salesmen. The problem of getting a new car was just not resolving itself as quickly as I'd expected. Then, on yet another Saturday morning M and I set out to look at cars.

Our first stop was a dealership in the Northgate area of Seattle. Northgate is not my most favorite part of town, but this dealership had three different cars that looked like good candidates. The favorite was another '03 Toyota Matrix with only 39k, power everything, and a sunroof. When we arrived the car seemed just as nice as it seemed in the ad, but the dealership itself made the whole thing suspect. I have never seen anything like it.

The name of the business was painted in ten foot letters on the side of another building, but you could barely read it because of the pealing and cracking of the paint. The lot was fenced in a conglomeration of chains, airline cables, and plastic rope, and the asphalt had certainly seen better days. The most impressive part, however, was definitely the office. The door was made of plywood and was stained and warped to the point that it needed a shove just to open. The carpet inside looked like it came from a crime scene, and there were piles of junk all over the place. The best (or worst) part was the salesman himself. He was there by himself and trying to make three deals at once. He quickly unlocked the Matrix, but when I told him I wanted an inspection in Bellevue he just refused completely on the grounds that it was too far away. He said he just didn't have time to deal with us then, and could we come back another time? We left as quickly as possible.

Finally, after a few more false starts, M and I went back to Michael's Toyota where we'd driven a Matrix several weeks before. Our first salesman, Jo Jo (I'm not making that up) was not available, so a middle-aged lady in a brilliantly purple coat took charge of us. Their stock of Matrixes (?) were priced out of my range, but they did have several other cars for me to look at. The two strongest contenders were an '00 Honda Civic and an '02 Toyota Corolla. More on this experience tomorrow.

The Grand Car Parade Part 3

Once I'd decided not to pursue a car loan, I started to look at cars in a slightly more conservative price range. I found one little Toyota Matrix that seemed nice, so M and I went over to the dealership on a Sunday. The first guy who came out to greet was friendly, and his personality did not make me want to rush home and take a shower (if you know what I mean). He told us a little about the Matrix, gave us the keys, and told us to take it out on our own for a few minutes.

The test drive went fine. The automatic Matrix is not a sports car, but it is reasonably peppy, and it has a decent amount of power going up hills and passing other cars. Steering is tight although not as good as a same-level Honda. My only real complaints were a poor turning radius, and bad blind spot visibility due to the location of the center pillar. I do not see any of the problems with the instruments panel that some reviewers complained about. Over all, it's a nice, if not special little car to drive. I decided I was interested.

I took the car to my trusty mechanic who's been working on the RX-7 (frequently!) for the last seven years. He gave it a thorough going over, and determined that the car, in spite of only having 50k, had an oil leak in the engine. He felt that it was probably a small thing, but that it might also be a cracked head gasket (not a small thing at all). He suggested that the dealer fix the small thing, clean the leaked oil off the outside of the engine, and then run the car for a few miles at highway speeds. If the small fix did the trick there should be no more oil leaking out. He said he would be happy to take another look at it after they'd done the small fix (for free too because he's a good guy).

Given this information, I drove the car back to the dealer, told them what he said and gave them his documentation. The dealer was SHOCKED that it didn't pass inspection. He was AMAZED that we thought it might be the head gasket. There was NO WAY it could be the head gasket. He agreed to make the small repair and call me when it was ready to go back to my mechanic. He promised it would be repaired by the next afternoon. I've never heard from him again. What would you make of this experience? I could be wrong, but I would say that Championship Motors in Redmond is not a very trustworthy place.

The Grand Car Parade Part 2

Naive idiot that I am, I thought that getting a car loan would be no big deal. After all, they give car loans to people with terrible credit all the time. My credit is excellent, and I have a large down payment, so I shouldn't have any trouble at all. Right? Ha, ha, little did I know.

We sat down with the loan officer; put all the pertinent numbers into her computer --- and --- red box. What's red box? That's when there's a problem. It seems that while I have excellent credit (fantastic credit even if I do say so myself) I have an unacceptable debt to earnings ratio. This means that, in their opinion, most of my paycheck goes to servicing debts. I was more than a little shocked at this because it is patently false. However, she soon explained that the entire house mortgage was being "held against me" as my personal debt. That, in combination to my student loan, is enough to put me in the red category. I argued that since M was equally on the mortgage maybe they should only assign 50% of the value to me. They countered that if something "happened" to him I would be responsible for the whole thing. I admitted that was true, but mentioned that we have mortgage insurance, so that is not a concern. They basically said that they don't care. They suggested I get a co-signer. Through extreme effort I remained civil.

I will NOT be getting a co-signer. I find that idea so offensive not because I don't trust M*, but because I can't stand the idea that I can't do this on my own. The purpose of a co-signer is to secure a loan for a person who, for whatever reason, can't be trusted to pay back the loan. I have the money for a large down, I have the good credit (I even qualified for the lowest interest rate), and I have a stable paycheck, but that isn't good enough. This seems (to me at least) to be proof once again that unmarried couples are discriminated against on a regular basis.

The end result of all of this, besides my impotent rage of course, is that I will not be getting a car loan. I've never liked paying interest anyway, so I just decided to use what I have and get a slightly less glamorous car. It may mean an older model or a few more miles on the clock, but at least I won't have a monthly car payment. It also means that I get the satisfaction of knowing that I am standing on my own two feet (if you know what I mean), and that I didn't need my daddy or my brother or my boyfriend to help me do it**.

Notes:
* I trust M implicitly or I wouldn't have bought a house with him. He has been nothing but kind and helpful in all of this, and he spoils me and looks after me all the time. However, a girl has to make some attempt to look after herself!

** All four of those men are dear, sweet people. I know they would cheerfully dig me out of any tough situation, and I am very lucky for that. Nevertheless, I try to slay my own dragons whenever possible.

The Grand Car Parade Part 1

Have you ever seen that Ikea commercial for lamps? You see the whole thing from the perspective of a lamp. It gets set out on the corner and then watches through the window as the people get and enjoy a new lamp from Ikea. Suddenly the sad music stops, and the manager of Ikea comes in to say "It's yust a lamp. Go ahead and get a new one." It's a very funny commercial, and they could have made it about me and my current car. I really need to make myself realize that it's "yust" a car.

