Function Words

There is a long scratch on Rhonda's door! More than 2 feet long! It almost looks deliberate. I want to believe that it wasn't intentional. I don't like thinking the worst about people.
It happened in the parking lot at CSUN yesterday. Probably just someone walking by, but why did they have to scratch her??? Wah!
At least it isn't terribly deep. I have to look into what I can do about it that will not be too expensive.
I wonder if buffing is possible? It may not completely remove it but make it less obvious and therefore less upsetting for me every time I get open the door...
The downside of having a pretty, new car, I guess. I wouldn't have even noticed on the Neon!

Today is the first day of class at CSUN. I will be teaching 2 sections of 417, one today and one tomorrow.
All is not well with my teaching career.
Back in November I was told that I would lose one English course to a "full-time" faculty member.
Then, a week ago I learned that my remaining fully-enrolled English course was being given to another "3-year entitled part-time instructor". His course was under-enrolled and was being cancelled. Since he is entitled to a certain number of units he exercised his right to take over another course from a hapless lower-seniority instructor. (My entitlement is only 1 year. His trumps mine.)
Apparently, my course was the only one which did not overlap with other courses this instructor was teaching so I lose.
Economic catastrophe!

It's time to stop taking my teaching career seriously and look for work that is reliable.
Why am I doing all of this work when I am paid such a pittance?

This is a "zuche"




and this is a "fish slice"





New words for old things. Who knew?

So having recently acquainted myself with what Roman fasces look like, they are now coming to my attention.
Here they are today in an LATimes editorial cartoon.




I wonder if this image is a parody of some iconic Mussolini photo?

Intense, lemony goodness!
I made little lemon tarts for dessert last night.
I used graham cracker crust instead of pastry crust.
The contrast in texture between the lemon curd and the buttery crackers only enhance the taste.
I had no idea that it was so easy to make lemon curd.

To make the lemon tarts: Make 1-9 inch tart crust or 4 individual tart crusts. Cool.
I used a basic graham cracker crust recipe from an old cookbook.


Lemon Curd

2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut in pieces

Whisk eggs, yolks, salt and sugar in small saucepan until smooth and light colored.
Add lemon juice, lemon zest and butter.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes.
The constant stirring is very important!
Reduce heat to medium-low, continue stirring all the time.
Cook until curd is thick enough that it coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes more.
Curd should be as thick as thick hollandaise.
Pour the hot curd through a fine strainer into tart shell(s).

Refrigerate.

Roman fasces


Guillermo del Toro was interviewed on Fresh Air yesterday.
My first reaction was to be very impressed with his erudite speech about film, child psychology and the history of the Spanish Civil War.
My second reaction was to decide I have to see Pan's Labyrinth.
Then I began thinking about what I know about the Spanish Civil War, Francisco Franco and fascism.

I started with wondering about the etymology of fascism and wondering whether it had ever had positive connotations.

According to the American Heritage Dictionary 'fascism' is derived from 'fasces' the Latin plural of 'fascis' bundle
a fasces is a bunde of rods bound around an ax with the blade projecting, carried before ancient Roman magistrates as an emblem of authority.

From the definition "bundle" Mussolini adopted fascism to describe a political group led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition, emphasizing aggressive nationalism.

So my conclusion is that Fascism has always had negative connotations.

Now, some random thoughts about Franco and the Spanish Civil War.
Franco was still in power when I lived in Spain. I experienced the fascist regime in 3 ways.
1-The ubiquitous Guardia Civil in their funny patent leather hats made me feel safe as a foreigner (as long as I didn't deviate from any of the rules).
2-The abrupt and startling arrival of armed troops swooping down on university gathering-places like the cafeteria or library.
We would be sitting have lunch when suddenly the army would march in rousting everyone from the building. They used bull horns to tell everyone to go home. It was rather frightening for an american kid who had never seen that kind of breach of civil rights, let alone being face to face with so many guns.
3-At home, my landlady, Isabel, had many bitter stories about how her family suffered during the Civil War. Family members killed, tortured, displaced from their homes and left destitute. At the time, 25 years later, she had to take in boarders to survive.

