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Thursday, September 30, 2010

More Airport Poems

Awhile ago I posted a poem from the Indianapolis Airport. Here is another one. I don't know why I am so fond of these things, but I am. I just love the romance of flying.

for now you're flying
over quarry lakes, green water
where stone was once cut
for the Empire State,
the nation's capital, buildings
all over the world
aspiring toward sky
deep and blue
as you, heading away
or back, thinking of the people below
living their lives
above bedrock
formed from the silt
of ancient seas,
on prairie plowed flat
by glacial ice. And though
you are of that swirling earth below,
for these few moments
you float
with some small time away
from the matters you're going to,
the places you've left behind.

- Joseph Heithaus

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Quiet

Eric is on vacation. A working vacation I suppose.

And it feels very quiet at home as I sit here trying to read for class on my computer. The thing is, I am not sure it is any more silent now than it is when he is sitting in the next room, on his computer. He does type loudly. I worry for his keyboard. But he's not always typing. A lot of the time he is reading. I think its his presence, or my knowledge that he is just there around the corner, that must normally fill up the air.

Kale-Squash Gratin

This is for people who want to eat healthy and not spend very much time at the stove.

So this recipe is from one of those recipe cards that you can get at the grocery store. I love to pick those up but this is the first time I have ever used one. I nabbed a $1 butternut squash at the farmer's market, and it reminded me that I had this recipe stowed away. This recipe is a winner in my opinion. It tastes good, doesn't have many ingredients, and is nutritious! People, kale is the main ingredient and its yummy. Go forth and cook!

First, get yourself a butternut squash (or an acorn squash), some kale, and an onion. Chop these things up. Put the squash in the bottom of a greased baking dish, cover it with 2 tbsp flour and some grated Parmesan. Then put the kale and the onion on top. Put more squash on top of this if you have enough left (I didn't). Pour a 12-oz can of evaporated milk over everything. Top it all with some cheddar cheese and put it in the oven at 400 for 45 minutes. Voila! Easy peasy.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Why

Why do we continue to do things that make us unhappy? I know, at this point in my life, the things that make me happy and the things that make me unhappy. In the first category are cooking, crossing things off my to-do list, dancing, yoga, seeing friends, talking to friends, and listening to music. In the later are many things that I did today--procrastinating, sleeping too late/too long, forgetting to call people, not writing letters that I was supposed to.

I think the thing is, the happiness things require action. And instead of acting, I sit and I sleep or I do the immediately necessary thing.

What I need is commitment and accountability. Yesterday I went to this dance show where my friends were performing and it was a great time and I left there buoyed by seeing people that I like and by seeing some dance. Why did I go? Honestly, I think it was because the day before in class I had told people that I would go. In the moment of final decision-making, this commitment was what kept me from saying "Oh, I dunno if I really want to go."

I am trying to figure out how to expand this notion to other parts of my life. Or how I can get myself to actually feel accountable to myself, the future me or the me-that-knows-better. If I could do this, I think 95% of my problems would be solved. I would always exercise, because future-me would definitely favor that. I would get up early and eat breakfast at a leisurely pace.

If anyone knows how to do that, advice would be much appreciated.

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Movers

"There ought to be rituals for the leaving of houses. But we just call the movers."

This is yet another gem from Cary Tennis. I don't know why I am copying it for you since SURELY after my repeated laudatory posts about this man's writing you all read his column regularly.

Anyway, my parents are moving out of our house. Into a better one, and I am very happy for them. They were going to move when I was just a wee freshman in college and I threw a fit, basically. It was about as mature as it sounds, but at the time it really terrified me to think that I wouldn't be able to come home from college. Leaving for college is a time of upheaval and I really couldn't take another major change. I do have a sentimental streak in me after all.

But now I'm okay. I'm okay but I still think Cary is right. We should have rituals, but instead we call the movers. As if a home is just a place where your stuff is. We all know it isn't, but we don't have a ritual, so we just call the movers. If there were a ritual I could say to my professors that I have to take a day off of class and go home to say goodbye to my house. But instead, they will probably sell it before I can get to it. Because modern life doesn't understand humans. But that is a topic for another post.

*I was going to call this post "Tennis," in reference to Cary Tennis, but then I realized that I also played tennis today for the first time in a very long time. Heh.