Hi, I'm actually posting again

Well, the wedding is over, so I have a few brain cells back to share with the internet.

We went to a peculiar picnic this evening and I brought pizza. it was a multi stage process. I had made the dough ages ago (maybe 2 weeks even? A week and a half?) and it just didn’t seem to work. It didn’t seem to rise at all, and I could see bits of yeast still in the dough. My husband convinced me not to throw it out, so we wrapped it up and stuck it in the fridge. Tonight I had a last minute potluck to cook for, and I was strapped for time, so I decided to give this a go.

I hauled the dough out of the fridge, stuck it in a bowl with some extra oil, turned the oven on full blast, and stuck the bowl on top of the stove to warm up. I also, in a fit of madness, decided I’d try using the Serious Eats broiler method – yeah, great, try cooking something a way I’ve never done it before, for a party, with time constraints. Brilliant move! Anyway, the dough survived its sojourn in fridge-land well, and stretched and shaped beautifully.

I couldn’t find cornmeal, and I didn’t have parchment paper, so I decided cardboard and a whole bunch of flour would have to do. Of course, attempting to slide the pizzas (I ended up doing four rather amorphously-shaped small pizzas) onto the pans was no easy task, I ended up turning the air blue with creative uses of the word 'fuck' and needing to call my husband over to help me, so cornmeal and parchment paper are definitely on the shopping list now!

The broiler method was a dismal failure, sadly, as the pan was a bit too large for my broiler and my broiler is apparently unlike any other broiler I’ve owned and turns off when the door is open. Damn. On to plan B – stuck them in the oven at the highest setting for a few minutes.

The eventual pizzas were a tiny bit undercooked, but delicious nonetheless. My dinner companions were very complimentary. I made super basic ‘margherita’ pizzas – sauce from the tomatoes I jarred a couple of weeks ago (I just warmed it up with a bit of fresh basil, salt, and pepper), rounds of mozzarella, a bit of oil drizzled on top and fresh basil torn on top when they came out of the oven.

Anyway, sorry this is a bit boring and has no photos - my camera is currently being held hostage. Will try to get back to real posting soon.

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I was going to write a post, but realised I didn't really have anything coherent to say, so here are some bullet points.

- I am currently mired in a combo of planning my wedding (boring!) and looking for work (even more boring!), hence my general brain-deadedness. On a side note, discovered that I don't know how to spell 'nuptials'. Wish I'd found that out before it was too late! Unbelievably, I have actually worked as a proofreader in the past.

- Registered us today for M60, the Montreal 60 second film festival. Discovered that the deadline is 2 days after the Wdg. Arg. Oh well, it'll be a fun side project to go along with all the other fun side-projects I'm working on this month.

- I am apparently very skilled at killing yeast, an organism which is generally quite difficult to kill.

- Fed up yet? You can go read our comics. So far I have contributed only ideas and not drawings, but there will be some that I drew up soon. You can point and laugh at the ineptitude.

Grotty to the max, dude!

I just discovered (whilst trying to figure out how to spell 'mould') that grotty and grody are considered to be variant spellings of the same word! I would personally disagree. I can see how they could have begun as such, I feel that by now the connotations of each have diverged sufficiently to make them two separate words. In other news, my (mediocre) ability to spell seems to have left me this evening, I keep on having to go back to correct silly typos. Thank goodness I live in the era that developed the backspace key.

I leave you with a picture of a Grody catfish, which I stole from Shannon's blog (hi Shannon!)

Duty calls, I don't answer

I just had one of these moments:

And then I took a deep breath, sat back, and closed the tab. Just because I am being exposed to vitriol on this peculiar, ephemeral yet permanent medium of the internet it does not necessarily follow that I must engage in said vitriol. It just makes me cross, and achieves nothing. Don't feed the trolls.

the vicious cycle of pee

I have this thing that happens when I get to sleep in.

So I sort of half wake up and I need to pee. But I am warm and comfy in bed, and still in a haze of sleepiness, so I don't want to get up to pee because that would wake me up. So I hold it so that I can sleep longer. I can hold it for a very long time.

So eventually it becomes ridiculously late and I have no excuse whatsoever to stay in bed. So I finally get up and pee. It is good, if little...full bodied (the pee, that is)

But then, of course, I get that UTI effect, where my bladder is pissed off at me and feels like it has to pee allllllll the time. Even when I only have like, a teaspoon of liquid in there. So I chug down as much fluid as I can possibly manage in the effort to have at least a couple of real pees, at which point I start to feel better and my bladder will behave normally again. I have emerged victorious from the bladder battle! By that point it's usually almost time to go to bed.

