Nee is dull

Sometimes I think I was born a stick in the mud. John loves to go to different cultural events, especially musical performances, but he doesn't often rope me into going along. Last Saturday night was one of those rare occasions. The Swedish club sponsored a trio to sing and play piano, and Hannah and I went for moral support (and cashiering, it turned out).

The concert was held at the library. I have been using the library for 4 years and never knew that there was a recital hall upstairs. In the upstairs foyer, there was an exhibit of photographs; the theme of the exhibit was transience. I didn't really care for many of the photos. They felt self-consciously pretentious to me, and a bit too random to fit neatly into the theme. But there were some photos I found really touching, especially the ones with a young person and an older relative, the tenderness and love that was apparent in the younger person. There were two other photos I particularly liked, one of a pre-schooler holding her mouth like the child in the (obviously very old) photo she is holding, the other of an old woman holding a photo of herself as a young woman. To me, those spoke of transience, in the person they used to be and the life they were about to leave behind.

Walking around looking at the photos reminded me that I used to enjoy going to museums and plays when I was a student. There's hardly a building on the UT campus that doesn't have some sort of museum or historical display in it, so I had plenty of chances to indulge my interest back then. And the semester John took a drama appreciation class, he was required to attend X number of plays, so I went with him. We saw a lot of wonderful performances that I still remember: Tennessee William's _Camino Royale_, Moliere's _Learned Ladies_, a short play _View From the Rollercoaster_ by ?? (a lovely short play about a gay blind date).

John has dragged Hannah and me along to some musical performances that were just wonderful--an evening of Arab music--and some that were bo-ring, but *drag* always seems to be the operative word. My intransigence has probably rubbed off on Hannah, and that is really not fair to her (1) or to John, who is so eager to experience new things. I don't know why I am so reluctant to leave the house, but that is something I can change.

(1) There are many things that Hannah is not interested in due to overexposure in her childhood: "Not another castle!" "I don't want to go to college when I get big!" "A concert? Bo-ring!"

Ow! My brain!

From the bus (at a stop) I spotted a man with a dog. The man had a plastic bag, and I assumed he was waiting for his dog to do his business. But no--once he got the bag over his hand, he called the dog over, squatted behind it, and apparently had it crap directly onto his bag-covered hand.* I have never seen such a conscientious dog-owner. I have to admit, though, that I felt part of my brain fall out when l saw his particular brand of conscientiousness.

* As I told John later, it was really cold out, so at least the "poop-scooping" served a double-purpose: waste removal and hand warmer.

Hope Springs Eternal

We have been having really up-and-down weather this winter. I swear that our first winter here, the temps hovered just above freezing for months and months. We got snow occasionally, and it stuck around for a pretty long time once it had fallen. Now, it rained buckets yesterday, but we had frost on all the cars this morning. Plus, small bushes are blooming. In January. So when I saw that the local old-fashioned hardware shop* had put wooden sleds out, I had to applaud them for not giving up on winter just yet.

* I love this shop, although I've never been in. It reminds me of the old True-Value hardware stores (I think) in my hometown, with the amazing variety of small appliances, tools, and household stuff. The prices seem to be a bit stiff, but I may treat myself to an old-fashioned cookie press and some baking supplies when my birthday rolls around. **

**Gah! 35 in one month! Ack!

John's back has crapped out on him again. He's been trapped in the recliner with some aspirin and a hot-water bottle since Sunday. Since then, we've been arguing about the advisability of sex in that state. I'll let you guess which position John has taken on the matter. (Hint--John is a man.) He thinks he'll be able to go back to work tomorrow, even if he is still a little crooked.

You can tell Hannah is getting older: her list of wants is changing. At xmas she still wanted some Ken dolls; now she wants to dye her hair red and learn how to ski. If she doesn't start studying properly and bring her grades up, she is going to want some new parents, because she will be in deep do-doo with the ones she has.

Out and About With Nee

Recently spotted by yours truly in the main shopping street:

1 bunny on a leash
1 guy juggling flaming batons
1 guy singing Calypso
1 Shetland pony
1 llama

We saw the pony last week when we left my department on the way to dinner, and the llama a little later; they were part of a fundraiser to feed circus animals. I was hoping to come across an elephant or a monkey, but no such luck. We did see a little girl and her mom walking around with a couple of puppets, and then we saw them again after dinner, but I don't think they were with the circus people.

Then I saw the pony again this week and decided to make a small donation if the llama was out. It was, so I did, and I gave it a little pat. It is amazing how a smal pat on a llama can brighten your day.

