1. Sign of a good vacation: you lose track of what day it is. We are in Florida, where we go every other year with my mom and sisters for the week between Christmas and New Year's. The weather is truly, epically awful this year (it started raining about 11 this morning and never stopped), but we are managing to have a good time anyway. And you are getting Seven Things on Saturday instead of Friday because I didn't realize what day it was until it was too late.
2. There are seventeen of us in a big VRBO house, but it's way calmer than it used to be because our collective youngest kid is now 12. No toddlers waking up at dawn these days, which--predictably enough-- I kind of miss.
3. With the weather so awful, we're all grateful that there are a bunch of fun movies to see. We went to Mary Poppins this afternoon, and we'll probably make it to Aquaman, Bumblebee, and maybe Mary Queen of Scots before we go home. (we saw Spidey-Verse before we left and definite thumbs up). No one has ever accused us of having good taste.
4.The promised "what's not working for me" list: This was much harder to think of than the list of what's working that I posted on Tuesday. In fact, for the "what's working" list I thought of another one. What's really working for me right now is carrying a couple of reusable shopping bags in my purse. I use the standard sized ones from Baggu, which come in great patterns and can be rolled up cylinder-style and stashed vertically in a corner of my bag, but anything you like is better than getting a dozen plastic bags every week at the grocery store. The resuable bags usually hold as much as three plastic bags, so you don't need as many trips to carry your groceries in, either.
(If you need motivation for that one, just Google "pictures of plastic pollution." The results make me slightly sick to my stomach.)
5.OK, so what's not working? I need to do better about getting some cardio into my day. When the weather is better, we frequently go for walks. But in the winter, I get really sluggish. I have a treadmill just a few steps away from my bed, and I'm one of the rare people that doesn't mind treadmilling once I get on it. I have audiobooks and podcasts and music to listen to. It's just the mental hurdle of doing it. If you know me IRL, next time you see me ask me if I'm walking.
6. Not working: I need to be a better friend. Those of you who only see me every few months may not realize how bad I am about this (or maybe you do). I don't even know how to start. This may be a multi-year project. My temptation is to go to the library and start reading up on it, but in this particular case that may not be the best approach, since diving into books and research is one of the things that keeps me from being a good friend. At a minimum, I need to be more intentional about setting up coffee dates or going for walks or whatever. I've been so antisocial this year that I've mostly just waited until people contact me rather than being proactive.
7. Not working: My stalled project from last year to read books I already own instead of buying new ones. I've already talked about this so much that I don't think I need to say more than that. Or I could say what's not working is the stalled clean-out-the-storeroom under the stairs project. I did pretty well on the rest of the house, but I still haven't tackled the most packed, cluttered space we have.
So maybe I could just categorize those two as "I need to continue to chip away at big projects."
That's all for now. I'm suddenly so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. This vacation thing is exhausting. Have a great weekend.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Tuesday, December 25, 2018
What's Working, 2018 edition
I know I should write something thoughtful and inspiring since this will go up on Christmas day. Something about gratitude and the birth of the light in the midst of great darkness, yadda yadda yadda. But I can't quite get there today.
I had plenty of Christmas spirit this year-- more than I've had in four or five years now. It's just that we did our family Christmas when PellMel and her boyfriend were here ten days ago, so I've had this strange feeling that Christmas is over even though it hasn't happened yet.
We don't even have any presents left to open. It will be a strange Christmas day for us, since we're not doing our traditional Christmas brunch with our neighbors, either. Maybe we will go to a movie or clean the bathrooms or something equally non-traditional.
I sincerely hope that you've got something more exciting to do on Christmas Day than to read my drivel anyway, so it's probably after Christmas as you're reading this. Ergo: I'm not going to write about Christmas. So there.
Which means I have to think of something to write about. OK. Anne Bogel does a list she calls "what's working for me, and what's not" on her blog at the end of the year. Maybe I will try something similar. (later: this got way too long. Like Anne, I'm dividing it up into two parts.)
What's working for me right now:
(note-- I started clicking around and reading other people's similar posts while I was working on this, and for two of the following things that are working for me, I found someone else who said the exact opposite was working for them. ymmv, as always.)
- I'm still doing squats and stretches in the shower. It's still helping me feel stronger and more fit.