And so the cycle continues

Cow Powers

This is a cheat, as it's not something I wrote myself: from the "Funny requests from patrons" thread on Library Thing -

I was working the desk one day when a little boy (not more than 3, if that) approached my co-worker and asked for pictures of "cow powers." Attempts to pry further information from him came to naught...as did catalog and google searches and a desperate "Do you have any idea what he's looking for?" to his mother. Trying to think like a toddler, my co-worker asked "Had he seen cow-powers on TV? Were they a cartoon?" "I want cow powers" was the only reply. Hoping she was on the right track and knowing my love of all-things-animated, she turned to me and asked did I know about the Cow Powers? Didn't ring a bell...but something clicked in my brain and I turned to the little boy and asked "Are you looking for books about caterpillars?" Apparently I'd correctly translated the Toddlerese for he gave the two of us a big grin and announced "Cow powers are BUGS!" So hand in hand we wandered over to the 595.789s where we found lots of "cow powers."

I'm just astonished that the mother didn't know what the kid was talking about

Montreal Spring

*to the tune of 'Favourite Things'*

Dogshit on pavement and torched police cruisers
Increasing influx of frat boys and losers
Vast flocks of herring-gulls taking to wing
These are the signs of a Montreal spring!

When the frost bites
And the wind stings
Winter sucks my nads
I count down the months still remaining till spring
And sometimes don't feel so bad.

Overpriced festivals and stanley cup playoffs
More and more people are taking sick days off
One day you're in shorts and the next it's snowing
What the fuck do I wear during Montreal's spring?

kyriarchy

I just learnt a great new word, and I wanted to share it:

kyriarchy (N)

kyriarchy - a neologism coined by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza and derived from the Greek words for "lord" or "master" (kyrios) and "to rule or dominate" (archein) which seeks to redefine the analytic category of patriarchy in terms of multiplicative intersecting structures of domination...Kyriarchy is best theorized as a complex pyramidal system of intersecting multiplicative social structures of superordination and subordination, of ruling and oppression.

This is presented in contrast to the commonly used (and derided) term 'patriarchy' to describe the privileged and dominant class. In the same glossary, 'patriarchy' is defined as:

patriarchy - Literally means the rule of the father and is generally understood within feminist discourses in a dualistic sense as asserting the domination of all men over all women in equal terms. The theoretical adequacy of patriarchy has been challenged because, for instance, black men to not have control over white wo/men and some women (slave/mistresses) have power over subaltern women and men (slaves).

- Glossary, Wisdom Ways, Orbis Books New York 2001

Essentially, this is a word which is is far more useful than 'patriarchy' when discussing equality in this world where a complex hierarchical system of one's race, sex, sexual/gender orientation, faith (or lack thereof), cultural background, able-bodiedness, and social and/or educational class (amongst a myriad of other factors) interact to determine one's level of privilege and/or oppression.

To discuss the 'kyriarchy' is to discuss the institutionalised system which oppresses some whilst affording others a greater level of power and privilege. I would encourage anyone (who hasn't already) to read this article, as it was one of the many things which have caused me to recently re-examine my own experience of privilege.

I was prompted to write this after reading this post, along with many others, and was sparked by a comment on this site.

toss

Implications

The word 'toss', as morpheme, word, or part of a phrase, is highly
associated with the act of moving something with moderate energy
upwards, and then releasing it; or otherwise allowing it to continue
on its natural trajectory. Most related metaphorical idioms reflect this.

Main Definitions

to toss (V) - to throw gently/lightly

to toss (V) - to discard, to put (carelessly) aside or to (carelessly) place

to toss (V) - to mix or aerate (fluff) f by moving items upwards and
letting them fall

a toss (N) - 1. The act of throwing a coin up and catching it to
determine a decision based on which side of the coin lands face up.
2. A projected outcome which could end in one of two equally
possible results. (see 1) 3. (esp. in sports), the act of lightly throwing a ball or similar object (usually upward) to determine the direction of play

Expressions

to toss a salad (VP) - to mix the different ingredients of a salad (usually
including dressing) by bringing ingredients from the bottom of the
bowl to the top, usually by raising ingredients above the bowl and
letting them fall back down. A 'tossed salad' is (usually) a green
salad which has already been mixed, probably including the
dressing. (N.B. - on the internet, this expression may be used in
relation to pornographic images, so be careful!

to toss and turn (VP) - to move restlessly whilst trying to fall asleep

to toss a coin (VP) - to make a decision by throwing a coin into the air and catching it, basing the decision on which side of the coin lands face up (see 'flip a coin', 'heads or tails')

toss-up (N) - a situation where the outcome could just as easily be on one side or the other.

to toss (one's) cookies (VP) - to vomit (it is possible to 'toss' other foodstuffs)

tosser (N) (slang, pejorative, mainly UK) - a very unpleasant person, someone you dislike/disagree with/are angry with for some reason. Lit.: s/o who masturbates. Not always a *severe* insult, frequently used in an affectionate, teasing way.

