Summer Cooking

It's summer, and I'm in some kind of cooking frenzy.

I don't understand why I wait until vacation(s) to use the bread machine, it seems the perfect thing to use during the school year. Anyhow, made a hearty hazelnut loaf which was perhaps a trifle too nutty, and I think I'd have enjoyed it better if I'd toasted the nuts first. I'm on the hunt for a good sunflower-seed bread recipe, and a cinnamon-raisin loaf, too. Anyhow, today's loaf is fantastic - it tastes great and the bonus: it made use of several ingredients that had been withering in my pantry - leftover granola cereal from a houseguest, some banana chips, and the end of a small bottle of honey.

Banana Granola Bread
from the book that came with my machine

1 c. water (80 degF)
2 T. milk
2 1/2 T. honey
2 1/2 T. oil
3/4 t. banana extract
1 1/2 t. salt
3 c. bread flour
3/4 c. granola cereal
2 3/4 t. rapid-rise yeast

1/2 - 3/4 c. banana chips, crushed

Add the ingredients to the pan in the order shown, except add the banana chips to the extras dispenser, if your model allows. Bake for a 1.5-lb loaf, medium crust, rapid yeast white bread cycle. If using regular yeast, decrease amount to 2 t. and use regular white cycle.

I went to the grocery store this morning and bought 3-4 days worth of food - lots of vegetables and fruit, some whole chickens, some milk to make yogurt with a yogurt-maker I got for my birthday. Fixings for quiche, potato-cauliflower szabzi, a bacon-basted roast chicken in the oven right now (the leftovers of which will go into chicken-bean enchiladas tomorrow). Hooray!

Bonus Recipe du Jour

Made this last night, and it turned out beautifully.


Greek-Style Pork Tenderloin

1/2 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 T. salt
2 T. dried oregano

Mix all ingredients in a large plastic bag, add a 1-lb pork tenderloin to the marinade and let sit for about an hour. Grill over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes, until internal temperature is about 155 degF. Put on a plate and tent with foil, let sit until temperature increases to 160 degF.

Birthday Week!

First, to the kind and gentle reader who sent me two memory cards, the package arrived with no note - so please take this public acknowledgment of the gift until I can thank my anonymous benefactor personally.


Second, good gravy, it's been a while since I posted. But, I'm finally finished with school. No, that's so not true. I don't have to go back to school. No wait, that's not totally true, either. The school year is officially over! I still have exams to finish grading, and it escapes me why I'm not doing that and writing here instead... but anyhow, it is indeed summer. My summer to-do list is so long, I have to get cracking.

Third, I'm still recovering from birthday week. The week was capped off in a fete at the home of friends, friends good enough to (a) throw a low-food party in my honor - see also this, this and this , (b) serve meat1 in their vegetarian kitchen, and (c) eschew our typical highbrow wine for jug sangria. Kids, can we make a pact never to drink such quantities of plonk again? I'm all for integrity of theme, and I suspect the aftermath had a lot to do with my sleep deficit from the school year, but in the last 36 hours, I spent 22 of them asleep, and the better part of one trying to get back to sleep with a raging headache. We drink the J. Lohr next time with our Fritos and hummus! But, I have to say, it's fantastic to have friends willing to sacrifice good taste to make me a Poke Cake (with Cool Whip!) for my birthday. :)

1 the term "meat" used very loosely...

Dinner

It's about time for another Stuff Jen Likes post, but with Grad Nite and the spring musical and prom, I'm short on time. So, to satisfy you, gentle reader, in the meantime, here are some recipes I made recently for dinner with a visiting friend:

Macadamia-Crusted Tilapia with Mango Cream Sauce
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

4 tilapia fillets
1/2 c. macadamia nuts
1/4 c. breadcrumbs
1 t. olive oil
1/2 t. black pepper
pinch red pepper
pinch garlic powder
pinch ginger

1 c. mango pulp (I use frozen stuff in hispanic-food section of Publix)
1/3 - 1/2 c. heavy cream
dash lemon juice

Season tilapia fillets with salt and pepper. In a food processor, combine mac nuts, breadcrumbs, olive oil, and spices; pulse until chopped and combined (you don't want to make macnut butter - though that is particularly tasty stuff without all the pepper and garlic).

In a small saucepan, bring the mango pulp to a simmer and reduce until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Stir in the cream and the lemon juice and heat through.

Place fish on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and pat nut mixture on top. Bake at 400degF for 20 minutes, or until nut crust is golden and fish flakes easily with a fork.