- Taking a shower as soon as I get up. When I stopped working last spring, I got into the leisurely habit of waiting to take my shower until I was getting ready to leave the house. That --first of all-- meant that I would frequently be late to wherever I was going because I would underestimate how much time I needed to get ready. It also meant that I was losing a lot of the benefit of a daily shower (waking up, steaming my sinuses open, doing my stretches, etc). Heading for the shower as soon as I get out of bed works much better.
- Carrying a real pen-and-paper weekly planner in my purse (i.e., non-digital). I need to see my week laid out in front of me, and I've always benefited from writing things down and making lists. Carrying a real calendar instead of trying to keep it in my head or on my phone has been a game changer for me. (Although I do make extensive use of phone reminders.)
- Breaking big tasks down into small, manageable chunks. And by manageable, I mean an amount of work that I can get done in 5-10 minutes. I'm a little bit ADD, and I can have trouble sometimes with starting projects, getting overwhelmed, and giving up. Breaking it up into do-able pieces has helped me get more things done.
- Limiting my sugar intake to the afternoon (i.e., no sweets in the morning or evening). Mid-afternoon is when I usually want something sweet, anyway. And also, it gives my body time to metabolize the carbs before I go to bed. I am really happy with this one, although it admittedly has been difficult to be strict about it during the holidays.
- Writing book reviews on Goodreads. I always thought that it was kind of pretentious to think that people wanted to know your opinion about a book. But I realized this year that you don't do it for other people, you do it for yourself. I doubt anyone else ever reads them (with the possible exception of my brother-in-law). It only takes 5-10 minutes to write a quick review when I finish a book, and it really helps me remember what the book is about, when I read it, and what I thought of it.
So there you have it. I'll combine what's not working with my Seven Things on Friday. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Joyeux Noel, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad, Happy Festivus, or whatever works for you. Have a good day.
I had plenty of Christmas spirit this year-- more than I've had in four or five years now. It's just that we did our family Christmas when PellMel and her boyfriend were here ten days ago, so I've had this strange feeling that Christmas is over even though it hasn't happened yet.
We don't even have any presents left to open. It will be a strange Christmas day for us, since we're not doing our traditional Christmas brunch with our neighbors, either. Maybe we will go to a movie or clean the bathrooms or something equally non-traditional.
I sincerely hope that you've got something more exciting to do on Christmas Day than to read my drivel anyway, so it's probably after Christmas as you're reading this. Ergo: I'm not going to write about Christmas. So there.
Which means I have to think of something to write about. OK. Anne Bogel does a list she calls "what's working for me, and what's not" on her blog at the end of the year. Maybe I will try something similar. (later: this got way too long. Like Anne, I'm dividing it up into two parts.)
What's working for me right now:
(note-- I started clicking around and reading other people's similar posts while I was working on this, and for two of the following things that are working for me, I found someone else who said the exact opposite was working for them. ymmv, as always.)
- I'm still doing squats and stretches in the shower. It's still helping me feel stronger and more fit.
- Taking a shower as soon as I get up. When I stopped working last spring, I got into the leisurely habit of waiting to take my shower until I was getting ready to leave the house. That --first of all-- meant that I would frequently be late to wherever I was going because I would underestimate how much time I needed to get ready. It also meant that I was losing a lot of the benefit of a daily shower (waking up, steaming my sinuses open, doing my stretches, etc). Heading for the shower as soon as I get out of bed works much better.
- Carrying a real pen-and-paper weekly planner in my purse (i.e., non-digital). I need to see my week laid out in front of me, and I've always benefited from writing things down and making lists. Carrying a real calendar instead of trying to keep it in my head or on my phone has been a game changer for me. (Although I do make extensive use of phone reminders.)
- Breaking big tasks down into small, manageable chunks. And by manageable, I mean an amount of work that I can get done in 5-10 minutes. I'm a little bit ADD, and I can have trouble sometimes with starting projects, getting overwhelmed, and giving up. Breaking it up into do-able pieces has helped me get more things done.
- Limiting my sugar intake to the afternoon (i.e., no sweets in the morning or evening). Mid-afternoon is when I usually want something sweet, anyway. And also, it gives my body time to metabolize the carbs before I go to bed. I am really happy with this one, although it admittedly has been difficult to be strict about it during the holidays.