There was also this little old lady at the bus terminal. She was dressed nice, but she stopped every few feet to turn back and loudly berate some people waiting for a bus, including another litle old lady. That was at 7 am. The next time I saw her, around noon, a knot of police were standing around her. It's always something at the bus stop.

10 Things

John Scalzi recently had an entry up, "10 (More) Things I've Done You Probably Haven't". I felt a bit timid about commenting with a list of my own, especially since lots of people seem to have hobnobbed with the great and nearly-great, but that's no reason not to do it here. Feel free to add your own list in the comments.

1. I have lived in a foreign country for over a quarter of my life. (Hannah has lived abroad for over half of her life now.)

2. I have stood on the roof of King's College Chapel at Cambridge University.

3. I got perfect scores on 2 out of 3 sections on the GRE, 4-1/2 years after graduating from college.

4. I have an acknowledgement for my copyediting work in Historiographia Linguistica.

5. I was once (at 26) the youngest presenter ever at a national conference for distance educators. (To be fair, my boss, quite a bit older than 26, was slated to give the presentation but had to leave due to a family crisis.)

6. By the end of next year, I will have a BA with a double major from an American university and an MA with a double major from a German university.

7. I worked a full 8-hour day on the day I went into labor with Hannah. She was a week overdue at the time.

8. I was the only person in my school year, in the whole city, to make all-region band in the 9th grade.

9. From the age of birth to 18, I lived in 5 places in 2 countries and 2 states. Since 18, I have lived in 11 places in Austin, 1 place in Sweden, and 1 place in Germany, for a grand total of 18 locations.

10. The only time I have ever been high was during dental surgery (when I became one with Gustav Mahler's First Symphony).

From My Bookmarks

This post is the archive for my "From My Bookmarks" links from the sidebar. As noted, it is a rotating list, and the items that are rotated out will end up here.

Julia
I, Asshole
Mandajuice
Bad News Hughes now The Domesticated Shithead
The Rage Diaries now Filthy Commerce (but still good!)
mimi smartypants
Indexed
Ayyyy! Gently Making Fun of the Famous

New to Me

This post is the archive for my "New to Me" links from the sidebar. I'll periodically move items from there to here when I add new items there.

How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons
LA en vie now defunct
List of the Day
Homesick Texan
Bad Astronomy Blog
Fake Plastic Fish

Artist in Training

Hannah spent most of one day painting this lovely picture of a lady.



She went back and worked on touching it up the next day, too, and even painted a frame to put around it. Then she hung it up in her room.

Then she turned it to face the wall, because the eyes were staring at her while she was trying to go to sleep.



(That’s it next to the cabinet across the room from the bed.)

Pick-me-up

One of the things I like about Germany is the love of fresh flowers. I needed a little pick-me-up today, and for 1.99 (less than ANYTHING in Starbucks*) I got these to cheer up the dining room.



*A second Starbucks** opened up on the same street as the first one, but on the opposite end. *insert sound of gnashing teeth* I solemnly swear that the one time I went into the one Starbucks will be the only time I ever go into any Starbucks.

**I still laugh myself stupid at Starbucks being the headquarters for Dr. Evil's international evil organization in the Austin Power's movie.

Make-Over in Miniature

Friday evening we went out to eat, and Hannah informed us that short hair is now “in”, and “I want to be in.” She refused to let me take her to a salon; she was worried that she would end up with an actual “style”, when all she wanted was a chop straight across the bottom.

Here, Hannah fresh from the shower:



The difference 8 or 9 inches makes:



The carnage:



And finally, the new “in” girl:

Sugar and Spice and Death and Gore

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you will come across several similar items while roaming around the internet? For me, it has been a string of things: first Star Wars (I couldn't swing a dead cat around here without it landing on something Star Wars), then the town of the job interview, and now candy Lord of the Rings.

Here we have the Lord of the Peeps: Fellowship of the Peep. Nothing says high fantasy like sugar bunnies.

Last xmas we got The Battle of Helms Deep in Karo-vision.

Now this xmas we've gotten The Battle of Pelennor Fields, in all its sugary fierceness.

And to finish out the group, an older site, Peep Research. Who knew Peeps were so academically inclined?

Self-Referential to the Max

Let us share a moment of silence for the demise of Le Mariage Royale, my favorite formalwear shop to fug on. Since Cindi Lauper and Björk can only buy so many evening gowns, it was a foregone conclusion that its days were numbered. But at least there’s a silver lining: the sewing shop next door has expanded into the empty space, so now you don’t have to anchor yourself to the front door before burrowing your way through to the button display in the back.