I've been reluctantly, sorrowfully hunting for a new car for the past few months. I do NOT want to get ride of my beautiful, sporty little car. However, reality is knocking in a way that can no longer be ignored. The car is nearing twenty years old, it is no longer reliable, it is not at all well-suited to ice and snow, and it can only carry two people. In short, I need a new car, I must get a new car, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it.

My car hunting took me to a huge dealership with thousands of cars to choose from. M came along as I test drove a Toyota Matrix with only 23k and All Wheel Drive. It was a nice car, but they wanted far more than I was willing to spend. We also had a quick look at the Subaru dealership, but there was nothing much to tempt me there. In the end I decided that I liked the Matrix, but I wanted one with a few more miles so it would be cheaper. Thus mostly decided (although still fantasizing about something with more pizzazz) I went off to the bank to request an auto loan. I thought this would be no big deal which certainly shows what I know. More soon.

Snowshoeing with The Kid

As I mentioned in the last post, I picked up Big Niece on Friday evening. Our first stop was REI to pick out new boots and snow clothes. REI is just about the only store, other than bookstores, that Big Niece actually likes to visit. Most stores are sources of terrible torment for her because she HATES shopping for almost anything. However, REI is cool enough to overcome her aversion.

First we had to rent the snowshoes that she would use the next day. She found this interesting, and she became very excited when they brought out the kid shoes because they were orange! I wish I could get that excited about my favorite color. Next we headed upstairs to the hiking boots (you need good ones for snowshoeing), and we found a pair of lace-up, ankle-high ones in, get this, blue and orange! The thrill continues! Next came a pair of fleece socks (doggie print), a hat (blue), gloves (she was very offended that they were toddler-sized, but they fit so well she couldn't argue), convertible hiking pants (how cool is that! They zip off and become SHORTS!), and lastly a pair of gaiters to keep the snow out of her boots. Luckily most of the pieces were on sale, so we got the whole ensemble for less than the price of a coat. I offered to take it all to the car before we went on, but she wanted to carry the shoe box with her.

The next morning she was up at 7:30 (surprising because she's not usually a morning person at all) and raring to go. We kitted her out, tried to feed her some breakfast, and set off with a few of our friends towards the pass. We arrived there around 11am, and after a quick bathroom break we were on the trail. Then we hit our snag. About 3/4 of the way up the hill Big Niece was "Not having a fun time!"

She was hot, coughing a little, and even sort of tearful. I took off her hat and coat (she had many layers) and told her that we could go back to the car and wait for everyone else if she wanted. "No! I do not want to go back!" she said, so we continued on the trail at a slower pace. Soon after, we turned off the main road and onto a side trail that ran along the hillside. We also stopped and had a brief chocolate break. The combination did wonders for her spirits, and she informed me that "I'm having more fun now." After that we were golden.

She led the way for much of the rest of the trip. The pace she set was quite a good one, and I am still not sure what made her so unhappy at the beginning. Scrambling to the tops of little hills became a game with her. We at lunch on top of a tall snow drift, and made jokes about our bottoms freezing to the ground. We finished up with a little saucering near the car. When I asked her if she wanted to go again another time she said 'yes, but next time we should do a new trail so we can see new scenery." By the time we got back to town she was too tired to talk or even eat much dinner, but I can hardly blame her after having worked so hard. She really is a trooper, and we'll certainly take her again. After all, when you have that much cool orange snow gear you just have to make use of it.

Overheard

I picked Big Niece up this afternoon, and we went shopping for hiking boots (more on that later) and then out to dinner. She's been in a very good, but very funny mood. When we got home this evening she saw a cardinal-shaped candle (left over from the holidays I swear! I don't normally have candles shaped like anything other than candles) and she said something that struck me as very funny. "So I see you're a bird! But you're not a real bird! Good luck with that!" Keep in mind that I was in another room and she was speaking only for the benefit of the little wax figurine. She's definitely one of us.

The Curse of the Golden Flower

The American movie market is begining to look to China for regular infusions of gorgeous, low plot, period, action epics. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the first for many people, but there have been others both before and after that made a significant impact. Chou Yun Fat is a staple now, and even Gong Li is becoming well-known. Both appear in Curse of the Golden Flower which perfectly fits into the genre.

Based on a sort of morality tale plot, "Curse" is meant to be cinematically lovely, and in this it delivers. Costuming is rich and vibrant, an impressive number of corsetted bosoms heave, and the scenes are artfully strewn with meaningful images (fluttering banners, sprays of water or blood, seas of flowers). I did NOT care for some of the shocking and unlikely colors used on the interior of the palace, but that's just me. The plot was the thing that bothered me the most. It reminded me strongly of a Shakespearean story, and I think it would have been perfect to stay that way. However, the twist at the end left me cold (I won't ruin it for you by telling though). I think I would have enjoyed myself more if they hadn't bothered to subtitle. Then I could have enjoyed the visuals without the interuption of the plot.

Three Novel Cure

Over the weekend I broke down and took the three novel cure. That is, I did not much besides read three novels and drink hot sweet herbal tisanes (so as not to offend R by calling them "tea"). The cure worked wonders, and today I am feeling ever so much better. There is really something great about just feeling normal after being sick. The one good part was that I got a chunk into my omnipresent reading pile. I always have my stack of YA books so I can keep up with the kids, and also my stack of just plain good reads. I stuck with the light and humorous for the cure.

Novel #1 The College Of Magics by Caroline Stevermer

What a sweet little fantasy story! Nothing big-brained or deep here, but an interesting twist on alternative history. The short description would be that an heir to the duchy of Galazon (not very imaginative I admit) is sent to a finishing school that also happens to teach witchcraft. Much adventure ensues. There seem to be a growing number of fantasy books set in either the Regency, Victorian, or Edwardian periods in Europe. They try to preserve the feel of the era, but then weave in magic as just another skills that proper young ladies might learn. There is supposed to be a sequel called Scholar of Magics as well.