Jasmine Rice

Sugar Snap Peas

Dessert
(A high-concept thing - sort of an ice cream cone, cheesecake, and creme brulee all smashed together and deconstructed and rearranged in a very tasty manner)

Sour Cream Ice Cream
(trust me on this. from epicurious.com)

1 1/4 cups sour cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sugar
6 large egg yolks
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup whole milk

Whisk sour cream, powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Cover; refrigerate until ready to use.

Whisk 1 1/4 cups sugar and yolks in medium bowl to blend. Bring cream and milk to simmer in large saucepan. Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into yolk mixture; return to same saucepan. Stir over medium heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 5 minutes (do not boil). Pour into large bowl. Refrigerate until cool, whisking occasionally, about 45 minutes. Mix in sour cream mixture.

Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to bowl; cover and freeze.


Caramelized Strawberries
In a stainless saute pan, heat 1 c. white sugar over medium heat until sugar melts and turns lightly golden (careful - you don't want it too brown). Dip cleaned strawberries into the caramel and set aside on parchment paper to cool.

Note: The hot caramel cooks the outside of the berry slightly, and humidity softens the crunchity caramel coating, so these must be made immediately (within an hour or so) of serving. Do not refrigerate.



Plating: put thin waffle cookie (e.g. Jules deStrooper) on plate, topped with an oval spoonful of ice cream. Place caramelized berries to the side.

Hippo Birdie to Meeee!

It's May! Oh dear. I don't recall much of the last half of April. It is that time of the year that sort of accelerates away from me. And then it's August and we're back to school again, it seems. Time to make the long, overly ambitious to-do list for the summer, too.

Before all that, and since it's my birthday at the end of the month, I present my wishlist:

Hand-written letters, poetry, art, etc etc, from friends!


1G SD memory cards. I can't believe these are only $5 now! I think I spent $80 three years ago on one? At this price, I can use a few and not waste time pruning.

Nikon Flash. I can't decide between the SD-400 and the SD-600. I probably want the 600, but the compact size of the 400 is appealing...

Nikon Remote Shutter Button.


Pen Station. Dark Cherry with Raven Black ink. Or maybe Natural Cherry.

Fountain Pen Ink. Standard (not large) cartridges in Raven Black, Amethyst, Cardinal Red.


Blank books. I'm making two significant trips this summer - Europe Tour-o-Matic and Australia/New Zealand - and I want a couple travel journals for recording adventures. (hence all the photographic equipment)


Airplane Scarf. Since I can't find the US Airways flight attendant uniform scarf online anywhere, this would do.

Music: Albums from Brandon Heath, Smalltown Poets, The Sundays, Poi Dog Pondering (but not Volo Volo or Pomegranate).

Playbill

Jennifer (Mama/Mama 2) Jennifer is thrilled to be back on stage in two roles for the 2008 Spring Musical Revue. She made her stage debut on her eighth birthday, as Narrator/Newscaster in a third-grade production, 16 Minutes. She dabbled in direction, staging a one-act play (title unknown) about the telephone company in fifth grade. Previous Academy credits include Debbie and Mother of Shonda in American Beauty; Messenger, Emerald City Tourist, and various technical credits in The Wiz; and orchestra (flute) in Lessons and Carols. Jennifer has been a longtime patron of the arts, but finds exceptional delight in making a fool of herself onstage. Love to Mom, Dad, and Brian!





Curtain up at 700p Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

April/May

Industry tripped by a collection of artifacts,
letters, papers, bytes, forms,
poetry by colleagues -
one former, one current -
awash in some kind of nostalgia
and marvel at this,

this occupation,
this vocation,
this craft,

I seem to have found myself
in with little training
and even less warning.

This long parade of lasts
to borrow a line
comes and I'm still
sweeping up the scraps
of confetti and ribbons,
still picking fragments
of ticker tape from the carpets,
after the last one.


The marching cadence, it grows louder.

Sunflowers

Some sunflowers worth pulling off to the side of the road.
A month or two ago. Early evening light.
Nikon d50 SLR. Varying shutter speeds.

Meteorologica

About a week ago, with the onset of April, we had our first taste of summer. Humid mornings, towering clouds swelling to afternoon thunderstorms, temperatures in the upper 80s. I wasn't prepared. Readying myself for open-toed shoes and sandals is hard enough, much less for short sleeves and skirts. Today, though, we had another dose of winter weather. That which passes for winter in Florida: grey skies, drizzle, temperatures barely climbing out of the 60s.