- Writing book reviews on Goodreads. I always thought that it was kind of pretentious to think that people wanted to know your opinion about a book. But I realized this year that you don't do it for other people, you do it for yourself. I doubt anyone else ever reads them (with the possible exception of my brother-in-law). It only takes 5-10 minutes to write a quick review when I finish a book, and it really helps me remember what the book is about, when I read it, and what I thought of it.
So there you have it. I'll combine what's not working with my Seven Things on Friday. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Joyeux Noel, Happy Kwanzaa, Feliz Navidad, Happy Festivus, or whatever works for you. Have a good day.
Friday, December 21, 2018
7ToF: 2018 books worth reading
1. Here is my list of books I read in 2018 that were worth reading. I used to do this every year, but I don't think I have in awhile. If you want the reader's digest version, hmmmm..... I think my top favorites were Brown Girl Dreaming, A Tale for the Time Being, and A Gentleman in Moscow for fiction, and Columbine for non-fiction.
Carry on for the full list.
2. Fiction:
- Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Not exactly page turners, but you fall in love with the characters. I didn't want either one of them to be over.
- A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. Starts out with a conventional literary story about two unconnected people, a Japanese teen and a writer living on the west coast of Canada. Their lives overlap more and more as the story goes on. The ending requires major suspension of disblief but it worked for me.
- Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward. Terrifically good writing, but I seriously do not agree with reviewers who say that her biggest accomplishment is making the drug addict mom into a sympathetic character because SHE IS NOT. FEED YOUR CHILDREN, YOU DEADBEAT. But it's still a good book.
- Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie. Two English professors, one middle aged and female, one young and male, spend their sabbatical in London (and no, they do not have an affair, which is what I was expecting from the blurb, although their lives overlap in interesting ways).
3. Non-fiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Confederates in the Attic, Lost City of the Monkey God, Reality is Not What it Seems (about quantum physics!! and I read it! and it was good!), The Art of Memoir (Mary Kerr), and Columbine. Columbine (by Dave Cullen) isn't an easy read, but it's not as awful as I was afraid it would be, either, and it is fascinating. It is probably the best book I read this year, even though it was published in 2009.
4. Mysteries: The Dry by Jane Harper. A Melbourne police detective returns to his rural hometown for the funeral of his childhood best friend and then things get complicated. Several by Catherine Aird, which I already told you about. I made myself take a break so I wouldn't get tired of them, but I'm still enjoying them. Some of them are better than others (of course). I'm also slowly working my way through Donna Leon. I read two by Tana French (The Likeness and Faithful Place) and liked them both, but both required major suspension of disbelief (for different reasons).
5. Memoirs: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown, We're going to Need more Wine by Gabrielle Union, I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell, Plan B by Anne Lamott, Calypso by David Sedaris.
6. Kids/Young Adult: Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, The Red Pencil, by Andrea Davis Pinkney, El Deafo by CeCe Bell, The Prince and the Dressmaker, by Jen Wang.
7. One 2018 new year's resolution that I did pretty well on was to track my reading on Goodreads. I also decided that I would write a review for every book I read. I didn't do quite as well on that one-- I think I missed half a dozen or so-- but if you want to read any of them, click here and scroll down a bit.
Happy Solstice! By the time you read this, we will be on the other side of the winter dark and headed toward the light again. Have I told you recently how much I appreciate you, my gentle readers? (Especially if you waded through to the end of this one.) Have a lovely, relaxing holiday, and let me know your best reads of the year in the comments.
Carry on for the full list.
2. Fiction:
- Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Not exactly page turners, but you fall in love with the characters. I didn't want either one of them to be over.
- A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. Starts out with a conventional literary story about two unconnected people, a Japanese teen and a writer living on the west coast of Canada. Their lives overlap more and more as the story goes on. The ending requires major suspension of disblief but it worked for me.
- Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward. Terrifically good writing, but I seriously do not agree with reviewers who say that her biggest accomplishment is making the drug addict mom into a sympathetic character because SHE IS NOT. FEED YOUR CHILDREN, YOU DEADBEAT. But it's still a good book.
- Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie. Two English professors, one middle aged and female, one young and male, spend their sabbatical in London (and no, they do not have an affair, which is what I was expecting from the blurb, although their lives overlap in interesting ways).
3. Non-fiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Confederates in the Attic, Lost City of the Monkey God, Reality is Not What it Seems (about quantum physics!! and I read it! and it was good!), The Art of Memoir (Mary Kerr), and Columbine. Columbine (by Dave Cullen) isn't an easy read, but it's not as awful as I was afraid it would be, either, and it is fascinating. It is probably the best book I read this year, even though it was published in 2009.