Examples -

"At first we were going to try a social networking model, but we tossed that idea once we got into the development phase."

"If you're looking for the remote, I think I tossed it beside the couch earlier."

"That new ride at LaRonde totally made me want to toss my cookies!"

"Sorry, I don't have that edition of the paper anymore - yesterday was recycling day, and I tossed it."

-"Do you want to eat at Belle Pro or Subway?"
-"I dunno, let's toss it [a coin]."

"....then Fernandez tossed the ball to Gruber to win the game!"

"I tossed* my pillows and duvet before I went to bed so I wouldn't be tossing and turning all night."

*(also: 'fluff (up)')

"Alex was supposed to go to the movie with me but he bailed out* at the
last minute. He's such a tosser!"

*('bail out' can mean many things; in this case it means 'to renege on
an engagement (probably social) that the agent had previously
committed to.')

-"Which would you prefer - a strawberry smoothie or a mango one?"
-"They're both so delicious I can't decide! - it's a toss-up"

---

So what do you think? Have I missed anything?

what?

No real post. Just trying to remind myself that this thing exists. Am tired after a long week. First week on my new schedule, and though it's been manageable, it's still an adjustment, and a couple of my days are quite long. Highlights have included: attempting to engage a shy-in-any-language scientific professional in conversation (I hit jackpot when I asked him to explain the difference between diesel and petrol engines -no idea what he was talking about, but whatever the hell it was, it was in relatively grammatically correct English), and refereeing a group that includes an assertive and loquacious evangelically athiest person and a multiply degree-ed, religiously devout academic; who are both seemingly united in the common cause of talking about religion during class - I must desperately attempt to both redirect conversations and keep the rest of the group engaged. Or at least awake.

I am trying (trying *trying* TRYING) to get more writing done - writing I'm not paid for I mean. It's hard. This kind of thing helps. A bit. Btw, found it a bit creepy how the Guardian site was plastered with BMO ads for me - what ads were you given?

Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010)

Dick Francis has died, aged 89. Although no one of his books ever stood out as an example of 'great literature', they were all works that gave you an 'oh, that's all right then,' feeling when they were done. The writer of the obituary linked above encapsulates Francis' genius perfectly:

I once wrote a review of a Dick Francis thriller without reading it. I wasn’t going to waste a new Dick Francis on a bloody review when I had a transatlantic flight coming up, was I? So I wrote a piece saying that I knew the book was going to be good. I trusted it, and that’s why I was saving it for later. Three bloody Marys and a new Dick Francis and you’re in New York before you know you’ve taken off.

Dick Francis' last book, Cross Fire, co-written with his son, Felix, will be published this Autumn.

happy 4707!

...now where's my ang pao?

ah, vanity

I was trying to figure out if I was having so much trouble uploading this because of the file or because Facebook is a whiny bitch. I guess FB is to blame - they just 'simplified' the site yet again so of course half of the stuff I actually use is broken. I realised that I haven't many pictures of myself from the past year or so, largely because I became enormously fat, but I got into my skinny jeans today (got into, did not zip, that's for another time) so was feeling moderately presentable. I struggled with Photoshop for a while to get it to do that 3 photo strip photobooth thing - I don't actually have the faintest idea how to use PS, but occasionally like to pretend. And then get horribly frustrated and nearly throw my 'puter across the room. This time I actually managed to subdue it in the end, although I did have to make it black and white in iPhoto as I couldn't figure out how to do that in PS, embarrassingly enough.

The brain, as explained by two of the greatest minds of the past 50 years

Farewell to the language of Bo

The BBC reports that the last speaker of Bo has died, taking her language to the grave with her. We can be thankful that Boa Sr was working with linguists in the last years of her life, so corpora of data on this Andaman tongue exist. In memoriam:

On the Coast of Coromandel
Where the early pumpkins blow,
In the middle of the woods
Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò.
Two old chairs, and half a candle,--
One old jug without a handle,--
These were all his worldly goods:
In the middle of the woods,
These were all the worldly goods,
Of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò,
Of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò.