Oh What Have You Done, Dr. Write, Dr. Write?

Well. I finally slept in and recovered from the Neko Case/Twilight Lounge debauch, which included rum, tequila, shoju, and beer. Then more beer.
Also, my friend Jane bet me $5 I wouldn't talk to the two guys in front of us whom we overheard mentioning Baby Jessica. Why? Well, it turns out they had been to a grad student reading and someone had written a story about Baby Jessica from the point-of-view of a mole. Why? Good question. In any case, they were both grad students. Then, later, I ran into other grad students who, I am sure, had been to the same reading. Sing it with me now, "It's a small town after all."
So today I slept in, then went for a run, then went to the Farmer's Market. Normally I would not go to the market after 10, but I just had to.
I ran into several lovely people, AND I purchased:
Beautiful heirloom tomatoes from Tremonton farmers
More tomatoes from Chad
More tomatoes from different Tremonton farmer, and also potatoes and beets
Jalapeños from groovy woman-farmers
Peaches from same place I got them last weekend
Blackberries from someone else (do you foresee another cobbler in my future?)
Corn from known Republicans (sorry Historian!!)
Natural beef from Zoe (couldn't find the Idahoans)

Then, I had to go to the store to get cilantro, lemon, and chips. And butter.
I made salsa. I ate lots and lots and lots of salsa. It was a kind of lunch.
Soon, I must make cobbler for the cookout tonight.
I'm hoping Son & I will finish Harry Potter (#7) as it is due soon. We only have a few chapters left. I'm pretty enthralled with it. I want to know what happens. No spoilers please.

"Take Us on Outings, Bring Us Treats"

I'm sure by now you've heard about the brutally honest posting for a nanny on Craigslist. But in case you haven't.
Click on the PDF and read the original. Honest and funny. And true. So true. Way too true.
And don't forget to go down there and tell me your favorite songs. I'm going to develop a playlist!!

Favorite Songs: New & Improved Post

Last night at the Bonnie Raitt concert she sang "Angel from Montgomery" which I had forgotten is one of my favorite songs. (The John Prine & Bonnie Raitt version; link is to a version with her and lots of other cool people)
This led me to ponder what other songs would go on my list of all time favorites.
So far I've come up with:
"Fire and Rain" by James Taylor
"Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen (and the Rufus version, of course)
"Dancing Queen" by Abba (the Robbie Fulks version from a Fresh Air interview, it's at about 27:00)
"Norwegian Wood" by The Beatles
"My Home Town" by Iris Dement (and the Kate Rusby version)
"Don't Go Back to Rockville" by REM
"Tangled Up in Blue" by Bob Dylan

*Additions:
"Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac (I also like the Dixie Chicks cover)
"Killing the Blues" by Shawn Colvin
"Oops I Did it Again" cover by Richard Thompson
"Tempted" by Squeeze
"Lady is a Tramp" (Here's a version by Sinatra & Fitzgerald)
"Summertime" Billie Holiday
"State Trooper" Bruce Springsteen
"River" by Joni Mitchell
"Out on the Weekend" by Neil Young (cool version from the BBC)
"Speed of the Sound of Loneliness" John Prine


I know there are many others, but my mind is tired from staying up late last night. Dear readers, what are your favorite songs of all time?

Too Busy

I'm too busy to post.
Oh, you say, she must be writing and doing teaching related things.
No.
Okay, a bit, but mostly what I have done is: speed work at the track; sprint workout with Master's swimming masochists; pool Friday with colleagues (this didn't involve swimming so much as drinking and sunning) ; much watching of "Battlestar Galactica"; shopping at the Farmers' Market (purchased: tomatoes, basil, arugula, more tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, onions, peaches, blackberries, bread); made pesto; ate pesto on delicious bread with sliced tomatoes; drank wine; made peach-blackberry cobbler (oh! my! goodness! so delicious!); ate cobbler & ice cream; slept (a bit!); ran 9 miles with friends; made French toast for Son (he said I make the best French toast! but I claim it is the bread and the expensive vanilla!); made eggs and toast for myself; ate eggs and toast, then the last piece of French toast; logged all my workouts on-line; drank some water (and some coffee, and some Gatorade).
Add in there a fair amount of email (at all hours of the day and night) with students that involved adding students to classes, reading their on-line introductions, and calling the help desk to get a student added to the on-line portion even though she was already enrolled in the class, and adding homework to the website because the bookstore doesn't have the book yet (let me not go off on a rant about that!!).
All in all, a crazy and crazy first half-week of school. I am not dreading this next week as the first week demonstrated to me that I am actually a teacher. And I actually like my students. See? Not so bad.

Sexy Bald Men: Now with more Sexy and more Theory!

MB doesn't believe I can have a Sexy Bald Man list without also having a Sexy Bald Man theory. But, as HighTouch pointed out, theory and sexy are opposed. If you have to explain it, it isn't sexy. That said, I feel I do have to explain some of my choices.
To wit: Eyes make the sexy man sexy. His eyes must smolder while saying things like "I will rip off that tight bra that lifts and pads, and I will make mad, passionate love to you." Or something like that.
I decided that some of the "sexy" men are only cute (Bruce Willis) or handsome (Patrick Stewart) but not sexy. It's my list and I get to decide. I'm the sexy decider.
Michael Chiklis has those sexy blue eyes and he also looks strong. Like strong enough to lift me up. Hey. That's really saying something. He looks like a guy who could give you a real bear hug. A guy they coined the word "burly" for. And that's sexy.
As for the suggestions: I'm thinking about MJ, but it's hard for me to include him. He's cute and charming, but...I'm not sure. Also: people I don't like, even if they are sexy, I won't include.
I might have to develop a list of "other sexy men" because I keep thinking of men and then thinking, "Oh! But he's not bald..."
I'm off to another meeting, if you can believe that. I certainly can't.