4. Mysteries: The Dry by Jane Harper. A Melbourne police detective returns to his rural hometown for the funeral of his childhood best friend and then things get complicated. Several by Catherine Aird, which I already told you about. I made myself take a break so I wouldn't get tired of them, but I'm still enjoying them. Some of them are better than others (of course). I'm also slowly working my way through Donna Leon. I read two by Tana French (The Likeness and Faithful Place) and liked them both, but both required major suspension of disbelief (for different reasons).
5. Memoirs: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown, We're going to Need more Wine by Gabrielle Union, I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell, Plan B by Anne Lamott, Calypso by David Sedaris.
6. Kids/Young Adult: Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, The Red Pencil, by Andrea Davis Pinkney, El Deafo by CeCe Bell, The Prince and the Dressmaker, by Jen Wang.
7. One 2018 new year's resolution that I did pretty well on was to track my reading on Goodreads. I also decided that I would write a review for every book I read. I didn't do quite as well on that one-- I think I missed half a dozen or so-- but if you want to read any of them, click here and scroll down a bit.
Happy Solstice! By the time you read this, we will be on the other side of the winter dark and headed toward the light again. Have I told you recently how much I appreciate you, my gentle readers? (Especially if you waded through to the end of this one.) Have a lovely, relaxing holiday, and let me know your best reads of the year in the comments.
Tuesday, December 18, 2018
The Lazy Person's Guide to Eggs Benedict
Last week was insane. You might have been able to tell since I didn't post. I had two rehearsals, three performances (two choir and one band), and since our daughter could only be home last week, we had our family Christmas on Saturday-- so all the shopping and planning and etc. But now I'm done with all that and I hope I can just enjoy the rest of the holiday season.
There are a bunch of things I've been thinking about and would like to write about eventually, but it's late in the day today, so we're going with practical advice instead: I am going to pass along my treasured recipe for Eggs Benedict Casserole. You were hoping I would, right?
Dean's family always had eggs benedict for Christmas breakfast. So I tried to continue the tradition. But after a few years of being totally stressed out on Christmas morning with toasting english muffins, poaching eggs, browning canadian bacon, making hollandaise from scratch-- I gave up. There was one year we had bagels with lox and cream cheese and all the trimmings, and I think we tried something else one year.
AND THEN!!! I discovered the Desperation Dinner recipe for Eggs Benedict Casserole. It takes about fifteen minutes to throw together the night before, it bakes in less than an hour, and you make the hollandaise in the microwave, which is almost foolproof. It is now one of our favorite meals, and MadMax requests it whenever he can convince me to do it.
So here you go, just in time for the holidays. This is a modified version of the original from this cookbook. I double the recipe and put one and a half in a 10x15 ceramic casserole, and the remaining half in a 8x8 pan with no canadian bacon for the vegetarians (it is still not vegan, of course, since it has eggs and several dairy products). The double recipe serves 8-10 people, although around here that has always included several people with big appetites so it might go further with your crowd if you are dainty eaters.
Eggs Benedict Casserole
6 English muffins
10 oz canadian bacon
8 large eggs
2 C milk
two good-sized pinches of salt
one small pinch of pepper
a couple of shakes of powdered onion
Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Cut up the english muffins and canadian bacon in bite size pieces and put them in the prepared pan. Toss to evenly distribute. Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk until the yolks and whites are combined. Add the milk and seasonings and whisk to combine. Pour this mixture evenly over the muffins and bacon. Use a wooden spoon to press the muffins down into the egg mixture so that everything is moistened. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, preheat the oven to 350. Bake the casserole, still covered with foil, for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until the muffins are just beginning to brown. During the last ten minutes, make the hollandaise. Just before serving, pour about half the Hollandaise over the casserole, and pass the rest in a gravy boat.
(There may be some standing liquid in various pockets on top of the casserole once it starts to brown--it's better not to overbake this thing, so I usually just blot it up with a paper towel.)
Microwave Hollandaise Sauce:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Melt the butter in a smallish microwave-safe bowl. Let cool slightly. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Whisk them gently into the butter. Add the whipping cream and lemon juice and stir until combined. Microwave the mixture on high, uncovered, stopping every 20 seconds to whisk, until thickened. Stir in 1 t Dijon mustard. If you have a large mouth thermos, this can be made up to an hour ahead and held in the thermos until ready to serve.