Novel #2 The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones

Jones is such a strong author that I read pretty much anything she puts out. Her adult attempts (A Sudden Wild Magic and Deep Secret) are great if you like fantasy, and her childrens' books are edgy and fun. Her Chrestomanci series is quite popular. This is the 8th installment. The world of the Chrestomanci is quite complicated, but it is based in the idea that there are many alternate realities and they are all slightly different. A person with the right combination of circumstances can travel between these worlds, and can even collect the unused lives and magic of people who died at birth. One of Jones' greatest strengths is the way she makes the young characters seem very round and real in a way that really appeals to young readers.

Novel #3: A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

Christopher Moore is one of those very unusual authors. He has such an off-beat sense of humor that he sometimes puts people off. However, he really is very funny, and his books have a wonderful unexpected quality. Short version: Charlie Asher is the ultimate beta-male, so he is very disturbed to suddenly discover that he is a "Soul Merchant" for the dead. Add to that the huge crows yelling insults from the sewer and the four hundred pound hellhounds protecting his infant daughter, and you have one very unusual book. A rollicking good time as they say. Minty Fresh, a character from some of Moore's other novels, also appears in this book.

Home Sick

I cannot believe we finally get a whole day back to school, and what happens? I get sick! I actually had to have a sub today so I could stay home and sniffle. What a huge waste of time! I am always a very grumpy sick person because it annoys me so much to be incapacitated. M just looks pale and stoic, but I turn red and raw and complain all the time. The only bright side I can see is that it's Friday and I should be recovered in time for work on Monday.

I Shouldn't Be Allowed in Public!

Last weekend I was with M at a Starbucks. We were patiently waiting for our drinks along with a small ground of other caffeine hounds. While twiddling our thumbs we noticed a bucket filled with bags of used coffee grounds. Starbucks gives grounds away for free so people can use them as garden fertilizer. M jokingly suggested that we could also save money by using the grounds to make our own fire logs (one of my favorite brands of fire log is made from grounds). I replied "yes, but we'd have to find a way to impregnate them with paraffin first." This was a "throw away" conversation only meant to amuse us while we waited. However, the woman standing in front of us with child took it very seriously. The moment I said "impregnated" her head snapped around as if it were a weathervane. She spent the next couple of minutes staring daggers at me until her coffee finally arrived and she was able to flee from the social misfit. I love being shocking without even trying.

200th Post

It seems like I was just writing the 100th post message. I'm glad you're still with me through all the odds and ends that get stuffed into this little blog. I promise to complain less, and to try and edit more carefully in future posts.

The melt is finally on for this snow storm! We got up to 42 degrees today, and it really did feel balmy by comparison. You can hear the water in the storm drains, and today I was very excited to see actual pavement in the road outside our house. Maybe one of these days I will actually get to drive myself to work again. M has been terribly kind to take me everywhere, but I am beginning to feel like a child. Daaaaaaaaad, will you drive me to work please?! Bring on the warmth!

Key Word Analysis

When I first began with this blog the only people who EVER read it were the family and friends who got a link. However, as I continue and the archive grows, I am getting more and more hits from "outsiders". How these people end up at my blog amazes me. They search for things completely unrelated to my entry, but then click on it anyway because, well, who really knows. Some of these are one off oddities such as "Pale Baby", but others such as "pfefferneuse" are repeated time and again. Anyway, I have decided to directly answer some of these queries for amusement value and such. I know this makes me a geek as well as a nerd, and I blame my various geeky friends and family for corrupting me. More to come.

Why Cucumbers are Spiky

Keyword analysis entry #4

As far as I know, cucumbers are spiky because this helps to prevent the cuke from being eaten by hungry beasties. Some people are not aware that cukes even have spikes because they are only familiar with the grocery store variety. Most grocery store cucumbers are "tumbled" after picking to remove the spikes. Many are also waxed with an edible (at least reasonably) food wax to give them that lovely gloss. Another possibility for spike-free cukes is finding one of those varieties that has the spikes bred out. This is contrary to cucumber nature, but then again, so are a lot of things.

Classic Phefferneuse Recipe

Keyword analysis answer #3

There are many ways to make this classic German cookie, but this is one of my favorite. I do not hold with anise in this cookie, so I was glad to discover a recipe without.

Phefferneuse/Pfeffernusse Recipe

3 cups all purpose white flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

pinch white pepper (this may sound odd, but please don't leave it out)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

pinch ground cardamom

1/2 cup chopped candied lemon peel (optional but very nice)

1/2 sliced almonds (or almond flour is easier if you can get it)

3 large eggs

1 cup powdered sugar

1 apple slice (not in the recipe, but used later)

1 cup granualated sugar

Grind the almonds to a powder (coffee grinder or blender work). In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder, and salt. In a mixing bowl beat pour the gran. sugar. Add eggs, lemon peel, and almond powder and blend. Gradually add flour and incorporate. Refrigerate for one hour or more. Dough may be dry and even a little crumbly. Roll out dough onto floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Tradition is 1 inch round cookie cutters, but do what pleases you. Bake for 15 minutes in a pre-heated 350 degree oven. When cookies are completely cooled put them in a plastic ziplock with the powdered sugar and shake gently to coat. Store in an airtight container with the apple slice. The cookies are best after two weeks of "ripening" time.

Water Leak in your Mazda RX-7 Convertible

Answer #2 in the keyword analysis entries.

When my RX-7 was leaking inside the car without any visible source I searched and searched online for an answer. I could not find anything even close to helpful. Maybe this will save someone else some trouble.

Mazda RX-7 convertibles have excellent tops in that they do not tend to crack or leak. However, the shape of the top does necessitate a series of drains to move water off the top and to the ground without pooling in any unfortunate places. This means that your RX-7 has a little well on either side just behind the door. Each well leads to a small tube that allows the water to drain safely just under the car. If you park your car under trees or you let the car get very dirty these tubes can become clogged. Clogged tubes leads to water backing up the wells and pouring into the seatbelt assembly. This leads to a mysterious pool of water behind your seat. Luckily the cleaning of these tubes is reasonably cheap (about $200). Don't let them convince you to go in for dry-cleaning the carpets. I had only the slightest damp smell and even that is now gone.