Sexy Bald Men

As you can see, I've added the Sexy Bald Men widget to the right there. Please study carefully and suggest additions or note who is both sexy and bald and was somehow left off the list. Michael Chiklis is at the top of the list and may never be knocked off. Bruce Willis, is, I think, merely cute and not sexy, but I still (sort of) like him. Patrick Stewart is the original sexy bald man, but, sorry, Michael is both and at a higher temperature.
I'm sure I will add more men as I become aware of them.
Why, you might ask, did I decide to develop and post this list?
Because I have so much to do!! There must be distractions. Distractions!!

Staying In

Sometimes, after an exhausting week, it's nice to stay in, which is what we did last night. We watched Mellouli of Tunisia beat the favorite in the men's 1500m Freestyle and win the first Tunisian swimming medal. We watched Phelps win his eighth gold (Son and I were chanting "USA! USA!" as they brought it home), and we watched Dara Torres win silver. I am a little irritated that no one is really talking about how Natalie Coughlin has won more medals than any other American female swimmer, because Phelps overshadows all. You can see it all for yourself here.
But oh well.
MB and I drank the expensive wine I bought him for our anniversary. As we were finishing it, MB said, "I won't regret paying so much for this wine. I regret other things, but not that." It was good wine. I even took a picture of it. Maybe I'll post it someday. We also watched some "Battlestar Galactica."
We are both neck deep in syllabi construction, deconstruction and reconstruction. It's hard to think about what we're going to do in class after Thanksgiving when right now it's still August, and, frankly, a little bit hot. It all seems so very abstract. But come Wednesday it will be oh so real. Actually it will be real on Tuesday, but I don't want to think about that now.
I'm going to work, ever so briefly, on my course websites. Then I'm going to talk Son in to listening to some more Harry Potter. It turns out that I am not crazy and that Jim Dale, who reads the books, IS also the narrator for "Pushing Daisies." Have I mentioned how happy I am that I am now seeing promos for all my favorite shows which are indeed returning to my TV this fall?
Which shows, you ask? So far I have seen promos for "The Office," "Pushing Daisies," and, yes, "Lipstick Jungle." Before you laugh, I have one thing to say: Brooke Shields. And that sexy Brit who plays her husband. Okay, that was more than one thing. But I'm allowed. I'm a teacher on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Good thing I'm staying in!

Olympic

The opening of the Olympic games makes me feel nostalgic for the Olympics of my youth: Nadia Comaneci winning the gold. Other gymanstic feats. Mostly gymnastics. And track.
With nostalgia in my heart, I watched the opening ceremony with Son last night. But I couldn't help myself. I found myself scoffing and replying to the over the top commentary. Why couldn't they just shut up and let me watch?
It was visually amazing, stunning, beautiful, expertly choreographed, making exquisite use of the newly constructed space.
But...but. How can one watch and not think of all the things wrong with China? And watch President Bush and Putin exchanging pleasantries as Russia drops bombs on Georgia? Or not feel bad for the Iranian athletes who were booed? Did they really choose their leader? They just want to run or play table tennis.
In any case, I love the Olympics, but I can't watch blindly.
So I offer you Scott Simon's brilliant words of commentary as a salve for Bob Costas saying inane things about China, Chinese Taipei, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.
Let the games begin.

Hypothesis Confirmed: Idaho IS Heaven

Actually, I think this cloud photo is from out recent trip to Arizona. But they are nice clouds, no?














We spent a day at Henry's Fork of the Snake River. I got in the water, briefly, just long enough to confirm that the water was too cold to have one's butt in for very long. But it provided a beautiful scene in which to sit, think, and drink a beer.














Does Gus think Idaho is heaven? Yes, he does. It has water, bugs to chase, lots of room to run. Did I mention the water?














As if we weren't already aware, on our way home we stopped at Upper Mesa Falls and observed this spectacular rainbow. If we hadn't already been convinced that Idaho was heaven, we might have thought Idaho was showing off.

Farmers' Market

I've just returned from the Farmers' Market with my haul: a watermelon for the get together tomorrow night, green beans, 3 tomatoes, garlic, beets, 3 ears of corn, a loaf of delicious bread, 2 summer squash, mixed greens, and the most delicious pastries known to human kind: cinnamon pull aparts from Crumb Brothers. I'm not sure why anyone eats anything else...
We also got some grass fed beef from Lau Family Farms. They come to the market once a month, and one can order bundles ahead of time. I'm excited to try it, as I'm trying to eat more locally. I also vow to try, try!, to eat fruit and vegetables in season. The two things I don't think I can give up: bananas and avocados. And coffee. It's hard to find local coffee, but at least we can buy locally roasted coffee that is fair trade. As far as I can tell the most sustainable coffee that I've found is Cafe Feminino from Ibis, a Utah roaster.
Middlebrow just bought Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, so I guess it's a vibe that's going through the house. I think this means that we'll be cutting back on trips to Costco, unless it's the Idaho Costco, which sells wine (but we'll be focusing on California wines, or Northwest wines, as opposed to the South American or Australian variety).
In other news: If Obama doesn't win the fall election, we'll be buying a small farm in South America, where we could find local coffee and wine. And maybe grow all our own food and write novels and play clay court tennis. My needs are few. Let's stay optimistic, but check back here in November, if you want to buy in to this post-apocalypse dream.