Wisdom of the Hollandaise: every year, every single freaking year, halfway through I think this isn't going to work. But it does. Don't get impatient. Just stand there, set the microwave for 20 seconds, take it out and stir, and then do it again. And again. For about 3 or 4 minutes. At first it looks like nothing is happening. And then it actually gets thinner and you start to despair. And then finally suddenly the top of it will start to look like it's puffing up. Whisk it back down into the liquid and do it one last time. Usually it only takes one more time after the top puffs. Don't overdo it-- remember with microwave cooking, it will continue to cook for a minute or so after you stop, so as soon as it thickens up, stop. (If you keep going, the sauce will break--turn into an oily mess--and yes, I know that from experience.)
There you have it. If the hollandaise makes you nervous, do a trial run a few days before. It really does work just fine, but I admit I've gotten better with practice.
p.s. I could swear I've posted this before but after 15 minutes of searching, I couldn't find it. So for those of you who've been around for awhile, you may have already seen this.
There are a bunch of things I've been thinking about and would like to write about eventually, but it's late in the day today, so we're going with practical advice instead: I am going to pass along my treasured recipe for Eggs Benedict Casserole. You were hoping I would, right?
Dean's family always had eggs benedict for Christmas breakfast. So I tried to continue the tradition. But after a few years of being totally stressed out on Christmas morning with toasting english muffins, poaching eggs, browning canadian bacon, making hollandaise from scratch-- I gave up. There was one year we had bagels with lox and cream cheese and all the trimmings, and I think we tried something else one year.
AND THEN!!! I discovered the Desperation Dinner recipe for Eggs Benedict Casserole. It takes about fifteen minutes to throw together the night before, it bakes in less than an hour, and you make the hollandaise in the microwave, which is almost foolproof. It is now one of our favorite meals, and MadMax requests it whenever he can convince me to do it.
So here you go, just in time for the holidays. This is a modified version of the original from this cookbook. I double the recipe and put one and a half in a 10x15 ceramic casserole, and the remaining half in a 8x8 pan with no canadian bacon for the vegetarians (it is still not vegan, of course, since it has eggs and several dairy products). The double recipe serves 8-10 people, although around here that has always included several people with big appetites so it might go further with your crowd if you are dainty eaters.
Eggs Benedict Casserole
6 English muffins
10 oz canadian bacon
8 large eggs
2 C milk
two good-sized pinches of salt
one small pinch of pepper
a couple of shakes of powdered onion
Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Cut up the english muffins and canadian bacon in bite size pieces and put them in the prepared pan. Toss to evenly distribute. Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk until the yolks and whites are combined. Add the milk and seasonings and whisk to combine. Pour this mixture evenly over the muffins and bacon. Use a wooden spoon to press the muffins down into the egg mixture so that everything is moistened. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, preheat the oven to 350. Bake the casserole, still covered with foil, for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes or until the muffins are just beginning to brown. During the last ten minutes, make the hollandaise. Just before serving, pour about half the Hollandaise over the casserole, and pass the rest in a gravy boat.
(There may be some standing liquid in various pockets on top of the casserole once it starts to brown--it's better not to overbake this thing, so I usually just blot it up with a paper towel.)
Microwave Hollandaise Sauce:
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Melt the butter in a smallish microwave-safe bowl. Let cool slightly. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Whisk them gently into the butter. Add the whipping cream and lemon juice and stir until combined. Microwave the mixture on high, uncovered, stopping every 20 seconds to whisk, until thickened. Stir in 1 t Dijon mustard. If you have a large mouth thermos, this can be made up to an hour ahead and held in the thermos until ready to serve.
Wisdom of the Hollandaise: every year, every single freaking year, halfway through I think this isn't going to work. But it does. Don't get impatient. Just stand there, set the microwave for 20 seconds, take it out and stir, and then do it again. And again. For about 3 or 4 minutes. At first it looks like nothing is happening. And then it actually gets thinner and you start to despair. And then finally suddenly the top of it will start to look like it's puffing up. Whisk it back down into the liquid and do it one last time. Usually it only takes one more time after the top puffs. Don't overdo it-- remember with microwave cooking, it will continue to cook for a minute or so after you stop, so as soon as it thickens up, stop. (If you keep going, the sauce will break--turn into an oily mess--and yes, I know that from experience.)