So Your Baby is Pale

This is post number one in my keyword analysis answers.

If your baby is pale often or all the time it seems to me that there are three likely causes:

A) (S)he is just naturally pale. Is (s)he by chance a redhead? Does pale skin run in your family? Are you living in a underground bunker by chance? Are you a family of naked mole rats?

B) (S)he is anemic. This means that (s)he does not have enough iron in her blood, or that (s)he is unable to process it properly.

C) (S)he has breathing problems. In this case the paleness would probably be on the blue end of the spectrum.

These are, of course, just guesses, and I am emphatically not a doctor. Perhaps you should go and see one instead of visiting my silly blog. I don't mean to be insensitive, but this is your baby we're talking about here.

How the Other Half Shivers

We just got home from Seattle proper, and now I see why so many people don't seem to be treating the snow and ice as a very bid deal. It turns out that large swaths of lower (as in elevation) Seattle don't really have much in the way of accumulation. Actually, downtown Seattle seems to have virtually NO accumulation worth mentioning. The combination of weather patters, de-icing agents, and lots of traffic means that all they have is a lot of cold air. Even portions of the east side seem pretty moderate compared to us up here in the foothills (okay, I'm not sure if we are "officially" foothills, but we definitely have the elevation).

Our local roads are still COVERED in ice, and we still have at least three inches of fluffy white snow still in our back yard. Just walking around our neighborhood requires intense concentration or extra equipment or both. The latest weather predictions are saying more snow possible, and no real warming until Tuesday or Wednesday. Plus, get this, they are predicting a NEW ROUND OF SNOW for Friday! I think this year we will just take January and February as our vacation months instead of July and August. That whole "summer" vacation thing is just an arbitrary tradition anyway.

Snow! Beautiful Snow!

Okay, okay, I know I said I was worried about the days added to the end of the school year. With today off and tomorrow likely, that means we will be in school until July 1st. That is, without question, not cool. However, I must confess that when the snow started falling last night I was still ecstatic to see it.

We got a little over four inches here last night, and I went for a walk during the thickest showers. My little PNW brain is still amazed by falling snow. It's mesmerizing, and it's such a strange feeling to be in the middle of a downpour and still have it be completely silent. The neighborhood looked like a Currier and Ives picture with all the trees and yards covered in a white blanket.

Today the blanket remains and the temperature continues to stay low. The sun is beginning to come out though, so we may get a little bit of melting this afternoon. If the predictors are correct we will have lows in the teens tonight, so that beautiful snow may turn to ice by tomorrow. Perhaps I will break out the snowshoes before that happens!

Pins and Needles

The principal sent out an email yesterday afternoon urging everyone to take work home because he thought we would be out the rest of the week. The weather reports were all warning about systems from Alaska, high winds, and 2-5 inches of snow. The kids were completely wired because they were SURE we would have at least one snow day. Now it seems that Mother Nature may have fooled everyone.

This morning when I got up it was 32 and it was snowing, but not enough to cancel school. In fact it was not even enough for a delayed start. The kids are feeling cruelly disappointed. Some are still holding out hope that there might be snow yet, but there are no guarantees. I can already tell that this is going to be one of those days when we check the temperature and look at the sky all day long. For my part, I would rather skip the snow days because if we have any more of them we'll be in school until July. Instead of snow, I am envisioning classrooms full of kids wilting from the summer heat.

The City of Ember

What a great little book! I've been meaning to blog about it ever since we got back from NYC. This book is meant for the YA audience, so it was the perfect thing to take on a trip. Call me shallow, but I find it hard to concentrate on meatier stuff when I'm enduring the discomforts of a plane ride. This book was the perfect combination of interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking without being too dense.

The City of Ember (no I'm not getting Amazon kick-backs) is the story of a small underground city lit by electric lights, but otherwise lost in a void of blackness. The city is meant to be a comfortable refuge for its people, but it soon becomes clear that life is getting harder and harder as the years go by. The primary means of support for the city is the massive generator and the huge stockpile of canned food and other essentials. Little by little the generator is giving out and the supplies are being depleted. People try to get by through recycling, repairing, and reusing everything, but this becomes more and more difficult. Most frightening of all are the sudden blackouts that occur when the generator fails. The people desperately try to repair the crumbling city, but it soon becomes clear to some that it cannot be fixed. The search for the origin of the city and a way to save its people is on.

This book is, by no means, perfect. The embedded puzzle is a bit silly, and you do have to wonder why the people are so good at some things while being so incredibly stupid about others. The villains are pretty weak as well (in fact I think she should have left out the villains all together and made time and darkness the only enemies). However, the over all story is quite well worth the read. Especially if you are planning on a few hours in an airplane seat.

Happy Birthday Little Brother!

My little baby brother is 25 years old today! Who would ever have imagined that the noisy pink blob would turn out to be a smart and handsome giant. I guess you really can't judge a baby by his grunting. It really does seem like only last week that we were building model houses and setting fire to them. How quickly time flies. Happy birthday J; you're the best of the best.

Hanukah Storm 2006 Part 4: What I've Learned

We are now a few weeks out from the storm and power outage, and I'm really hoping we won't have another experience like that one any time soon. However, with the weather being what it is these days (highly unpredictable) you just never know. While I would not say we were exactly unprepared for the Hanukah storm, I feel like there are many places where we could have done better.

First of all, most of the preparedness people tell you to have a three day supply. Three days worth of water, three days worth of food, three days worth of everything else you will need to get by. However, during this event many people were without power for a heck of a lot more than three days. Not know how long you might be without power was a major problem for many people. Without even an estimate people could not ration things properly. Do I burn a nice big fire now and assume my wood only needs to last a few days? Or do I let the fire go out during the day to conserve fuel? Therefore, my first goal is to have at least a week (or even ten days) of all the essentials.

