I walked into the kitchen, totally unprepared to hear Hannah explaining to her dad that she wished she had put Missy-Cat in a ziploc bag in the freezer when she was a kitten. I think it had to do with cryogenics, but my brain stopped processing information at that point.
I went to my first meeting of the student employees, where we were shown around to all the rooms for which we now have the *keys of power* (add echoing effect here) and told a bit about our duties. I will primarily be proofreading, but I'll also have a few office-y type duties for 1 professor. Sweet! The proofreading gig is totally going to kick ass. Turns out the professor I'm proofing for (not the making-copies prof) is the co-editor of a scholarly journal, and I am now her go-to person for proofreading. Plus anyone else around the department who chooses to make use of my services. I have the first article in my hot little hands, and it is *agony* making myself wait until my paper is turned in (I am blogging the travesty that is my paper on my writing blog). But I told the prof that, and she said no prob. The journal doesn't go to the printer until June.
My two classes are also going well. In the past, I am totally exhausted after expending the mental energy to follow a 1-1/2 hour lecture in German, but this semester I have 2 classes back-to-back, and except for 2 annoying classmates (who were in my teaching class last semester) I would like to stab in the eye with a pencil, everything has been roses and unicorns crapping puppies (thanks to Finslippy aka Alice for the latest addition to my vocabulary).
Back to the paper!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Monday, May 07, 2007
Pam's Potatoes
I want to give John’s side of the family a fair shake with the recipe-sharing, so here is a recipe we call "Pam’s Potatoes", but which could just as well be called "Heart-Attack Potatoes" or "Death by Dairy Potatoes." John’s dad swears he invented this dish and doesn’t see why John’s ex-step-mother should get the credit, but she’s who we learned it from. Dial 9-1 before you start eating them, then 1 again if your heart starts to go.
Pam’s Potatoes
margarine
1 pint whipping cream
sour cream
1 onion, in thin slices
1 lb. chunk of Velveeta, in bits
5 or more potatoes
Boil the potatoes, but not all the way done. Slice the partially boiled potatoes. Pour a little whipping cream in the bottom of a casserole. Put down a layer of potatoes, then some onions, then pats/bits of margarine, sour cream, and Velveeta, and salt and pepper the layer. Continue making layers until you run out of potatoes, and pour the whipping cream over the whole thing. Bake at 350F about 30 minutes or until bubbly and melty.
[ETA: oops! The third ingredient is "sour cream", not "cream cheese". I'm not sure what the recipe originally called for, but John pointed out that we always use sour cream.]
Pam’s Potatoes
margarine
1 pint whipping cream
sour cream
1 onion, in thin slices
1 lb. chunk of Velveeta, in bits
5 or more potatoes
Boil the potatoes, but not all the way done. Slice the partially boiled potatoes. Pour a little whipping cream in the bottom of a casserole. Put down a layer of potatoes, then some onions, then pats/bits of margarine, sour cream, and Velveeta, and salt and pepper the layer. Continue making layers until you run out of potatoes, and pour the whipping cream over the whole thing. Bake at 350F about 30 minutes or until bubbly and melty.
[ETA: oops! The third ingredient is "sour cream", not "cream cheese". I'm not sure what the recipe originally called for, but John pointed out that we always use sour cream.]
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Bad role models
Am I a bad mother for letting Hannah (occasionally) watch Winx?
The whole premise of the show is flimsy and derivative—students at a fairy boarding school fight against evil—and the characters are poorly developed and bizarrely drawn, with ridiculously proportioned bodies and questionable clothing choices. And although these evil-fighters are supposed to have super-magical powers, they never seem to be able to use them for anything more strenuous than magical wardrobe change!, except when it’s the season finale, and then they manage to destroy the most powerful, most evil Thingie on the first try. Of course, up to that point they had spent a lot of time having spats with their boyfriends and each other and fainting at the slightest bit of magical exertion. But the clincher for me was that they finally reached a level in their training where they got magical gizmos to supplement their power—and they were *jewelry* and *purses*. I shit you not. Magical accessories—activate!
And for some reason, if it’s on, I will stop and watch, too. Mostly for the pleasure of MST3King it, I’ll admit, but if Hannah is going to watch something so dumb, I want her to enjoy the benefit of my cynicism and criticism (in the sense of “critical thinking”). I don’t want her thinking that even super-magic fairy princesses are incompetent unless they have their magical outfits and super-magic knight boyfriends backing them up. Because super-magic fairy princesses should totally kick ass.
The whole premise of the show is flimsy and derivative—students at a fairy boarding school fight against evil—and the characters are poorly developed and bizarrely drawn, with ridiculously proportioned bodies and questionable clothing choices. And although these evil-fighters are supposed to have super-magical powers, they never seem to be able to use them for anything more strenuous than magical wardrobe change!, except when it’s the season finale, and then they manage to destroy the most powerful, most evil Thingie on the first try. Of course, up to that point they had spent a lot of time having spats with their boyfriends and each other and fainting at the slightest bit of magical exertion. But the clincher for me was that they finally reached a level in their training where they got magical gizmos to supplement their power—and they were *jewelry* and *purses*. I shit you not. Magical accessories—activate!
And for some reason, if it’s on, I will stop and watch, too. Mostly for the pleasure of MST3King it, I’ll admit, but if Hannah is going to watch something so dumb, I want her to enjoy the benefit of my cynicism and criticism (in the sense of “critical thinking”). I don’t want her thinking that even super-magic fairy princesses are incompetent unless they have their magical outfits and super-magic knight boyfriends backing them up. Because super-magic fairy princesses should totally kick ass.
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