No one wants to hear this, but I must rant about it somewhere, so feel free to move on to the end now. Still here? Anyhoo, my favorite short-cut street has apparently become a favorite dog-walking street judging by all the piles of dog crap I had to dodge yesterday. Oh, and a drunk short-cut, going by the barf. I think it is time to start issuing dogs with diapers, like Hannah came up with all those years ago. I wonder how practical a head diaper would be, to be handed out at the door of the local bars when customers leave. Maybe with goggles attached?

I am not really big on the idea of New Year’s resolutions, because it seems that self-improvement should be an on-going thing. But when everyone else is talking about it, it is a good reminder that maybe the improvement is not improving at the rate I would like, and maybe I should reanalyze. So other people’s resolutions are ok, I guess. Poor John gets to hear me moan and groan about my deficiencies, so I won’t burden you all here, but I do have mini-goals I could share:
Take my iron every day.
Drink more water.
Spend more time each week walking, and not just in the course of my day. (I must point out, though, that my office is on the 4th floor of the English Department (78 stairs and 2 long hallways from the front door), and I go there 2-3 times per week. Our apartment is on the 3rd floor of our house (40 stairs), and our bedroom is upstairs in our apartment. So I have totally got stairs covered.)

And finally, I wanted to share this photo of the best dad in the world:



He actually didn’t volunteer to play Barbies—he had them thrust upon him by a very insistent Hannah.

Stop—Burgertime!

My grandfather always liked to get in on the ground-floor of new technology, so he was an early buyer of the Betamax video player and the Intellivision videogame system. When he moved up to the next new thing, we often inherited his old stuff. John still laughs at me a little for playing on a game system that had a disc instead of proper buttons. My all-time favorite game was Burger Time: A little chef runs around the screen trying to make the layers of a hamburger drop down while avoiding the evil weenies, eggs, and pickles. If you manage to drop a layer onto a bad condiment, there is a satisfying *squish* sound; AND you are armed with pepper that you can spray onto the baddies and freeze them temporarily.

I check the DamnHellAssKings site pretty often for updates and just noticed this new site linked recently: Videogamey. I was totally hooked when I saw the post "Walking Egg From Burgertime, Internal Monologue Of." *insert sound of breathless laughter*

Then tonight, Hannah found the SpongeBob version on the Nick web site. They call it Patty Panic, but it is totally Burgertime Nick-point-oh. At least Hannah will know the joy that is Burgertime, even if in a bastardized and commercialized form that I, a purist, will never stoop to play (while anyone is looking).

Save our earth

I am a big fan of The Rage Diaries and the interesting articles and commentary provided by Lisa Schmeiser.

In the same vein, I just came across this article at Arthur Frommer's blog (of the Frommer's travel guides):

Arthur Frommer Online: I got the strangest reaction when I recently suggested the adoption of a system for turning out lights in a hotel room

I secretly worry that the end of civilization as we know it will end with a crash and bang (and soon!), and I catch myself mentally cataloging the items in our home that we could eat for nutrition or burn for warmth. When I read an article like this, I don't know whether I should be relieved that someone is putting the word out or worried that no one is listening.

Antique Cooking

John has been pestering me about using the dates I bought a while back (because he wants to eat the leftovers), so I finally got around to baking a date cake from a recipe hand-written by my great-grandmother. It turned up somewhere in the family, and copies were made for all the grandchildren. I don't know if my mom or sisters have tried it out yet, so I might be the first in years and years. But I am sharing it here now.

It was super easy to make (although chopping up gummy dates was a bit of a sticky mess) and tastes pretty good. John is the connoisseur of date cakes, since his grandmother makes one (although it is more like a fruitcake with dates in it), and he liked it, too.

Enjoy!



Date Cake

1 cup of chopped dates
1 cup of boiling water
1 teaspoon of [baking] soda
1 Tablespoon of butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
spick of salt
1/2 cup nut meats
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Sprinkle soda over dates; add boiling water, butter, and sugar. Beat until all is dissolved [I just stirred vigorously with a spoon]. Add beaten egg. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into mixture and stir. Add nuts and vanilla. Bake in loaf pan in moderate oven [350]. Black walnuts are best.
[I used a well-buttered and floured bundt pan and baked for 30 minutes.]