Second, I need to buy real firewood and not just the fake stuff. Presto logs are fine for making a cheerful glow, but they do NOTHING to actually heat the house. This summer I am going to buy a whole cord of seasoned firewood, and it will not be fir which burns too quickly. I'm thinking maple or spruce might be good. I get the feeling there might be a lot of firewood for sale in the next year or two.

Third, I'm buying a battery-powered or crank radio. I know, I know I should have had one already. It was such a weird feeling to be completely cut off from information. The only way to hear the news was to drive somewhere, and we didn't want to do that too often for fear of running out of gas. A radio would also let us know if more interesting weather was about to come along, and it might also help with estimating how long the power would be out.

Forth, I'm buying three or four more hot water bottles. I know this may sound strange, but since we have a gas water heater this is one source of heat even when the power goes out. I didn't remember about this until our last cold night, but a couple of hot water bottles in your bed will keep you happy for a few hours.

Fifth, I'm becoming The Candle Queen. It's not that we were in danger of running out of candles, in fact we had a good number, but I want enough to have actual light. If you sit in front of the fire with your one little tea light you can't see well enough to do anything, and you might as well just go to bed even though it's only 5:00pm. If, on the other hand, you have five or six nice tapers burning then you can actually read for a little while or play cards (I need more of those too) or do the dishes in comparative comfort. I like the Trader Joe's dripless tapers. Two bucks for half a dozen, and they DO NOT make the kind of mess that you get from emergency candles. Another note, scented candles are nice in a normal setting, but when you are burning several at once it can be a little overwhelming.

Sixth, I need to work out a better way to cook during black outs. We do not have a gas stove, so this is our biggest challenge. The fireplace produces some heat, and you can wrap things in foil and throw them in, but you can't boil water to save your life (when it's 48 degrees in your house a cup of tea IS a question of life or death!). M was very clever about using the alcohol burner on the fondue pot (okay for indoor use!) but it is very slow and the fuel runs out quickly. He also used a camp stove and the BBQ grill outside, but if it had been raining or snowing this would not have worked. Maybe we could work out some sort of hook in the fireplace? Must think on this one.

Okay, I think that covers it. Before I go shopping did I forget anything important? I always try to be prepared, but sometimes it's hard to know what you might be forgetting. What was that wonderful Rumsfeld quote? "You've got your know knows..."

Twins!

Congratulations to my old friend, B, and her husband on the birth of their twins! That must have been the most eventful Christmas gift ever. Congratulations also to big brother T and Grandma L. Happy birthday to little April and Logan.

2007 New Year's Resolutions Part 2

Happy New Year! Did you stay up late last night to count down the seconds? Or did you wake up this morning to a completely new year? Either way, let's hope that this is a good one for all. A recent study shows that most Americans thought 2006 was a pretty bad year for the country and the world (Iraq, global warming, Darfur, etc). However, it also showed that most people expect things to change for the better in 2007. It is my fervent wish that this would be true. Personally I've been pretty lucky in 2006. However, I wouldn't mind a really fantastic 2007 either.

As to resolutions, I've combined the U.S. government suggestions (the ones that apply to me anyway) with the sort of left overs from last year's list. I've also tried to be specific and concrete because that is supposed to help you actually keep your goals. Granted, there are a few that are a bit vague, but I will just have to do my best. In 2007 I resolve to:

1. Be fit by going to the gym (or outdoor exercise) at least twice and preferably three times a week.

2. Eat well by consuming no more than 10 grams of saturated fat per day (doctor’s plan).

3. Relax by distracting my brain when it latches onto a pointless worry and goes round and round and round and...

4. Go on a vacation (hey it was their idea, but I'm all for it!) for at least two weeks.

5. Give more to charity by choosing a new one every month.

6. Make more connections with people by really listening carefully to what they say. No glazing over just because the topic isn't my favorite.

7. Spend time every week on curriculum planning. Stay at least two weeks and preferably four weeks ahead of the kids. Do not allow the class to get behind schedule.

8. Create a better filing system for papers both at work and at home. Be more organized and proactive about papers so they don't create teetering piles of shame.

9. Be less judgmental and give people the benefit of the doubt more often (this is especially true at work).

10. Stop and think how lucky I am to have M, great friends and family, good health, a good job, and a comfortable (and electrified!) home.

Once again, happy new year everyone. I hope 2007 will bring you all the good things you've been looking for and more!

2007 New Year's Resolutions Part 1

This is the time of year when everyone is thinking about the resolutions they want to make for the new year. I was trying to come up with a clever way of approaching the issue, so I did a little on-line research. There are many people clamoring for the chance to offer advice, but I found one site in particular to be an amusing source. The United States government has a few suggestions for New Year's resolutions. Can you believe this? The federal government! I was not aware that this was such a matter for public concern. Nevertheless, these resolutions are not too bad in a general kind of way:

1. Lose weight
2. Pay off debt
3. Save money
4. Get a better job
5. Get fit
6. Eat right
7. Get a better education
8. Drink less
9. Quit smoking
10. Reduce stress overall
11. Reduce work stress
12. Take a trip
13. Volunteer to help others

I feel very fortunate that I do not need to worry too much about 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, or 9. I also feel that 1 and 5 should be the same goal (to exercise), and that 10 and 11 can be combined into one goal. Therefore I find myself with some extra room on my list for more personalized goals. In reviewing my list from last year I see that several goals are met (take that evil Pro Cert!), but several other goals are still, ahem, on the table if you will. Tomorrow I will publish the new list.

My 2006 Year In Review

On the whole, 2006 was a pretty darn good year. Sure there were some bumps along the way (aren't there always?) but nothing really major to complain about. 2006 was not quite as exciting as 2004 and 2005 in that we did not travel to the other side of the world, but this was our first year in our new house and that was pretty momentous. This is my personal year in review in no particular order:

1. New House--- I can't speak for M, but I am thoroughly pleased with our house purchase. Of course there are always changes and improvements we'd like to make, but over all it is a very good house. We enjoy the peace and quiet, the lovely backyard, the space to entertain, the indoor carparking, and just plenty of room to swing the proverbial cat (not that we would of course).