In today's (however brief) return of all-day rain, things just strike me as a little more vibrant than usual. That probably has more to do with the soaking showers we had a week ago, but without the bleaching of strong overhead sun, colors seem a bit more intense today. It reminds me of California. Before the winter weather patterns arrive, the hills turn golden brown in early summer and remain that way through most of the fall. Oh, there's moisture in the air - just barely enough to sustain some kind of dormancy - but no real rain for months. When the rains do come again, green spreads itself over the hills about a week later. I remember returning from Thanksgiving in Indiana one year to see the hills had greened up in our absence; on the long approach path into San Jose from the south that parallels the 101, such delight it was to see that color again. When it does return, it's like an old friend you haven't seen in a while. You don't realize how much you had missed him until he's in your presence.


In my chemistry classes, I teach that acid-base indicators have two forms, one color in the presence of a base and another color in acid. The transition color - a blend between the two, like orange between red and yellow - isn't a separate third form, it is an equilibrium of both colors. Does spring truly exist? Perhaps spring isn't its own season distinct from winter or summer, but instead, it is equal parts both. This swing from winter into summer and back to winter will be followed by summer again - I'm hoping for at least a few days before this happens. I'm grateful for a prolonged slide into summer, but I know this reaction will inevitably go to completion. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the overstuffed clouds and the lightning. But I'll wait patiently for October.

Japanese Potatoes and Performances

I don't have time for cohesive writings on transcendentalists, but I have a few things in the works. Not on transcendentalists.

So, when I have more time, remind me to write about personality "types".

Meanwhile, tonight, I had dinner at a teppanyaki steakhouse, which was fantastic and helped quell my growing Japanese-food craving. The chef stir-fried up some cubed potatoes with my beef. I love meat-and-potatoes, but I never would have thought to add potato to Japanese food. Turns out it's really tasty.

Remind me, when I have more time, to devote a post to a directory of Central Florida restaurants I have enjoyed.

Watching the chef's performance tonight, I was reminded of a long-simmering realization: my desire for the arts is going unsatisfied - mostly a result of finances and time. When I was an undergrad, I joined a campus organization that provided ushers for shows and lectures that came to campus. As a reward for 15 minutes of "work" showing people to their seats, we ushers got to stay and watch the show. It was perfect - not only did ushering foster a talent of gracious and hospitable interaction with the public, it cultivated a taste for the performing arts. I got to see dozens of fantastic shows each year (many for which I probably wouldn't have considered buying a ticket, but was glad to have seen), for nothing! As a graduate student, I was asked to join the advisory board for the Friends of Convocations, which afforded me interaction with artists at exclusive events, too. Then we left college and spent eight years wandering an artistic desert. Fast-forward to last weekend. A colleague offered me tickets to Spamalot at the downtown performing arts center, and I realized that it was only the second time I'd ever been down there in four years. Now, I realize that I don't have a lot of free time, nor do I have a lot of disposable income (it turns out that theatre tickets in the real world are spendy!), but this is just pitiful. I really think I'm missing something in my life, and it just might be chamber music, symphonies, and touring musicals.

I don't know how to fix this. I guess I need a wealthy benefactor. Any takers?

Physics and Philosophy, for the Kindergarten Set

So I've spent some quality time with my six-year-old niece the past two days. Since she's in first grade, she's into learning - which makes it much easier for me to relate to her; I'm self-consciously awkward around young children, and besides, learning is what I do best! Well, at least I like to think so. Anyhow, I'm glad she's moved out of the Let's Pretend! phase that really taxes whatever is left of my creativity. Making up a story about fairies? Not exactly my mileu. Now she's content to be drilled on subtraction questions or telling time or rhyming words. This I can do.

That said, a lot of my material would kill with other audiences, but I'm afraid it's lost on the youth. Maybe it's best we don't have children yet... So on the car ride home from Epcot this evening, she wanted to know whether we would beat the other car (containing my husband, parents-in-law, sister-in-law, and nephew). I told her we could go faster in my little Civic, faster than their lumbering minivan. Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Why?

Because it's harder to get heavier things to move.

Why?

It's inertia.

What's inertia?

[slipping right into Physics Teacher Mode]
It's Isaac Newton's First Law -
things that are standing still will stay still
unless something pushes on them. So if...

But we're moving, what's pushing on us?

The car's engine.

What's pushing the engine?

Gasoline.

What's driving the gasoline?

Our money!

What drives the money?

Capitalism.

