Canadian Bacon Barbie

Check it out here… http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=362

I found these decorating books at the thrift store and absolutely had to have them:

1) Better Homes and Gardens Creative Decorating on a Budget, ca 1970

Which featured this awesome green and black room:

I think you could easily replicate that chair by painting a thrift store version black, and then covering the chair pad.

2) Good Housekeeping’s Complete Book of Decorating, from 1971 (I think)

This book featured more cool green and black rooms:

I love the fabric on the chairs–it looks like Marimekko.

Now I’m wishing I had chosen green and black for my living room. To get the look, you could get one of these from Ikea:

I still have a Klippan sofa from grad school. I love being able to change the look of it… it’s in my study right now so maybe I could pull of this kind of look there…

Or this sofa from allmodern.com

The dots are too cool!

I happened across the Loeb Edition (volume II) of Isocrates’ collected works at a used book store and decided to sit down with it today. I bought it because a) It’s I-Soc, and I love I-Soc, and it contained “Against the Sophists” and “Antidosis,” two familiar texts for us rhetoricians. But the volume starts with On the Peace, a text Isocrates wrote during the Social War, in which Athens was dead set on waging war against the Chians, the Coans, the Rhodians, and the Byzantines. I couldn’t help but notice parallels with our contemporary situation, so I thought I’d list some of them for your reading/pondering pleasure:

• “I observe… that you do not hear with equal favour the speakers who address you, but that, while you give your attention to some, in the case of others you do not even suffer their voice to be heard. And it is not surprising that you do this; for int he past you have formed the habit of driving all the orators from the platform except those who support your desires.” Contemporary parallel.
• 
• “it has become plain to all that you will be better pleased with those who who summon you to war than with those who counsel peace; for hte former put into our minds the expectation both of regaining our possessions in the several states and of recovering the power which we formerly enjoyed, while the latter hold fortn no such hope, insisting rather that we must have peace and not crave great possessions contrary to justice, but be content with those we have… ” (9). Contemporary parallel.
• For some of us appear to me to be over-zealously bent on war, as though having heard, not from haphazard counsellors, but from the gods, that we are destined to succeed in all our campaigns and to prevail easily over our foes” (9). Contemporary parallel.,
  
• Iscorates advises that peace will bring prosperity, that by stopping war with the above-mentioned countries, “we hall have all mankind as our allies–allies who will not have been forced, but rather persuaded, to join with us, who will not welcome our friendship because of our power when we are secure only to abandon us when we are in peril, but who will be disposed towards us as those should be who are in very truth allies and friends”. Other nations viewed Athens as an enemy because “they see that we are not content with what we have but are always reaching out for more. If, however, we change our ways and gain a better reputation […] it will be to their advantage to cherish and support the power of Athens and so be secure in the possession of their own kingdoms” (23).  Contemporary parallel.

Maybe Obama has been reading some Isocrates. Maybe more people should.

From Sportsnet:

“A new Canadian Press Harris/Decima survey suggests 40 per cent of Canadians considered the Habs as the country’s hockey team of choice, compared with 24 per cent for the Leafs. […] Adding insult to injury for Toronto fans, support for the Habs was even higher among those who claim to know their hockey.

As many as 50 per cent of self-described “avid fans” chose the Canadiens as Canada’s team. Less than 30 per cent of the diehards picked the Leafs.”

What’s even worse,  “Among the few groups where the Leafs could count on more support were Conservative party supporters under the age of 24.”

So, to conclude…

 GO HABS GO!!

Not only are these named after one of my favorite colleagues, but they also taste pretty damned good. We gluten-free freaks have no problems with chips in general (potato, corn, etc.), so this isn’t a category lacking in GF options. However, these chips have the delightful side benefit of being thick and uniform enough in shape to pinch hit for crackers. The sea salt variety tastes great with bean dip and is versatile enough to accommodate cheeses or even tapenade. The honey dijon variety also fills the void left in my life when I went gluten-free and had to give up Snyder’s Honey Mustard Pretzel Bits. Actually, it’s not like I ate said bits all that often in my previous, non-GF life. But I kind of liked having the option.

Lundberg rice chips also come in a tantalizing array of flavours, including pico de gallo, sesame seaweed, and fiesta lime. I’ll hopefully be sampling all of these soon. YAY.

I’m going to officially declare piping a fashion trend, based on my two recent acquisitions and online investigations.

Exhibit A: Puma bag, acquired at Lady Footlocker in New Orleans

Isn’t it cute? It’s the perfect size and shape for toting a laptop, or for an airplane carry-on.

Exhibit B: Orange Tommy Hilfinger trench coat, acquired from Overstock.com

I’m excited to wear this on my upcoming trip to rainy Vancouver… although I’m not sure if it will stand up to a downpour on its own.

Here are some other items I’ve come across (but refrained from purchasing!) online, in case you want to partake of the trend:

Shorts, Lulus.com

Shoes, Michael Kohrs, Nordstrom.com

Sunglasses, Lulus.com

Some disorganized thoughts:

Hotels

The hotel situation seemed interesting to say the least. I didn’t stay at the conference hotel (big mistake) and instead went for the Comfort Inn and Suites, where my roomate and I encountered the following:

• Men’s underwear in our bathroom. No men were staying with us.
• A broken vanity light, probably resulting in overdone/excess make up to compensate.
• Keys that stopped working after 1-2 uses
• Surly hotel staff who didn’t seem to care about any of the above

However, we did get a free breakfast that included Quaker oatmeal, which was a welcome addition for my gluten-free self.