2. Grew The First Garden--- We the first one at the new house anyway. I really like having a yard again because I get to putter around with flowers and vegetables. I wasn't even sure a veggie garden would grow in our backyard because of the shadow of the house, but even the tomatoes made it. I'm already looking forward to next year.

3. Pulled Off Another Country Fair--- The fair is a family tradition going back before I was born, so it is nice that we are able to keep in up even though we are no longer printers. I love getting to camp with both brothers and enjoy all the tasty food. It's also fun to watch M enjoy them afresh.

4. Took Local Vacations--- We did enjoy the Oregon coast and Portland quite a bit. They may not be very exotic locales, but they are beautiful and easy to do in a long weekend.

5. Snowed My Mom--- The one sort of far away place we visited this year was Pittsburgh. This was part of a plan to surprise my mom with a trip to see my baby brother, JM. With a little help from our friends we managed to get her a little time off work. We told her we wanted to go out to dinner, and she didn't even bat an eyelash until we were getting out at the airport. What a great time! Pittsburgh is not nearly so rusted or icky as we thought. In fact, we really enjoyed ourselves.

6. Saw NYC--- It was a very quick trip, and we certainly did not see everything, but at least we can now say we've been to New York. It really is overwhelming in so many ways. I think we will need a return visit once we've saved up another small fortune to pay for the hotel room.

7. Positive Political Change!--- The election was not a complete sweep, but it did do a lot for my political outlook. I actually feel that there may be some hope on a number of fronts. However, as R likes to say, the Democrats are very good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

8. Finished Pro Cert--- For those who don't remember, the Pro Cert is an evil state requirement for keeping my job. I spent two years jumping through meaningless hoops and paying lots of money in order to prove that I wasn't a bad teacher. I finally jumped through the flaming hoop with spikes all around while wearing a blindfold and writing checks, and they decided I had passed. Now I am the proud owner of a PROFESSIONAL teaching certificate (as opposed to a nasty old provisional one) and I am allowed to go on with my career.

9. Survived Lock Down--- More than three hours laying on the floor in the dark was not my idea of a good time. At least it all turned out to be nothing.

10. Survived The Hanukah Storm Of 2006--- Three days without power seemed really long especially when the temperature in our house went down to 47 degrees F, but it turns out we were some of the lucky ones. I don't know how some people survived more than a week without light and heat.

That's it for the big memorable stuff. Did I forget anything important? I'm estimating that I also brushed my teeth about 1000 times too, but that kind of accomplishment just isn't very exciting. Let's hope next year is at least as good as this one.

Lavender Shortbread Recipe

Before Christmas a friend invited me to her house for a cookie baking party. She and her two small assistants were making a variety of Christmas goodies which sounded like the perfect way to revel in the holiday spirit. When I arrived with my bag of butter and sugar and such, I found them poring over a magazine of cookie recipes. We had a tough time choosing which cookies to make first, but eventually we settled on a few types.

Layered minty chocolate came first, followed by simple rolled sugar cookies, and the third one we decided to try was a type of shortbread. Now I have always been a fan of shortbread. It's just so delicate and subtle. There is even a charming Scottish saying about how every woman's fingers add a different flavor as she kneads in the butter (no! not because she forgot to wash!).

The only unusual thing about this recipe was the addition of two extra ingredients. Crystallized ginger and two heaping tablespoons of dried lavender are what makes this one unique. Tasting the end result was quite a treat. In my opinion the ginger is not really needed, but the lavender is truly a lovely flavor with the tender shortbread. Here is my favorite shortbread recipe with the lavender added in:

Lavender Shortbread
1 and 1/4 cups cold unsalted butter (or this actually does work with a good margarine too)
1/4 cup powdered sugar (lightly spooned)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (more if you like it sweeter, but I don't recommend it)
2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 TBS dried lavender (make sure it's food quality)

This is dead simple to make. Use a fork, a pastry cutter (this is the best method), or a food processor (if you're feeling sacrilegious) to blend the butter and sugar until pea-sized crumbs are formed. Add flour and lavender and continue to blend. The mixture will be crumbly. Press together with fingers until a ball of dough is formed. Roll out dough into a disc, and cut the disc into pie slice shapes. Dock the round of dough with a fork to prevent bubbles. Bake at 275 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until golden brown. Do not give in to the temptation to bake at a higher temperature. Cool on a wire rack. Store in a tightly sealed container to preserve texture.

Blue Boxing Day

Boo, I hate the end of Christmas. Our holiday was lovely, and I am glad for all the good things, but I still feel a little blue. I think I am especially miffed this year because the storm and the power outage ate a good week of the holiday season for most of us up here. Many people are able to continue in the holiday spirit until after New Year's, but I am not very thrilled by that holiday. So it's time to take down the tree and wind up the lights and pack away the stockings. Now comes the part of winter about which I am less happy. The long gray days stretch from now until the first little dribs of sun start to come out in March (if we're very lucky) or May (if we really aren't). Oh well, I suppose I was getting tired of the muzak versions of all the Christmas carols anyway. I think I'll just go plant some garlic since that's the only gardening fun a person can really have in the end of December.

Christmas 2006

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace." -- Agnes M. Pharo

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old familiar carols play. And wild and sweet the words repeat. Of peace on earth goodwill to men." -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Christmas Eve 2006

I hope everyone will have a warm and happy day today. We will start cooking Christmas Eve dinner soon, and most of the presents are already wrapped. The stockings are not yet hung by the chimney with care, but I will get to that before we go to bed. I do not plan to wear a kerchief as we have wonderful blessed electricity to keep us warm. Remember to listen for the click, click, click of reindeer hooves on the roof tonight, but don't peek or else there might be trouble.

Two Things

First of all, happy Hanukah to all. The first night of Hanukah was the day we were all reeling from the storm. The last night was yesterday. For some of the Jewish people in our region the significance of the holiday was powerfully reinforced by the situation (or so I am told). Everyone (Jewish and non) is certainly giving thanks for the light and the heat having been returned to us. An especially happy holiday to P, A, and S, and to my Dear Auntie E wherever she may have gotten to now.