What drives capitalism?

Power.

What drives power?

Well, that's a good question.
There are a lot of people asking that very thing.

They should just look it up on the internet.

Indeed. Google gets 'em young, it seems.

Aside from Fun With Primary Schoolers, it was a beautiful evening. Perfect weather. Early spring in Florida is actually quite lovely. Not too humid. Clear. Pleasant for strolling around out-of-doors. I've been hungry for Japanese food for a few days. I met the group at Epcot, and I thought it would be nice to eat at the Japan pavilion; I figured I had no chance in convincing this group to go eat Japanese. As we tried to decide where to eat, my sister in law suggested either China or Japan. Sensing a vulnerability in the defenses, I took the opportunity to strike. Japan it was! Hooray for spicy tuna rolls, sukiyaki beef, vegetable tempura, and green tea! While we were waiting for fireworks at Epcot, I got creative with my camera's long exposures.

A Fine Fuss

I really love birthdays. There's a lot of joy in an excuse to make a fuss over someone. And there are few things I enjoy quite like a good fuss!

Plus, there's cake involved! Here are two I made this week. One for a friend (dark chocolate cake, mocha cream filling, coffee buttercream, and fondant):

One for my mother-in-law (vanilla bean cake, black raspberry filling, vanilla buttercream, fondant, and gumpaste leaves):

He is Risen

Isaiah 53.

Stuff Jen Likes

A quarterly (or perhaps monthly, I haven't decided) list of, well, stuff I like. It started as a list of "ordinary things in which I take inordinate delight" and has quickly ballooned. So, to stave off the firehose, I'll dish it out in regular installments.

In no particular order...


Bistro aprons.

John McPhee.
The man can write a book about anything - the citrus industry of Florida, the landscape of New Jersey, the geology of California, or even long-haul freighters - and make surprisingly compelling. One of my favorite non-fiction authors.

7-11 Slurpees.
Icees are just foul imitations.

Chiaroscuro.
Caravaggio and Artemisia Gentileschi sure knew how to dramatically highlight a scene.

Mothballs.
The scent of napthalene (evocative of my grandparents' basement) preferable to paradichlorobenzene (evocative of a men's restroom).

Clutch purses.
More elegant than a shoulder bag, if inconvenient to carry.

Two-tone coins.
French ten-franc coins (pre-Euro), one- and two-Euro coins, Argentine pesos, etc.

Chik-Fil-A Polynesian Sauce.
It goes without saying that the nuggets are good. Better dipped in this stuff. Use it on your fries, too.

Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay.
My go-to white wine. Inexpensive, found everywhere, and not oaky plonk.

White Sands National Park.

Tulips.
Far better than overdone and out-of-season red roses for Valentine's Day.

Photoshop Elements 2.0.
Most of the functionality of spendy Photoshop, for a fraction of the cost. Better than later versions, too.

Hats.
Not baseball caps! Honest millinery, nobody-wears-em-anymore chapeaux. Pillboxes, particularly.

Prestige Waterproof Eyeliner pencils.
I can make it through weddings and funerals in this stuff - no easy feat.

Cornstarch.
My preferred thickening agent for sauces and pies, plus it keeps meringue pies from weeping. Doesn't need a lot of cooking, like flour, to get rid of the floury taste. And let's face it. The physics-defying paste you can make with cornstarch and just a touch of water can keep kids occupied for a while. Use the term "dilatant fluid" to impress your friends.

Hot pink.
It's not just for flamingos anymore. Plus, in combination with black, it has a sort of 1983-wannabe-punk-girl pastiche.

Ice cream soup.
Stir up ice cream (optional: add chocolate syrup) until it's the consistency of loose soft-serve. Instantly improves the texture of virtually any ice cream - it's sometimes the only way to make cheap ice cream palatable.

Postcards.
Sending and receiving. Next to pressed pennies, it's a cheap souvenir, a fun gift to give, and a great way to get attractive pictures of some destinations without a fancypants camera or fortuitous lighting/weather/views.

Turtlenecks.

Passion fruit.
Tic Tacs, Liliko'i chiffon pie, and shave ice syrup. This summer, I'm going to try making some passion fruit sherbet. Sephora's old passion fragrance was quite wonderful (though nothing compared to their blackberry scent).

Plain blank paper.
Lined paper just doesn't have the same flexibility. Fold in half the long way to make the perfect size paper for a grocery list.

