Fantastic few months

School has begun - it's been going quite well. I'm actually very fond of the class I'm teaching, and so far I am pleased with the classes I am taking. Things are good.

What is also good? I've been having roast beef and brie sandwiches. Delicious.

And one of the best parts is that this is (hopefully!) the last start of the semester that I'll have to spend by myself. C'mon, immigration, you can do it! Move more quickly! I mean, we've had no word since the beginning of July - but I can't ask about it until October anyways, so there's no harm in being patient. Again.

Here's to a fantastic few months ahead.

Obfuscation usually requires a lot more words

Liberals read more books than conservatives.

Responding to the poll, White House spokesman Tony Fratto attacked liberals for being too “loquacious”:

Obfuscation usually requires a lot more words than if you simply focus on fundamental principles, so I’m not at all surprised by the loquaciousness of liberals.

Wow. So I must be uber-liberal. I've lost count of how many books I've read so far this year.

And who doesn't read ANYTHING? Who are these people? I am pretty sure I must not know any of them, or if I do they are too ashamed to admit that they haven't read anything lately. And that those who have read something, don't even read one book a month? Again, who are these people?

Last King of Scotland

So I watched The Last King of Scotland last night. Wow. I see why Forrest Whitaker won the Oscar. I was simultaneously charmed by and terrified of his representation of Idi Amin.

If you haven't seen it, you should.

But (spoiler!) the scene where he has Garrigan strung up with hooks in his chest, I couldn't actually watch. It was too horrifying. I hid behind a pillow.

Yet I still felt a kind of affection for the character. It's really fascinating... how do we fall in love with dictators?

And with that giant question, I'll go play some LEGO Star Wars. Much cheerier. :-)

sublime but solitary sunday lunch

Today I had a sublime (but solitary, tear) Sunday lunch. Because I wish I were in Chile. Because that is where S is, and things here haven't started up yet.

So on that note, here is a picture of the lovely Chilean lunch I made myself - I admit, I'm missing the "salads," be it plain lettuce, plain corn, etc, but it is just me. So here I have Carmen's Baked Chicken and Papas Duquesas with a nice Chilean red wine. Given the fact that I can have the windows open (because it isn't soooooooo hot!), this is great. If only I had someone to share it with.


So, here are the recipes:

Carmen's Chicken

5 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs (you can use boned ones, or breasts too, or chicken with skin)
Salt
Pepper
Oregano
Cumin
Paprika
Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a baking dish, rub salt, pepper, oregano, cumin, and paprika on the chicken (the mix is up to you - I like lots of paprika but that's just me.) Place in dish. Drizzle olive oil over chicken. Bake uncovered in oven 50 minutes.

Papas duquesas

2.5 pounds of baking potatoes
Salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1/2 c. flour
Pinch of nutmeg
Vegetable oil (for frying)

Peel and cut potatoes into chunks and boil in salted water for 25 minutes. Drain, then heat in saucepan on high heat for 2 minutes (to dry them out some). (If you don't have a Kitchenaid [MY BEST FRIEND IS AWESOME AND WE LOVE YOUR PRESENT!!], make something up as to how to get everything together, I think potato ricers are silly but I'm also an improvisational chef - I don't really measure things most of the time). In the Kitchenaid, combine the remaining ingredients (minus the vegetable oil). Gradually mix in potatoes, using the whisk attachment.

Heat oil in frying pan. Place teaspoon sized gunks of the potato mixture in the hot oil ; fry until golden brown crust appears on all sides (you'll have to turn it.) Drain on paper towels. If you can't wait until they cool a bit to taste them, use chopsticks. Trust me on this one.

If you need to reheat them, do it on baking sheets in the oven.

the peruvian earthquake

Any earthquake is a terrible disaster.

But, even though seismologists stress that the Peruvian quake doesn't rule out a similar strong one in northern Chile in the near future... part of me (guiltily) heaves a sigh of relief - better Peru and Lima than Chile and Santiago. Especially since S is now in Santiago.

The other part of me is going through the people I know who might be in Peru right now, and where in Peru they might be. This is scary. I hope to God that this doesn't happen in central Chile any time soon.

And despite the tragedy, part of me (the very large part that as a child was obsessed with earthquakes and volcanoes) is also fascinated by the way the earth literally moves.

paper paper everywhere

My sister complained to me earlier this summer about a course where the professor had them print out all of the readings rather than binding them up in a course pack, because the students would rather not have to buy a course pack.

My sister wanted the course pack. Because just printing that stuff gets expensive, too.

I feel for her. I just printed out about 1200 pages of reading for one of my semester classes. At least I could fiddle with the fonts and margins and stuff, or it would have been quite a bit more.

I'll pay for a bound course pack over that any day.

Mi amorcito se fue

Mi amorcito se fue. :-(

I sent S off on the train this morning - it sounds horrible but it does get easier every time, and God willing this will be the last time we have to do this whole, one stays one goes stuff... let's be speedy, US Government!

I have so far distracted myself by going to the public library in search of books to distract myself with at home, and sitting reading George Herbert's poetry in a coffeeshop. Now that I'm home for a bit, I'll get stuff in order to run errands out of the house. I nearly cried again when I walked into our bedroom and saw his side table without his stuff on it. This sucks.

Safe journey, mi marido lindo.

not unpacked yet

We are so not yet unpacked. But it's OK. They changed the lock on the door, and we're getting a new refrigerator later today. That means its OK to not know where things are yet because they are still in boxes, right?

I hate moving. But I love organizing. So why am I not enjoying this organizing part more?

Also, S has banned bookshelves from our bedroom. I was going to put my fun books there! But it's OK - I have enough bookshelves in the living room. :-) And it is still mostly my stuff all over the place, so I can't complain too much.

moving house

Happy Saturday.

We're in the middle of moving house. We're most of the way done - my sister and S are amazingly strong and due to that awesomeness, we got all of the furniture moved yesterday. But there's still stuff left to do...

And I think we are going to reward ourselves by going to see the Harry Potter movie this afternoon. Because neither my mother nor I have seen it. So that's going to be lots of fun.