Second, yesterday was also the first day of winter. The is somewhat hard to believe given the weather we've gotten during "autumn," but we are told that things should be calming down any time now. While I agree with the nieces that a white Christmas would be nice, I would be very happy not to lose any more school days to snow. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the stuff, but if we have to make up any more snow days at the end of the year, we will be there into July. As it is, the last day of school is scheduled for my birthday, and that is something that has never happened before in my memory.

Halleluja!

My baby brother arrived last night! Woo Hoo! The holidays may now begin! M and Big Niece accompanied me to the airport to pick him up. This was a doubly exciting event because Big Niece has never stayed up past midnight before last night. She gets very pale and very solemn when she is tired, but she is really quite a trooper. She was also thrilled by the adventure, and especially by the appearance of Uncle J at the end of it all. The next several days should be very good indeed.

Hanukah Storm 2006 Part 3: Fun in the Dark

Three nights in the dark really changes your perspective on what counts as amusement. For example, tending the fire can be a really absorbing task when you don't have much else going on. A sink full of warm dishwater can be quite appealing when you are in no hurry to get on to something else (and its 50 degrees in your house). We spent quite a bit of time on conversational odds and ends, but even that gets tough when you are cut off from your usual sources of new information. My confidence in our compatibility is bolstered by the fact that we did not get on each others nerves even when we were stuck inside and huddled by the fire all that time.

The outage reminded me of how much in a hurry we usually are. When there are so many things that need doing, and so many amusements, you are constantly trying to wrap up and move on to the next. It was almost forcibly relaxing to not have another thing waiting. Nevertheless, I can see why TV seems like such a miracle in the third world. I find it pretty exciting too now that we have it back.

Hanukah Storm 2006 Part 2

Only one more couple in our circle of friends is still waiting for power. It turns out that our 65 hours was not too bad when you compared to others. Some areas are not going back up until FRIDAY OR SATURDAY. I cannot imagine having another three or four days to go. I keep thinking over and over how lucky we are to have heat and light again. It reminds me how tough life must be for people who never have the help of electricity to get by.

This morning as I was leaving our neighborhood I saw a huge crane working on levering a massive tree out of a backyard. Fir trees have once again been the bane of our area. I have always believed that the shallow root system of firs was what caused them to fall so easily. However, a biologist recently pointed out to me that many of our native varieties have shallow roots. Therefore, the mystery of why they fall remains. Nevertheless, I do feel vindicated in my refusal to consider houses with tall skinny firs nearby. The realtor thought I was nuts (and I probably am) but it turns out I was right about the trees.

I will never forget the sight of a 50 foot plus fir tree broken off and fallen across the road. The only thing holding it up was the power lines it had crashed through on its way down. There were probably 20 feet of headroom between the tree and the road. Emergency services had placed a "road closed" sign just in front of the tree, but some clever, clever person moved the sign to the side, and everyone was just driving UNDER the tree and the (live?) power lines. Talk about taking your life into your hands. We are very lucky to have come out of this whole thing with so little trouble.

December Storm 2006 Part 1

Computer access severly limited. Storm damage was not too serious, but our house lost power for almost three days. It was 48 degrees in our bedroom this morning. The kitties are NOT amused. We had to burn the old fence to stay warm. One tree was damaged, and lots of fence was lost. We are SO happy to have heat and light again. If you have the power and internet to read this you are one lucky person. More soon.

Wet Car Update

This is the part I love about going to a dealer for service. Finding and fixing the leak cost about $260. Removing and dry-cleaning the carpet will cost more than $1100. Why so expensive? Because it will take more than 12 hours to remove and clean the carpet. The man just assumed that I was signing up for the entire job, and he was surprised when I said I wasn't so sure about the carpet. He warned me that it MIGHT start to smell if I don't replace the carpet. I asked if it would cause any body or mechanical damage, but he said no, it just might start to smell. For goodness sake! It's had leaks before and never gotten wiffy. I've had other water leaks in cars, and nothing horrible every came of them. If it starts to get smelly I plan to apply a bit of bleach and a heft sprinkling of baking soda. Baking soda only costs $.89 per box.

Car Puddle

For some time now my car has had a little problem with wetness. Not a big problem, mind you, just a damp patch on the floor when it rains really hard. It dries out quickly enough, and I've been lucky not to have any problems with mildew or stinky-ness. The odd bit is that there is no visible leak. The windshield is fine, the top seems sealed, and there is really no obvious way that the water is getting in. Three different mechanics have tried to find the problem without success. Mostly I've just lived with the problem, and been really glad that I had covered parking. Yesterday, however, things got quite a bit worse.

Washington may be the rainiest state in the U.S. (or is it Oregon?) but our rain is usually of the constant mist sort. It rarely pours for hours on end, but yesterday was special. I've never been in a proper monsoon, but I think it must be something like what we had. It was raining so hard that it was hard to see as you ran from building to building, and it did this for quite some time. Needless to say, when I went out to my car to go home I was not very happy. Instead of a little wet patch I found a two inch deep puddle of water on the driver's side. I sloshed my way home (even getting my cuffs wet in the process) and used beach towels to soak up the worst of the water.

Now I have accepted the need to do the unthinkable. I am taking my poor wet car TO THE DEALER! Normally I am loath to do this because I think they rip you off at every turn (I have many experiences to back this up) but I don't think I have a lot of choices at this point. Theoretically they will be able to find the leak because they know the ins and outs of this specific model of car. That or they will just spend 700 hours at $50 per hour inspecting each and every seam twice. Ouch, my wallet hurts already.