Large mirrors.
There is one in one of the Wood Hall sitting rooms I have always coveted and tried to hatch a clandestine plot to cart it off. Fortunately, some are available at places like Ikea for a lot less physical labor under the cover of darkness.

Spelling it "grey" instead of "gray".

Ceylon Cinnamon.
Softer and more citrusy than canela cinnamons, which tend toward harsh.

Penzey's Spices.
The official spice purveyor to our household.

Levenger True Writer fountain pens.
Inexpensive, considering the quality of the pen. Good medium nib. Threaded caps. Not too masculine.

Curry ketchup.
I'm out of the stage in my life where french fries were just the vehicle for the ketchup, but I lapse whenever I have curry ketchup. Takes a trip to Europe to get it, though...

Sticky notes.
The explosion of shapes and sizes has brought me great delight, but there's something timeless about the original light-yellow Post-its.

Panel for Edwin R. Campbell No. 1-4. Vasily Kandinsky, 1914.
Saw these at MOMA last spring and was immediately taken by them. Never gave Kandinsky much regard until then.

Dave Matthews Band Crash.
This, along with U2's Achtung Baby, is always the answer to "what should I listen to?" Familiarity a bonus when you're trying to get meaningful work done but want some music on in the background.

Jellied cranberry sauce.
All the taste and shaped like the can! Not my husband's definition of a "sauce", but I don't care. It's not just for Thanksgiving anymore.

Uniforms.
It's true, men in uniform have a certain je ne sais quoi.

Desk Set.
It's wonderfully anachronistic film. Well, I guess it wasn't then. A delightful look at a time where dresses came in boxes, office drama involved efficiency experts, and people called a human for information instead of punching queries into google.

Black Chook Sparkling Shiraz.
A rare sparkling red that's well-balanced and just a little heady.

Orange County Public Library Home Delivery.
Responsible for soliciting more money in overdue fines from me...certainly exceeding their cost of delivery.

Easter Candy:
Cadbury Creme Eggs
Fondant yolk goo wins a couple authenticity points. As authenticity of chocolate eggs go...

Marshmallow Peeps
Only if they're uber-fresh. Prefer the chicks to the bunnies. No real color preference, but I tend towards the yellow.

Cadbury Mini Eggs.
Put on a paper plate and microwave for ten seconds, fifteen if you're feeling kicky. Eat. You won't be sorry.

Boeing 767s.
Smoothest planes on takeoff. Widebody but not ungainly.

TI-68 calculator.
My calculatron since high school; still the best. Displays the input in a string on the screen, no clearing or new lines between operations.

Pilot G2 pens.
Awesome gel pens - perfect for grading. Handy to have in the backpack, plus they come in navy blue, turquoise, and other great shades.

Walgreens EasySaver Rebates.
I haven't paid for toothpaste, a toothbrush, or cheap hair goo in years. Helpful for trying new foundations and lip glosses for free. New stuff every month.

Banana ice cream.
Ice cream, in general, is one of my favorite things. But banana ice cream is definitely my favorite flavor.

I Saw a Man Pursuing the Horizon

by Stephen Crane

I saw a man pursuing the horizon;
Round and round they sped.
I was disturbed at this;
I accosted the man.
"It is futile," I said,
"You can never —"

"You lie," he cried,
And ran on.

Spring Break

Though it feels as though I have squandered this break - in that I have not accomplished everything on my mile-long to-do list, and I didn't jet off to some spectacular destination - there have been some significant bright spots.

Yesterday, I finally went to Fresh Market, and I'm shocked and appalled I haven't been in this place before. It was only a few months ago that I heard about it at all, and since then, several friends have mentioned it. Much to my chagrin, I wish they'd said something to me before, but they all presumed I'd know all about it. Four years wandering this gourmet desert (okay, not really, but compared with what I had in CA...) It's similar to Whole Foods, but more affordable and without all the vegan angst. I mean, I don't feel like my dreadlocked co-shoppers are disdainfully eyeing my leather footwear. Fresh Market carries a lot of the same stuff as Whole Foods, but they're also not too proud to carry Peeps. This, therefore, is a store I can like - easily. Anyhow, a friend and I went shopping for party foods, but I came away with last night's dinner, this morning's book-club brunch, and other stuff with which to stock the pantry, plus tonight's comestibles. And the prices were not altogether unreasonable. Sure, I'll still buy my crackers at Publix, but I bought a marvelous take-and-bake pastry-wrapped chicken entree that was plenty for my husband and me to share for $5.99. Beautiful cakes for $8-14. Wines were comparable in price to most major outlets. Cheese and produce were a little pricey, but I have been ruined by Trader Joes.