I visited el Valle de los Caidos, Franco's hollowed-out mountain mausoleum which he claimed was bigger than St. Peter's. I don't remember how many people died building the damned thing. It may have been more than 30! The irony of workers dying while building a "monument" to honor the war dead was not lost on me.

Now I really want to see Del Toro's movie!

There are a bunch of verbs which end in "ect" (affect, defect, effect, infect, perfect, deflect, inflect, reflect, neglect, abject, object, project, correct, direct, detect, protect, respect, etc.) that can be turned into adjectives by adding either the suffix -ive or -ful. The vast majority of these "ect" verbs use -ive to make adjectives but "neglect" requires -ful (neglectful but not *neglective) and "respect" can use both -ive and -ful (respectful and also respective). The two adjectives 'respective' and 'respectful' have clearly different uses.
What is going on here?
It may be time to investigate the English adjective-making suffixes a little more deeply.

I love my digital camera. It is an "old" Powershot G2 with the flip out door-thingy that makes it possible to hold the camera in all sorts of odd positions and still see what you are photographing.
You can hold the camera above all the tall people and flip the viewer downward or you can turn it completely backward to photograph yourself.

This is the idea that occurred to me: With my digital camera it is possible to take pictures of the parts of my body that I seldom (or never) see. I'm not talking about prurience here. I'm talking about things like the top of my head, the middle of my back, the bottom of my feet, etc.
I don't have to worry about paying development charges for these odd pictures and I don't have to show them to anyone.
I like the idea of being able to check out the condition of my body as it detiorates into old age. Relive my former glory.
Okay, I know it's weird but I like the idea of reminding myself of the blisters I got on the Milford Track

Supposedly it is today. Dunno, could be. It remains to be seen.
The happiest day of the year this year is supposed to be June 22.

I've posted twice in 2007. Neither of them are appearing when I follow links to my blog.
They can be recovered only if I click on the Dec 2006 archive which causes the Jan 2007 archive to appear.
Crazy!

Now I have to deal with finding more lucrative work.
I lost one of my English classes so I will not have enough income to cover my expenses.
I hope an interesting job magically appears soon!

The natural beauty of New Zealand is spectacular.
I loved the 16-hour days.
33.5 miles in 4 days on the Milford track was haaaarrrrdd! but really beautiful too.
The first day (to Clinton hut) was only 3 miles. It was the only rainy day.
The second day was a gradual uphill to Mintaro hut.
The third day was over the pass to Dumpling hut. The uphill was not as bad as I expected. Mackinnon pass was very windy and cold with great views to the valleys on both side. It was the downhill over big rocks that really made me suffer.
We took the side trip to Sutherland Falls. Enormous and very beautiful. I kept thinking that there are not that many people who have had the opportunity to see it because it is so inaccessible.
The last day, 18k to Sandfly Point by 2 pm, was the hardest for me. My blisters were very painful and my muscles were so stiff. I figured if I stopped I might never get going again. I decided that the only way to get to the boat on time was to power on through. I actually arrived almost 2 hours before the boat. Now I had a new dilemma, where to wait for the boat. The view of Milford Sound at Sandfly Point was lovely. A beautiful sunny day. The sandflies were just as bad as everyone predicted. The moment you stood still they would descend. There was a nice shelter except that it was broiling hot in there.
After taking off my boots to soothe my miserable feet I went walking in the frigid Sound but I was chewed by the sandflies.
I ended up spending most of the waiting time cooking in the shelter feeling pleased with myself for accomplishing the 33 miles.

A gorgeous hike. It was definitely worth the blisters and the muscle aches and pains (even the sandflies).

Tuataras, kiwis, weka, moa, fjords, glaciers--it's hard to imagine a more interesting place.
Volcanoes, waterfalls, sheep everywhere!
It makes one want to open a mexican restaurant in Queenstown!

I'm not sure how they came to invent zorbing. Maybe it's because New Zealanders are bored.
The only thing you can do is giggle when you are sliding around inside a giant ball bouncing down a hill.
It's totally out of control but extremely funny.
You dive through an impossibly narrow chute to get in. The chute is lubricated with water to help you squeeze through. The attendant zips the chute closed, you walk a couple steps and then you're off...rolling, sliding, laughing.
Getting out of the zorb is something like a breech birth.

Labels: giant beachball