The Last Bit of Xmas

For some reason, John's grandmother used to think that a bed-in-a-bag was the perfect xmas present, and all us grandkids ended up exchanging them right away. On the other hand, John's mother always had her finger on the pulse of our interests and needs and would find appropriate gifts for us. How ironic that this year, we took the xmas money from John's mom and bought bedding with it.



These down comforters are *so* fluffy and warm. I will never sleep under anything else.

I love tacky xmas socks, but mine are getting a little thin. I knew that John would not lower himself to actually buy me any, so when I saw some in town, I bought 2 pairs.



For some reason, my pictures get cut off on the right, so you all are missing the glory of my leg hair. If it were actually visible (and you can see it in full if you click on it), I would have made the Internet collectively barf. (BTW Jooge, the next time your mom gives you a hard time about your leg-shaving habits, let her take a look at this photo. And tell her that I've seen hairy-er toddlers (no offense) *g*).

I bought John the first season of Futurama on DVD from amazon-uk, and for some reason, the titles and directions are all in Italian. We have checked and double-checked all the settings, and everything *should* be in English, but that doesn't seem to matter to our DVD player. At least Hannah is giving her language skills a work-out by figuring out what the labels say for us.

Happy New Year to you!

We had a good time at our friends' last night. They brought out their raclette grill for us. I bought one for John for xmas, so I'll have to post pictures of it when we finally get around to using it, but it is basically a type of indoor grill. The top is sort of like a griddle; our friends put a couple of dishes to keep hot on there. Then there are little non-stick pans that you slide under the griddle surface, and the heating element cooks the contents of the pans. Cheese is the most important ingredient, because it melts and browns wonderfully under there. Yum! Hannah had fun grilling the various pre-chopped foods and even ate some grilled veggies.

After the food and the conversation and the midnight toast, we went down to the street and shot off some fireworks. New Year's is the only time the plebes are allowed to use fireworks, so everyone and his dog were out there. At one point, it was so smokey that we couldn't even see one of the bottle rockets we had just sent up. It had snowed while we were eating, so there was a lovely layer of ice on everything. Despite my (inner) fear that someone would slip and crack her head open on the sidewalk or have an eye shot out, the fireworks were a real hit. The only damper on the night o' fun was when I stepped into a giant fresh pile of dog-doo on the way home. I hate dogs.

I just remembered something I haven't told John yet, and I know he is going to be crushed. If you happen to hear a faint cry of "Whyyyy?!!" from the other side of the Atlantic, you'll know that I have informed John that our grocery store no longer carries Charmin. Not even non-winter scented white.

I missed John and his sweet ways while he was in Chicago. He's in the kitchen right now, murmurring to the cats while he feeds them their favorite wet cat food.

Junk Galore

John made it back from Chicago, none the worse for wear. I think he had a good time, but he wasn't able to meet up with as many people as he had originally hoped to, so he was a little lonely. That didn't stop him from eating at the same Mexican restaurant for four lunches in a row, though. *g*

He always brings us something back when he travels, and Hannah makes it a little easier to pick something for her because she always makes a list of American junk food she wants. For me, America is the land of the free and the home of the brave, but for Hannah it is the home of the Frito-Lay company and the land of MSG, as evidenced by the fruits of John's shopping labors.



We also got shirts, so his efforts won't have completely disappeared into a pile of empty wrappers and crumbs within a couple of days.

A girl I'm sort of friends with in the German department (it's complicated) gave me a music-mix CD a couple of Christmases ago, but I thought it was xmas music, and I didn't actually listen to it right away. While digging around for the software from our internet provider to load onto my new laptop, I found the CD and decided to give it a spin. She picked some really good music! And not xmas music, although I would have liked that, too. So I think I might load it onto my laptop for my listening enjoyment while working.

I really like my new laptop, but the keyboard action on it is stiffer than on John's laptop, so it is taking some getting used to, especially the buttons below the touchpad. My poor thumb is still sore from sewing button-holes into Hannah's pants (the zipper broke), so that might be part of my typing problem.

On Friday I took Hannah and her friend to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. *shudder* I got a little nostalgic when they sang their xmas song the first time, because it used to come on the radio when I was a little kid, but otherwise I concentrated on trying to crochet in the gloom. And then about 3/4 of the way through the movie, Hannah's friend started saying, "My tooth! My tooth!" I took her out in the lobby, and sure enough, her tooth had gotten knocked loose by a piece of popcorn. Hannah's lost baby teeth while eating ice cream and a hamburger (never did find that one), so it wasn't totally surprising, but she said it really hurt, so I ended up leaving the movie early to take her to meet her mom (thank the dwarfs for small favors). I met back up with Hannah afterwards and we went to Pizza Hut as planned. But I had to stop at the yarn store to buy this first:



John asked me what I wanted for xmas, and I told him that book, and this apron:



He always suspects that I'm throwing him wishlist items underhand to make it easier and cheaper for him*, but always tell him what I would like but wouldn't buy for myself. Which is funny, because even though they are often small items, I really get a kick out of having them.