It also provided an opportunity to drive through an area of town where I've really never been. That's not hard - with all the central-Florida sprawl, there is a lot of territory to cover. I know my main areas, but I resolve every break to go and investigate areas of town or the state I've not visited before. Even if it's as ordinary as driving around and popping into a shop or cafe as the mood strikes. I didn't do as much of this kind of thing this break as I wanted to. I also wanted to do a lot more reading than I did.

Well, for all the wanted-tos, I did enjoy just resting. School was continually in the front of my head all week, though, so it wasn't purely restful. I have a lot of work to do, for which I will sacrifice tomorrow. As much as I tried to suppress it, the thought of what needs to be done nagged at me most of the week. The end of school will be upon us swiftly. Rest will come later for the weary.

Night Launch

NASA is launching Space Shuttle Endeavour tonight at 228a. I'm staying up to watch, because from what I hear, it's pretty spectacular. I'm not going to drive out - instead, I'll just watch from our porch. But getting to 230a is going to be rough. I woke up early yesterday to work the coffee bar (plus Daylight Savings - grrr), and didn't get to nap like I wanted to. I woke up early this morning to go to St. Petersburg (I'll defer to Jess's bloggings about that), and now I'm trying very hard to stay awake for two more hours. I might just set my alarm and succumb to a nap.

I'm so sleeping in tomorrow. I had grand visions of getting up early to get some things done, but I'm thinking they can wait!


**Update**

Well, that was a bust. Overcast skies meant all I could see was a diffuse orange glow on the horizon for a few seconds. :-\

Musings Over Old Binders

Cleaning out the garage this evening, my husband and I came across some old academic work - thesis defense slides, class notes, labs, exams. Having been out of the meteorology business for a few years now, I was astounded to see just how many things I once knew and have since forgotten. And what we remembered remembering (as the grades on the papers could attest), but don't really remember until we're reminded. [apologies if you pulled a muscle that last sentence...]

This comes hot on the heels of a conversation with a friend about how much calculus I've forgotten since college. It does come back quickly, like when a student asks me about a question on their math homework, or I read it in a quiz-bowl question. There's that unnerving familiarity, without the immediate recall, that can be pretty frustrating until you read part of a textbook and it (mostly) makes sense again. The paths are there, I just have to hack my way through a dense jungle of overgrowth to find them again.

Conversely, some subjects, like one I now teach, gave me a certain amount of frustration when I was younger. I'm continually surprised to find I now love it; it comes so much more naturally and makes so much more sense. Admittedly, I have a couple degrees behind me now, plus the burden of the teacher: I have to understand the material or I have no hope of communicating it. I'm impressed with the ease by which my students pick up some concepts I teach. I often wonder how my high-school self would compare to them. It's interesting to consider that subjects can be more readily mastered under different circumstances. And how some subjects are merely vehicles for learning how to learn, in contrast to learning the pure material. I suppose this plays out in my own classroom - I know I teach more problem-solving skills than pure science.

I'm no neuroscientist, but perhaps that's the very distillate of education. Learning is not instant access to all one's files on the desktop of one's head, but is instead the cultivation of the ability to maintain and navigate the filing system. To rediscover what's been learned before with a bit of prompting or refreshing. The difference between trivia-recall and understanding. I suppose it's a corollary to the Curse of Knowledge: that which has been learned, some part of it, is always present - it just may take some work to find it and shake the dust from it. Or maybe it's just a lyric to a Paul Simon song: "It's easier to learn than unlearn."

Time Marches Ahead. ...or is it back?

[Insert Semi-Annual Rant on Daylight Savings Time Here]

The Art of [Blog] War

12.2007. Inspection teams denied access to facilities.

1.2008. Rounds of informal talks fail; facilities remain closed to inspectors.

2.26.2008. Pre-emptive strike: sternly-worded note delivered to head of state.

2.27.2008. Access to facilities granted. No material found.


Meanwhile, satellite reconnaissance indicated movement of material and personnel across borders.


3.4.2008. Limerick Tomahawk missiles launched in shock-and-awe campaign.

3.5.2008. Return fire proves existence of material and rapid accessibility thereof. Detente reached as parties await presentation of enriched, weapons-grade material for inspection.


Leaders advised that further resistance to sanction compliance shall be considered an act of escalation. Allied forces poised to exercise all means necessary, including - but not limited to - further assault from limerick stockpile.