Distractions while cooking

The Plan

(You can click on the images to open a larger version.)

The Result

From the garden, last summer

The Plan

The Result

Last summer, at Pangaea

www.wolverinefarmpublishing.org

Sketch from an old postcard

May is Mary's Month

excerpt from "The Blessed Virgin compared to the Air we Breathe" by Gerard Manley Hopkins

WILD air, world-mothering air,
Nestling me everywhere,
That each eyelash or hair
Girdles; goes home betwixt
The fleeciest, frailest-flixed
Snowflake; that ’s fairly mixed
With, riddles, and is rife
In every least thing’s life;
This needful, never spent,
And nursing element;
My more than meat and drink,
My meal at every wink;
This air, which, by life’s law,
My lung must draw and draw
Now but to breathe its praise,
Minds me in many ways
Of her who not only
Gave God’s infinity
Dwindled to infancy
Welcome in womb and breast,
Birth, milk, and all the rest
But mothers each new grace
That does now reach our race—
Mary Immaculate,
Merely a woman, yet
Whose presence, power is
Great as no goddess’s
Was deemèd, dreamèd; who
This one work has to do—
Let all God’s glory through,
God’s glory which would go
Through her and from her flow
Off, and no way but so.

(Read the rest HERE.)

Oh no, not funny--it's WITTY, or CLEVER.

Happiest of birthdays to Dorothy Parker!

"Dorothy Parker's Poetic Sneakers"

Life Stories, Books, and Links

A Class I'm Hoping to Take

COS 109 Computers in Our World

Computers are all around us. How does this affect the world we live in? This course is a broad introduction to computing technology for humanities and social sciences students. Topics will be drawn from current issues and events, and will include discussion of how computers work; what programming is and why it is hard; how the Internet and the Web work; security and privacy.

Prerequisites and Restrictions: Not intended for science/engineering/mathematics students.

"The Perfect Secretary"

"The perfect secretary should forget that she is a human being, and be the most completely efficient aid at all times and on all subjects. Her object is to coordinate with her employer's endeavor, and not make any intrusions which would be more likely to affect him as hurdles than as helps.
She should respond to his requirements exactly as a machine responds to the touch of a lever or accelerator . . ."

Emily Post's Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage; copyright 1945

Some subtitles from Emily Post's Etiquette

The Kitchen Finds Itself in Society
To You Who Are Mrs. Three-in-One
But No Shutters That Bang!
Bacon
Fashion and Fat
Have Silver That Shines or None
Favors Too Much Taken for Granted

"The Heart of the Whole Domestic Problem!"

"Whether a house runs smoothly or roughly depends entirely upon the personal adjustments made between the lady of the house and the one or many whom she employs. This is the heart of the whole domestic problem. I think we all have certain neighbors whose houses suggest the smoothness, the tranquility, and the beauty of a sun-dappled mountain brook. And we can also name others who live in a storm center of perpetual upheaval. We know, too, that wealth is not the important factor."

Emily Post's Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage; copyright 1945

When misogyny is sort of okay--except, you know, not.

Let us all greet the sun and rise in recognition of Ernest Hemingway's birthday. Ha!

Found Object

found in a copy of Great Books by David Denby

Found Object

found in a copy of Earthworks by Brian W. Aldiss

Questions from a Myers-Briggs Test

Are you more interested in
a) what is actual b) what is possible

Is it worse
a) have your head in the clouds b) be in a rut

Are you more comfortable in making
a) critical judgments b) value judgments

Are you more satisfied having
a) a finished product b) work in progress

Which appeals to you more:
a) consistency of thought b) harmonious relationships

Common sense is
a) usually reliable b) frequently questionable

Are you inclined to take what is said
a) more literally b) more figuratively

Do you value in yourself more that you are
a) reasonable b) devoted

Do you prize in yourself
a) a strong hold on yourself b) a vivid imagination

Are you drawn more to
a) fundamentals b) overtones

(One of the frustrating things about this test comes up when you think about the relative ambiguity of these terms. For example, one question asks whether you are more "practical" or "fanciful"--what on earth do those words mean? Practical from a personal point of view or from the view of the general population? . . . But that's probably just another part of the test.)

Edward F. Albee said

Good writers define reality; bad ones merely restate it. A good writer turns fact into truth; a bad writer will, more often than not, accomplish the opposite.


Who is Edward F Albee?
No really, who is he?

Caring for your friendly neighborhood introvert.

In March 2003, Jonathan Rauch published this little bit of writing in The Atlantic Monthly. It is called "Caring for Your Introvert: The habits and needs of a little-understood group." Voila!