There you have it. If the hollandaise makes you nervous, do a trial run a few days before. It really does work just fine, but I admit I've gotten better with practice.
p.s. I could swear I've posted this before but after 15 minutes of searching, I couldn't find it. So for those of you who've been around for awhile, you may have already seen this.
Friday, December 7, 2018
7ToF: take a long ride on my motorbike
1. Here we are again, sim-ply--hav-ing--a wonderful Christmas time!! For better or for worse, I'm one of those who love Christmas. I love the music, and the movies; I get all sentimental as I'm unpacking the Christmas decorations; I love getting Christmas cards, even the family newsletters.
2. But I know not everyone does. So for those of you who bear with the Christmas onslaught with gritted teeth and mounting depression, I hope you can find creative ways this year to get through it. There should be a badge or a lapel pin or a secret handshake so the anti-Xmasers can find each other.
3. This week's interesting read: an article in The Atlantic about parks that allow kids to explore and experiment without adult supervision (it was actually published in 2014 but I just ran across it a couple of days ago). We all assume that the world isn't as safe as it used to be, but the idea of these parks makes me happy. Back in the day, we ran all over the neighborhood, walked to school nearly a mile away, and played with matches (although only after my mom lit a single hair on fire to show us how flammable human hair is). All without adult supervision.
4. But I'm definitely not encouraging you to get nostalgic about the past. In fact, it occurred to me this week that maybe that's part of the problem we're having these days-- all of our visions of the future are dystopian, while we watch endless Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movies that idealize small-town rural living as if it were still 1956. I enjoy living in a small town, but I can promise you that not everyone is warm-hearted, generous, and tolerant (for example, me). For every good thing about small town life (and there is a lot that is good), there's a downside. Why can't we imagine an urban future that is vibrant, friendly, positive? I don't know-- no answers, I've just been thinking about this.
5. I bought an Instant Pot when they were on sale over Labor Day weekend, but I hadn't even taken it out of the box until this week. I've made a couple of things with it now, and I'm impressed. It's definitely not instant-- you still have to chop onions or whatever, and the cook time that the recipe specifies doesn't include the time it takes to come up to pressure, or to release pressure when you're done. But it does all happen in one pot, which makes it seem simple. I think I'm going to like it.
6&7. We went to see Bohemian Rhapsody this past weekend. I told you about my love for Queen on Tuesday, and I've written about it before in this post. Also back when I was trying to write novels, one of my favorite scenes I ever wrote was a woman my age who breaks her ankle, and in the backseat of her daughter's boyfriend's ancient car, high on percodan on the way home from the ER, she belts out the entire six minutes of Bohemian Rhapsody. So I have a history with Queen, and I wasn't sure if I'd like the movie, especially given the terrible reviews.
It is easy to pick it apart-- it's more than a little weird that Brian May and Roger Taylor were involved and they made themselves out to be pretty blameless; the costumes look like something you'd see at your office 70s party, and could they not afford decent wigs? And why would you make Freddie's teeth worse than they were in real life? I was never able to forget that Rami Malek had a mouthpiece in. Good grief.
And then I came home and did some fact checking and discovered that it wasn't all that accurate. I loved Queen's music, but it was back in the days before the internet, so I didn't really know that much about them. You couldn't google "What is Freddie Mercury's real name?" and get an instant answer back then. They definitely played fast and loose with the facts and the timeline in the name of creating drama where there wasn't any--Queen never really broke up, and in fact had been touring together right before Live Aid; Roger Taylor put out a solo album before Freddie did; Freddie's AIDS diagnosis was probably a couple of years after LiveAid.
So I don't know what to tell you. In spite of all those reasons not to like it, I had a great time just listening to Queen's music on a massive sound-surround system for an hour and a half. In fact, I'm thinking about going to see it again. But if you don't like their music, it probably won't change your mind.
Have a great weekend. Stay warm out there -- we were down to single digits this morning.
2. But I know not everyone does. So for those of you who bear with the Christmas onslaught with gritted teeth and mounting depression, I hope you can find creative ways this year to get through it. There should be a badge or a lapel pin or a secret handshake so the anti-Xmasers can find each other.
