Well, I got an A in Polish, so I guess the "Cuisinart effect" wasn't too severe.
We leave for Boston on Tuesday. A shout-out to any former colleagues who read this blog! Call me!
Today I dealt with my construction course readings and filled out my fellowship evaluation. I still have to decide whether to study Polish in Krakow this summer. I got an additional boost (!) for hours for the summer, which 1) makes the money easier, but 2) makes the time more difficult. Money versus time: that's the problem, as always.
For no good reason I am inclined to read The Blithedale Romance. I am reading a flawed bio of Marie Curie at the moment: it has almost no science in it. I think that if you want to write about the first (and only) woman to receive TWO Nobel prizes, you should write about the scientific inquiry she faced, not just her hair color, her figure, and her standoffish relations with her daughters. (Plus there's the problem this author has with lack of the pluperfect, but far be it from me to criticize a work on grammatical grounds.)
I am also reading a festschrift for Walter Sullivan on place in American literature, which seems completely lacking in theoretical underpinnings. Much work to be done in this arena: if only it were commercially viable, I'd write my dissertation on a subset of it in a heartbeat.
Speaking of which: we saw our friend C yesterday and may try to visit again tomorrow, since we'll be gone for a few weeks.
More before departure on Tuesday....
Please. I beg you, speak! The Polish final was horrific last night. I felt relatively well-prepared beforehand (except for obscure vocabulary) but a scary, weird thing happened during the exam: all my knowledge sort of got cuisinarted into a big jumble, until I couldn't remember the simplest things.
Neighbor P came up aferwards and identified this as an actual memory phenomenon. When you review material from a long period of time (2 semesters in this case) some things that were learned previously lose their "place" in past time and essentially compete with material that is occupying more recent time. The brain can't retrieve either one because they are competing for the same space.
Ok, maybe that's not exactly what he said, but that's exactly what it feels like. My memory filing cabinet comes with metadata about when and where I was when I learned something. Seems extraneous, right? - but I think it helps to anchor the material in permanent memory.
I would have been better off to review the last couple of chapters and leave the other stuff alone, and that REALLY sucks, because I spent a LOT of time on Polish, to the detriment of a history paper I just turned in (late). Generally it doesn't matter in the grad school if work is late - most profs are very reasonable - but it's a mark of honor for me to finish stuff on time.
Anyway, I'm hoping that I can erase the studying of the last 10 days and revert my brainiac hard drive to SnoCones 5.3.2005. I am going to work out a plan for studying Polish before I go to Krakow, but I think it would be prudent to let it sit for a few days.
Being "done" is oddly unsatisfying, as it has been in recent semesters. I've already cleaned off my desk and put books away. I've registered for fall classes and for the required TA workshops. Oh! - I have a full year appointment as a TA, conditional on getting through prelims by December 31. Seems do-able from here. I've finished up my degree program application in order to meet with my advisor tomorrow.
Next - a list of things to do before next Tuesday, when we fly to Boston.
Thinking of a trip East for a couple of weeks: see family and friends; help Mom clean out some surplus stuff; clean out our garage; do a little pruning in the yard.
B has been shipping larger-size clothes to places all around North America, and today someone sent a reimbursement for shipping costs: $10 Canadian. We see lots of Canadian coin, of course, but I can't recall seeing bills. Although of course that's wrong because I've been to Montreal and Quebec City several times.
The $10 bill looks very euro-like. THAT'S going East, eh?
Well, this morning I tried the freewrite. Actually, I tried to pretend that history of socialism/history of disciplinarity was an exam question and I had one hour to write the answer.
All I got was high school level sentences and thoughts. I barely understand my own discipline: how can I possibly write something bright and original about the several other disciplines that we touched on in the seminar? And, since my interest is in SOCIALISM not history of disciplinarity, I really am not very interested in their similarities and/or differences.
Sigh. I am going to read through my class notes and see if there are any nuggets of wisdom that will help me unravel this question.
Mood: not optimistic.
On the other hand, I still have a shot at an A in Polish if I can do well on the final exam. Since I've started drinking frappacini before quizzes, I have an A average there. Coincidence? Maybe, but why mess with success?
How is the history of socialism like the history of disciplinarity?
No, people, this is not a rhetorical question. I really want to know. The paper is due next Tuesday.
(I am going to try, tomorrow morning, to sit and freewrite answers to this as if I were in a timed exam situation, and see what develops. I am cautiously optimistic. Full report tomorrow.)
If we ever get around to issuing the second, updated edition of our cookbook, tonight's improv will definitely be in it.
It's a riff on Pork Adobo from Joy of Cooking and it goes something like this:
Make a marinade of: some chopped chilis; 1/4 C cider vinegar; 2 cloves garlic; 1 t cumin seeds; 1 t ground coriander; 1/2 t salt; 1/2 t oregano; a pinch of cinnamon.
Thinly slice two leftover grilled pork chops cross-grain and marinate them in the above.
Slice an onion; saute it on low heat in olive oil until it caramelizes.
Toss in sliced pork, with the marinade, and about 1/2 can of diced tomatoes. Heat through until liquid is somewhat reduced; serve over rice.
Fabulous! Spicy! I may do an entire chapter in the theoretical cookbook revision just on leftovers - there are so many possibilities.