My Weekend Question Is Back!!

For the wise ones, how do you let go?

Y'all would not believe the things I obsess over at night while staring at the ceiling. One example, I showed pictures of the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima and one of my students asked how far did it extend into the sky. I didn't know the answer off hand. I worried about that.

Okay, I shouldn't paint it as an isolated event that I went crazy over--the survey class I have this semester has a knack for missing the point, sometimes, and asking me all sorts of questions like that. My old advisor told me, "Tell them that's something that they can easily look up on their own."

But while I don't get a malicious feel from them, I am aware of the fact that because I am black, a woman, and young-looking, some students take it upon themselves to "prove" I don't know everything, and I'm not at a point where I can be as dismissive as advisor advises. :-)

Y'all would believe that I've blown this semester into the worst-thing-ever to the point that I can't even hear the students who tell me "This is my favorite class" or "I love when we do so-and-so" or "I never thought about that." A thicker skin, my female colleagues advise me, will grow.

In the meantime, I obsess.

Tell me how not to!

Movie Question

I decided last night to order "The Wire," beginning with season one.

No, I've never seen it, not one episode.

But hold your gasps until I ask my question for the weekend!

"The Wire" isn't the only apparently huge hole in my tv/film life. My students were shocked, SHOCKED!! that I have seen none of the "Star Wars," "E.T.," or "Indiana Jones" films.

Off the top of my head, also unseen: "Boyz in the Hood" (I pieced that together from various clips and people's stories of the film), "Do the Right Thing," any "American Pie," "Citizen Kane," "Rocky I through MMXLV" or whatever, "Love Jones" which I began and couldn't get into, to be honest, "Love and Basketball" in sequential order, "Fatal Attraction," "Gone with the Wind" (don't want to), any episode of "Grey's Anatomy," or "Lost" and I'm stopping there, whew.

So what's the gaping hole in your motion picture repertoire?

Gearing up for the Holidays

Deuce, with Alex, in Coti's hat

Two days before he turns seven months old and one week until I see him!! I am so ready for my Deucie-Deucie-Fat-and-Juicy (and yes, I call him that in my head, for real).

Anyway, the time between now and January 2 will pass in a busy blur (hopefully, a pleasant, busy blur) for me with Thanksgiving, finals, graduation, archive visit, Christmas, and New Year's intoxication all looming. I'm currently getting ready for my mom, sister, brother and sister-in-law and kids for Thanksgiving. Hectic, but okay.

Anyway, are you celebrating Thanksgiving? If so, how? And, (the important question :-) what are you cooking??

Back to Food

No surprise for me :-p

I have family coming for a week at Thanksgiving and am planning meals that freeze well. I am also dusting off my "only when it gets cool" recipes.

Two things I plan to make are taco soup and chicken pot pie. Why I have chicken pot pie as a cool recipe, I don't know, but there you have it.

Anyway, give me ideas! What are some of your cool weather dishes? They don't have to all be freezable. I have a couple more I'm making, but I'm stumped for seven days!

Ooh, That Irps My Ass!

That's what my Aunt Mary, Trin's mom, says when shit irks her. Not irk--irp.

My own dear mother has anemia and when asked will tell people, "Yes, I'm anemia."

That irps my ass.

I've noticed that when my sister and I buy things online and people ask us where we got item a, we both say, "I bought it offline."

What are some of your grammatic/linguistic peccadilloes--things you know aren't quite right, but you just can't give up?

Hard to Break

These are my poor, chewed off nails. Yes, I know it's a horribly nasty habit. Yes. I've tried to quit. Yes, they are typically hidden beneath a few layers of acrylic.

But I can't do it anymore--I hate going to the nail shop and increasingly, the hair salon. These are things I used to consider treats to myself. My opinion has changed because 1)good grief, these are time-and-money-sucks and 2) I don't feel compelled to "look pretty" for anyone else anymore--and I hope that compulsion stays buried. If I'm happy with my appearance, that's enough.

I'm still keeping salon appointments, but it takes every bit of my energy to motivate myself to get my nails done.

I also pull out my eyelashes, curse like a fiend, and use retail and food therapy to soothe my ragged nerves.

Any bad habits you want to divulge?

Question...

I so enjoyed all the food stories and tips I got last weekend (and talking back and forth in the comments) that I think I'll ask another question for this weekend.

A few months ago, I read a paranormal romance novel*, chock full of demons. There were demons like lies, violence, pain, etc. But guess who/what else was a demon according to the author?

Hope.

BFP and Sylvia and I hashed this out on twitter. We pretty much decided, "She's right." Anjali tried to get us to be a little less pessimistic, to no avail.

So, without giving you my reasoning (at first), I want to ask, do you think hope is a demon**?
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*Yes I read the whole series. No, no comments or observations on my leisure reading are permissible.

**Doesn't have to be demon in the religious or otherworldy sense. Do you think hope is "bad"/leads people astray is another way to put it, I guess.

Late Night Snack, Pt. 2

No horror story, this time... yet.

When I was young, tuna fish was one of the staples of kid birthday parties on my circuit. Tuna on crackers (we loved the moms who used Ritz crackers instead of saltines :-) or on soft white bread cut into squares or triangles usually sat nestled among a bowl of chips, the cake with the crunchy, colorful decorations, and punch which was usually kicked up tropical punch kool-aid (all red kool-aids are NOT equal!).

But, when my cousins, sister, and I got older, we realized eating the tuna fish was one thing. Opening it and having the smell on your hands was quite another. We abandoned tuna fish once we learned to make chicken salad which was basically the same recipe with chicken breasts and no smell. We also abandoned the practice of baking cakes and applying the decorations. I used to love the anticipation created by smelling that birthday cake baking. Now, amongst my sometimes-bougie set of friends, my suggestion that I bake my son's birthday cake is met with horror.

The other day at work, one of the psychologists on my hall brought tuna for lunch. She had her door open and the scent wafted down the hallway. Rather than being turned off, I suddenly had a craving for tuna. I picked up some Friday night. And a little while ago I "made tuna fish" for the first time in forever. I think what my family eats/makes is probably properly called tuna salad, but we don't say that.

Anyway, I put in Miracle Whip (I'm not touching that black people don't eat mayonnaise thing, but at my house, well, we didn't :-), sweet pickle relish, a little sugar, and chopped up bits of 1) a granny smith apple 2) red onion and 3) boiled eggs. My mom also uses Kraft Sandwich Spread, but my lazy ass figures with the pickle relish, who needs it?

Y'all, that was the best thing ever! How could I have forgotten? I'm about to run out for Ritz crackers in a minute, I swear.

But my late night snack has me thinking about all the ways people jazz up basic foods. I mean, a few weeks ago I was looking for a new mac and cheese recipe, came across a approximately a thousand, and used one that was absolutely horrible. I also experiment a lot with my spaghetti sauce and tacos.

So what common/basic food do you add a little somethin'-somethin' extra to? I'd really like to know because I'm always trying new things. And though I've been HORRIBLE about responding to my commenters this semester, I love y'all and I promise I'm reading, so please share your ideaas.