Jodie found a “quaint” little hotel in the French Quarter… so quaint that she had to check out of it the last night and stay at La Quinta by the airport.

Both C. and J&S stayed at the Doubletree Hotel, where they encountered:

• Free warm cookies upon arrival and upon request
• Critters (in C’s room)… but at least they gave him free drink coupons

I know where I’m staying next time.

Shopping

There was a Saks Fifth Avenue right by the conference hotel. KRGP and I spent a good amount of time there trying on designer clothes and then deciding they weren’t perfect enough to merit the major cash outlay. I almost bought this trench coat but decided it wasn’t practical to get a white coat that I’d be afraid to wear for fear of soilage. Instead we both bought a bunch of MAC cosmetics which we knew we’d put to good use.

We also went to a Nine West Outlet where I got white ballet flats and a white purse. I also got an awesome Puma bag that I will use to schlep my laptop to the coffee shop every day instead of my old brown leather one.

We also went to a yarn store where we each bought 4 skeins of unmarked kettle dyed, merino yarn. Katie bought hers first, on a solo trip. She showed it to me at the hotel and we both marveled at how much it resembled Malabrigo., So went back to get some more and told the salesperson we both couldn’t get over how much it resembled Malabrigo. “It is Malabrigo.” Right. So for some reason they took off the labels so no one would know what the dye lot or brand was, and then they sold it for $2-4 more than usual. I almost put mine back, but the lady started talkinga bout how the shop was locally owned by a woman who had been there since 1852 and rebuilt after the hurricane etc. etc., so I eventually succumbed. Oh well. You can never have too much Malabrigo, even if it is overpriced.

Food

Eh. I’m no foodie. I ate wherever and generally found that there was lots of gumbo available and nothing else of too much interest for the non wheat eater. I did have an excellent meal at Brennan’s with Jack and a bunch of Penn Staters after my panel. Most of us ordered fish, which was delicious and buttery, and I had bananas foster for dessert. Yummy. I wonder if someone has come up with gluten-free beignets. I should’ve investigated this beforehand but usually I’m lucky if I get a flight and a hotel room within a week of the conference.

The Actual Conference

I was a bit of a slacker this time. I did hear Cheryl Glenn’s excellent speech at the plenary, and went to Jess, Jenn F, and Rosalyn’s panel on historiography. I heard a so-so panel on the rhetoric of science. I went to my own panel. That was about it. I feel a bit guilty for this but somehow my time was occupied with social engagements and a meeting or two. I felt like I was missing everything, including several parties, a meeting (*oops*), and a good chat with some close friends from grad school. I don’t know how to remedy this.

I didn’t even have time to look at the book exhibits much, although I am eternally grateful to the good looking guy at the Inside Higher Ed booth, where they had free chocolates. I love the free chocolates. And the magnetic poetry they handed out was cool.

Lessons learned:

1. It pays to pay more for a nicer hotel.

i. If you find men’s underwear in your hotel bathroom, and you are not staying with any men, leave immediately.

2. Someone needs to make gluten free beignets. Maybe me. These could also morph into g-f portselkje for good Mennonite New Year’s day fare.

3. Add an extra day to future trips if you want to shop/socialize and also actually attend the conference.

 Pity me because I don’t have a Proctor toaster.

From the Saturday Evening Post, ca. 1944.

This was my first attempt at making paska ever, and making it without wheat was a challenge. My mom tried this recipe but said it was only so-so, so I thought I’d look for a GF challah recipe since I think the texture might be similar. So I adapted this one.

I left out the honey and the potato flakes, and I added lemon extract for authentic paska flavour. I also added about a tablespoon of milk as the dough was mixing because I thought it seemed a little dry. And of course I iced it with homeade icing (butter, vanilla, icing sugar, and a tiny bit of lemon extract) and added the requisite rainbow sprinkles. I think it turned out pretty good–the bread was a bit more yellowish in color than regular paska, but the texture was pretty similar (shown below):

Overall I’d say this was a pretty successful adaptation, although next time I’d try the regular oven to see if I could fix the lumpiness. As you can see, i had to fill in some of the holes with extra icing.

If there is such a thing as hell, I’m 90% sure that most of my appliances would live in it. Not to supply people with fresh laundry or microwaved burritos, but to annoy people with their constant beeping. I’m not sure what appliance designers are thinking when they build automatic beeps into things, except that perhaps they believe they are being helpful. But they really aren’t. My microwave beeps 3 times every 30 seconds or so if you leave something in it after it is done cooking. My clothes dryer beeps 3 times every 30 seconds when the clothes are about to be dry. (Not when they are actually dry.)  The weird thing about both of these beeping functions is that they are pretty much superfluous, because both the microwave and the dryer are loud enough on their own that you can hear them stop. So what’s the point of the beeping? Both of these appliances are valuable in part because you can *do other stuff* while they are working. But there’s no real drawback to forgetting stuff in the microwave or the dryer, really. So your burrito gets cold and you have to heat it up again. So your clothes get a little wrinkly if you don’t take them out immediately. Who really cares? You can just heat it up/dry it a little longer. Not a big deal. In the lower-archy of hell’s soundtrack, though, I’d probably give the absolute lowest spot to that sound that Microsoft Windows used to play when you’d do something wrong. It kind of sounded like a cat stepping on a piano, but it was called “chord.” Probably the most annoying beep in history. Why can’t any of these beeping noises be pleasant in some way rather than making me want to tear my hair out?