I totally should have bought this one while we were in Scotland:



So if he's not going to do it, I'll just pick them up myself the next time I see them.

* His stepmom always used to ask for refrigerator magnets when asked what she wanted for xmas.

We're going to spend New Year's Eve with another family, so I guess I'll spend the meanwhile finishing some straightening up I started this morning before I had to go pick John up from the train station. I can never manage to get every part of my house clean at the same time, but at least over the 2 week school break each part will have been clean at least once.

Musical Hannah

We received a really cute e-card from a dear relation for xmas, and after we had viewed it Hannah was humming the music from the card for a while. Then I realized that she had switched to "My Country Tis of Thee."

Where in the world had she learned that?

Turns out, she was humming the anthem* for the Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen from Ren and Stimpy.



That's my girl.

* (crammed into the tune of "My Country Tis of Thee")
Our country reeks of trees,
Our yaks are really large.
And they smell like rotting beef carcasses.
And we have to clean up after them
And our saddle sores are the best.
We proudly wear women's clothing
And searing sand blows up our skirts.
And our buzzards, they soar overhead
And poisonous snakes will devour us whole,
Our bones will bleach in the sun.
And we will probably go to hell.
And that is our great reward
For being the Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen.

On the Road Again

John made it to Chicago, but I haven’t gotten the full travel report yet because I didn’t get to the phone last night before voice mail picked up, and John’s call had gotten cut off when I checked the voice mail. Oi! The joys of modern technology. At least I was able to check on the status of his flight online and see that they didn’t crash. I will assume that there weren’t any problems with his hotel reservations and will try to call him there later today.

If you read this before 3 pm Central Time, remember to send a blast of good thoughts toward Chicago then. That’s when he is supposed to have his interview.

I had warned Hannah that we’d have to get up at 4:30 to drive her dad to the airport (for an 8 am flight), and I think that got her keyed up, because she hardly slept that night. It was after 10 when we sent her to bed, and then we stayed up until 11-ish to get John packed. She got up at 1 to pee, and she couldn’t get back to sleep. I’ve been a light sleeper since she was born, and every time she went in or out of her room in the wee hours, I heard the door close. *snick* *snick* *snicksnicksnicksnick* She told us the next morning that she spent the time getting dressed and watching infomercials on tv.

We got to the airport right at 2 hours before the flight, but we were at the wrong terminal. Whoops! It seems that no matter where I find a spot in the parking garage, we end up in BFE relative to the gate we need. Anyhoo, we found the right terminal, got John a place in line, and then Hannah and I braved the bowels of the Frankfurt airport to find McDonald’s and some breakfast for all of us. It is scary down there, all low ceilings and duct-work. Hannah has avowed—even before the visit to Fraport (what an asinine marketing ploy)—that she will never work in an airport restaurant, never never never.

Hannah ordered a Happy Meal—yes, she wanted a hamburger at 7 am. She has an amazing memory, especially where junk food is concerned, and she had recalled that I didn’t let her order a Happy Meal at the airport when we took her grandparents there in 2005(!) because it was breakfast time and I didn’t think they’d serve hamburgers that early, but then *12* kids walked past her with Happy Meals and weren’t they the luckiest kids in the whole world?! (It doesn’t sound quite so melodramatic until I write it down, somehow.)

After the coffee and breakfast food, I was awake enough to drive us home, but even in her sleep-deprived state, Hannah didn’t fall asleep until we were 30-minutes from home, and then she only slept for 20 minutes. I thought we’d both crash after that, but I couldn’t fall asleep; I ended up resting my poor little eyes for about 5 minutes and then re-reading part of Wee Free Men (grade-A Terry Pratchett—I’ll be re-reading it many times).

After a long and well-deserved night’s sleep, we’re going to try to go to the movies later today. Hannah wants to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. Please pray for me.

Ps. John had been hoping for a white Christmas, but he had to be satisfied with a hard frost. It started to snow a couple of hours after we dropped him off at the airport. Oh, well, there's probably plenty of snow in Chicago for him to enjoy.