3. This week's interesting read: an article in The Atlantic about parks that allow kids to explore and experiment without adult supervision (it was actually published in 2014 but I just ran across it a couple of days ago). We all assume that the world isn't as safe as it used to be, but the idea of these parks makes me happy. Back in the day, we ran all over the neighborhood, walked to school nearly a mile away, and played with matches (although only after my mom lit a single hair on fire to show us how flammable human hair is). All without adult supervision.
4. But I'm definitely not encouraging you to get nostalgic about the past. In fact, it occurred to me this week that maybe that's part of the problem we're having these days-- all of our visions of the future are dystopian, while we watch endless Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movies that idealize small-town rural living as if it were still 1956. I enjoy living in a small town, but I can promise you that not everyone is warm-hearted, generous, and tolerant (for example, me). For every good thing about small town life (and there is a lot that is good), there's a downside. Why can't we imagine an urban future that is vibrant, friendly, positive? I don't know-- no answers, I've just been thinking about this.
5. I bought an Instant Pot when they were on sale over Labor Day weekend, but I hadn't even taken it out of the box until this week. I've made a couple of things with it now, and I'm impressed. It's definitely not instant-- you still have to chop onions or whatever, and the cook time that the recipe specifies doesn't include the time it takes to come up to pressure, or to release pressure when you're done. But it does all happen in one pot, which makes it seem simple. I think I'm going to like it.
6&7. We went to see Bohemian Rhapsody this past weekend. I told you about my love for Queen on Tuesday, and I've written about it before in this post. Also back when I was trying to write novels, one of my favorite scenes I ever wrote was a woman my age who breaks her ankle, and in the backseat of her daughter's boyfriend's ancient car, high on percodan on the way home from the ER, she belts out the entire six minutes of Bohemian Rhapsody. So I have a history with Queen, and I wasn't sure if I'd like the movie, especially given the terrible reviews.
It is easy to pick it apart-- it's more than a little weird that Brian May and Roger Taylor were involved and they made themselves out to be pretty blameless; the costumes look like something you'd see at your office 70s party, and could they not afford decent wigs? And why would you make Freddie's teeth worse than they were in real life? I was never able to forget that Rami Malek had a mouthpiece in. Good grief.
And then I came home and did some fact checking and discovered that it wasn't all that accurate. I loved Queen's music, but it was back in the days before the internet, so I didn't really know that much about them. You couldn't google "What is Freddie Mercury's real name?" and get an instant answer back then. They definitely played fast and loose with the facts and the timeline in the name of creating drama where there wasn't any--Queen never really broke up, and in fact had been touring together right before Live Aid; Roger Taylor put out a solo album before Freddie did; Freddie's AIDS diagnosis was probably a couple of years after LiveAid.
So I don't know what to tell you. In spite of all those reasons not to like it, I had a great time just listening to Queen's music on a massive sound-surround system for an hour and a half. In fact, I'm thinking about going to see it again. But if you don't like their music, it probably won't change your mind.
Have a great weekend. Stay warm out there -- we were down to single digits this morning.
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
You Light Up My Life! You Give Me Hope! to Carry On!
As you know, I was raised Evangelical, and I spent a considerable amount of energy in my twenties extricating myself. Evangelicalism (the way I experienced it) is a closed system. When you're inside, it makes perfect sense. You can build elaborate thought systems within Evangelicalism and it all works. Or maybe you never think about theology at all because everyone you know and love is in there with you, so there's no need to ask questions.
But then somehow you get a peek at what's outside (possibly because the whole edifice is starting to crack). And if your brain works like mine does, you start investigating it, because you can't not do that once you know there's more out there. And before you know it, the whole thing has fallen apart. You can't go back, because you've seen outside it, and you've realized how limited it is in there. Why would you want to go back in that claustrophobic little box?
I still know and love many Evangelicals, though, so I am never able to leave it entirely behind. Weeks will go by when I don't think about it at all, and then there will be weeks like the past month or so where everywhere I turn, I'm surrounded by Evangelicals.
Sometimes this is good--it reminds me why I love so many Evangelicals. And to be honest, I feel at home among Evangelicals. I'm pretty liberal as far as politics and theology go, but I'm a conservative person. I don't like to party and never have. I've never used recreational drugs of any kind. I can have a really foul mouth when I'm angry, but most of the time I don't swear much. I've been monogamous since I started dating Dean when I was 20. Among Evangelicals, that would be unremarkable. In a group of people who were raised in non-religious homes, I look like Debby Boone.