Burning the Midnight Cat Food

M had some extra work to complete one night last week, so he came home, had dinner with me, watched a little tv, and then went up to the office to work. Around 10:30 I kissed him goodnight and went to bed as usual. Everyone was comfortable with this plan except the cat. MY sweet little cat came up to bed with me and curled up next to my feet. HIS evil, evil, demon cat decided that if M was staying up then so was he. And he was thrilled about the idea of a late night. He went galloping up and down the hall, he attacked my feet, he jumped on the other cat. He generally went wild. The final straw was when he raced into the bedroom after midnight meowing bloody murder. M had to come take him into the office and shut the door. I ended up getting about three hours less sleep than usual that night, and I was not a cheerful person the next morning. People usually say they like keeping cats because they are quiet, unobtrusive, and do not cause much trouble. Obviously these people have not met our cat.

Holiday Cheer

Yesterday I finally put up the twinkle lights at our house! Of course I forgot to test them before putting them up (that would have required thinking ahead) so I was REALLY happy that they actually lit up when I plugged them in. I had actually forgotten from last year to this one that they are twinkle lights. I plugged them in and then got a nice surprise when they started to flicker. It is always a precarious job getting them up, but the pay off is definitely worthwhile. They look beautiful! The next step is to decorate the inside of the house. Operation get-a-tree is taking place this weekend. Winter holidays are invaluable for making you feel warm and happy during the middle of the gray season.

Democratic Potential?

With only two years to go before the 2008 presidential election, things are already kicking into gear. The furor over Hilary Clinton's potential (and likely) run is putting the spotlight on all Democrats. Bloggers, news outlets, and commentators are all falling over themselves with slates of possible candidates. Some, like Politics 1, have a veritable laundry list of potentials. They seem to include anyone and everyone who ever uttered a word about the presidency. To be fair, they do include a section on those who've said they will NOT run. Their may run list includes Hilary Clinton (of course), Evan Bayh, Joseph Biden, Christ Dodd, John Kerry, Barak Obama, Bill Richardson, and John Edwards. This is not an exhaustive list by any means.

Calling the odds for this slate is Polling Report. They have gathered together a number of public opinion polls about the popularity of some candidates. Their meta report makes for some very interesting reading, and it puts Hilary Clinton at the top of the list. Al Gore seems to be something of a spoiler in the polls drawing 10% or more depending on the poll. Given that he has denied a run, this is pretty high. I would vote for him in a second, but I doubt I will have the chance. My biggest concern about this slate is that none seem remotely like a slam dunk. We need someone who can actually win!

A Kinder Gentler CIA?

Do the words cute and friendly come first to mind when you think of the Central Intelligence Agency? Perhaps a few people think this way, but I think most associate the CIA with secret assassinations and tortured confessions. For decade after decade this image seemed to be okay with the folks in government, but now it seems things are supposed to change. Apparently someone noticed the hard image and decided that the agency needed some softening up. The CIA website has undergone a facelift, and one of the newest features is a cute kid-friendly what kind of spy am I quiz. It turns out that I am a "thoughtful observer" so there could certainly be a place for me at the CIA.

In fact, it "takes all kinds" to run the agency, so visit the website today and consider a career in international espionage. You will probably end up pushing paper in an office somewhere, but if you are lucky you might get to try out drug or gun running, or you might have the chance to develop new and more creative forms of "interrogation". If you are really, really lucky you might end up a "hero" like Johnny Mike.

Christmas Quiz

Several months ago a new friend of ours, D, decided to pass around one of those "getting to know you" quizzes that float around in cyber space. Several of us had all sorts of fun reading each other's answers (the question "what kind of underwear are you wearing right now" got all sorts of interesting and creative answers). When I ran across this Christmas themed version of the quiz I knew it would be fun. There may not be any under garment-related questions, but at least it gets a person in the feel of the season.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Both and in large quantities please! Eggnog lattes are a good invention too.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Big important presents are just set under the tree, but smaller stuff is often wrapped by Santa. Strange that Santa’s handwriting is a lot like my mom and dad’s.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White please. Call me a light bigot.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Down home in Oregon we don’t just hang the mistletoe; we shoot it out of treetops with our rifles.

5. When do you put your decorations up? I would put them up right after Thanksgiving. However, I’ve lived with one killjoy (my mom) and then another (M) so I have to wait until a bit later.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Tamales! I’m not making this up. My dad’s family is from New Mexico, so it really is an old family tradition to make tamales for Christmas dinner.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Christmas was 100% unadulterated magic in our house. I honestly can’t think of a single bad one.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? There is no “learn” about Santa; Santa simply is.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No NEVER! We must not give in to the foreign devils and their Christmas-Eve-present-opening ways!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? We start with the lights and then we sort of hurl the other stuff on top.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Are you kidding? You mean fluffy white flakes of pure joy and time off work? Of course I love them.

12. Can you ice skate?! Yes, veeery slowly and close to the edge of the rink.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? My car is pretty memorable, but there have been SO many good things over the years.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? It reminds me of that feeling you got when you were a kid and you were trying to get to sleep on Chirstmas Eve. Also M looks cute in the Santa hat.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? You name the marzipan creation and I will probably drool over it. Phefferneuse is good too. Also most kinds of pie and cookies. Maybe I can just live at the gym for the month of January.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Selecting and decorating the REAL tree is pretty good, but search through your stocking on Christmas morning has to be the winner.

17. What tops your tree? That depends on who wins the argument that year.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving would be the politic answer wouldn’t it?

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I love Christmas music, but not Muzak, if you know what I mean. I’m quite fond of Santa Baby and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. If you ever have to listen to me sing around Christmas please as tolerant as possible. It makes me unreasonably happy to sing carols.

Tasting Words

The New York Times had a fascinating article a few days ago about people who suffer from a rare form of synaesthesia. Synaethesia itself is a condition wherein a person's senses become sort of cross-wired due to injury or birth defect. For example a person may see certain letters as tinged with an associated color, or they may hear certain words as musical notes. In this even rarer form, people actually experience sensations of flavor when they see certain words. One man they quoted hates to drive because certain words (presumably those on road signs?) make him taste earwax and pistachio ice-cream. Granted this could have a positive effect if you were able to discover words that created pleasant tastes. However, can you imagine what flavor words like unctuous, platitude, or outrageous might have?