So it happens sometimes that I find myself hanging out in person or online with Evangelicals and enjoying it. There's no chance I'd ever go back to Evangelical theology, but it makes me remember what I miss about the kind of closeness that is fostered by hanging out with like-minded people. And I get lulled into thinking, hmmm, really we're not that different.
Until some touchy subject comes up, and then I realize, OH. OOPS. Nope, this is not working for me. NOT AT ALL. In the past month, this has happened in three different online situations I've been following-- an online bookclub and two podcasts. We're going along just great, and I'm thinking, hey! wow! this is working! And then suddenly it's not. I can still listen/read there, but I'm no longer under any illusion that my opinions would be acceptable to them.
On a slightly tangentially related topic: here is a story from my past that I remembered while I was hanging out with the Evangelicals recently. I've mentioned the Popcast before, a podcast about pop culture whose hosts Knox and Jamie are sharp and funny, and also clearly Evangelical, although they aren't preachy.
They started a discussion thread on Instagram recently about crazy things you did growing up because you thought God would want you to. Like praying for David Cassidy to be saved (although Knox and Jamie are probably too young to have any idea who David Cassidy is), or burning a book of horror stories in a sudden moment of conviction that Jesus wouldn't want you reading that stuff.
It reminded me that when I transferred from a Christian college to a secular university for my last two years of college, I destroyed my beloved cassette tape of Queen's album The Game because I thought if I had that music, I would be a bad witness for Christ.
Yes, I did.
Just wanted to get that out there, because on Friday one (or maybe two) of my Things will be about going to see the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. I don't have anything all that interesting to say, but this post is already long enough.
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like
But then somehow you get a peek at what's outside (possibly because the whole edifice is starting to crack). And if your brain works like mine does, you start investigating it, because you can't not do that once you know there's more out there. And before you know it, the whole thing has fallen apart. You can't go back, because you've seen outside it, and you've realized how limited it is in there. Why would you want to go back in that claustrophobic little box?
I still know and love many Evangelicals, though, so I am never able to leave it entirely behind. Weeks will go by when I don't think about it at all, and then there will be weeks like the past month or so where everywhere I turn, I'm surrounded by Evangelicals.
Sometimes this is good--it reminds me why I love so many Evangelicals. And to be honest, I feel at home among Evangelicals. I'm pretty liberal as far as politics and theology go, but I'm a conservative person. I don't like to party and never have. I've never used recreational drugs of any kind. I can have a really foul mouth when I'm angry, but most of the time I don't swear much. I've been monogamous since I started dating Dean when I was 20. Among Evangelicals, that would be unremarkable. In a group of people who were raised in non-religious homes, I look like Debby Boone.
So it happens sometimes that I find myself hanging out in person or online with Evangelicals and enjoying it. There's no chance I'd ever go back to Evangelical theology, but it makes me remember what I miss about the kind of closeness that is fostered by hanging out with like-minded people. And I get lulled into thinking, hmmm, really we're not that different.
Until some touchy subject comes up, and then I realize, OH. OOPS. Nope, this is not working for me. NOT AT ALL. In the past month, this has happened in three different online situations I've been following-- an online bookclub and two podcasts. We're going along just great, and I'm thinking, hey! wow! this is working! And then suddenly it's not. I can still listen/read there, but I'm no longer under any illusion that my opinions would be acceptable to them.
On a slightly tangentially related topic: here is a story from my past that I remembered while I was hanging out with the Evangelicals recently. I've mentioned the Popcast before, a podcast about pop culture whose hosts Knox and Jamie are sharp and funny, and also clearly Evangelical, although they aren't preachy.
They started a discussion thread on Instagram recently about crazy things you did growing up because you thought God would want you to. Like praying for David Cassidy to be saved (although Knox and Jamie are probably too young to have any idea who David Cassidy is), or burning a book of horror stories in a sudden moment of conviction that Jesus wouldn't want you reading that stuff.
It reminded me that when I transferred from a Christian college to a secular university for my last two years of college, I destroyed my beloved cassette tape of Queen's album The Game because I thought if I had that music, I would be a bad witness for Christ.
Yes, I did.
Just wanted to get that out there, because on Friday one (or maybe two) of my Things will be about going to see the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. I don't have anything all that interesting to say, but this post is already long enough.
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like
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