And THIS Is Why I Don't Like to Order Pizza

Ok, so I've got this thing. I hate calling up to order a pizza. The whole process just freaks me out, and it always has. (A companion phobia is I hate calling to make reservations at restaurants.) I will most often just get pizza at the grocery store rather than order pizza because I hate calling to order a pizza so much. And I've been doing the healthy eating thing for a while now, so I've not even done that recently. But today was a long, hard day, and I really wanted a goddamned pizza from a pizza place (also because it's like -40 degrees with the wind chill and I can't imagine leaving my house) and so I overcame my pizza-phoning phobia, and I called them up.

All I can say is, this was not a simple transaction. I called Pizza Place #1. I swear to god I had some sort of illiterate person on the phone. All I wanted to order was one sausage and pepperoni pizza. This should have taken just five minutes, right? Right? Oh no. The kid couldn't spell (not only my name, but the name of the TOWN I LIVE IN), he kept reversing the letters/numbers in my address and phone number, and I was on the phone with him for TEN MINUTES before I finally gave up and told him just to forget it. (I was on the phone that long because I thought that I would be nice to the poor guy, and I felt like I should support his effort to have a job since clearly he couldn't read, and he seemed incredibly stressed out and I felt bad for him.)

So then I called Pizza Place #2. That went much better. But I'm saying, why, WHY, WHY does calling for a pizza have to be such an ordeal? And why don't I have a boyfriend who will call and order pizzas for me, because really, that is one of the primary roles that a boyfriend would have in my life. (This is also one reason why I tend to weigh more when I am in a relationship, so perhaps what I really need is a guy who refuses to order pizzas for me.)

Anyway. In 50 minutes I'll have pizza. I almost don't want it anymore, but after all of that effort, I have to eat the pizza on principle.

Edited to Add:
Pizza Place #1 tried to deliver me a pizza anyway. And the delivery guy got lost on the way to me. When he got to the door, I realized that he was the wrong Pizza guy, so I sent him away. He crossed paths with Pizza guy from Pizza Place #2, who proceeded to tell me how Pizza Place #2 is filled with drug dealers and they're not a good Pizza Place. Dude, I'm not ordering pizza again for a year.

One Thing I'm Not Modest About

I am one hell of a good cook.

Of course, you only have my opinion to go on, and I suppose the corroborating opinion of my mom ("You'll really make somebody a good wife someday!" - gah!), because it's rare that I cook for other people. Weird fact about Dr. Crazy: I really enjoy cooking for myself most of all, and I really hate entertaining. For this reason, few people have ever actually tasted my cooking, unless they are in my "inner circle." Oh, I did make a lasagna that got raves for a department potluck, but yeah, I really don't cook for anybody but myself. Maybe this makes me a selfish cook.

Anyway, this weekend I made a delicious potato soup with leeks (recipe from the best cookbook ever, How to Cook Everything - though really to make it creamy all you need to do is take a potato masher to the potatoes - you don't need an immersion blender, and some chunks of potato are quite nice - and you don't really need to add cream if you're trying to be figure-conscious - and for breakfast today I made delicious french toast, and for dinner tonight, I made a fabulous putanesca sauce (although it was even easier than the recipe I posted, as I had some tapenade I made previously in the fridge, so I just used some of that in place of the olives, capers, and anchovies, as tapenade is olives, capers, and anchovies), pasta, and a modified version of chicken parmigiana, of my own invention, with homemade breadcrumbs and boneless/skinless chicken breasts. It was all. so. good.

(And does anybody else feel like milk is the absolute best beverage to drink with tomato-related foods? Because the glass of milk that I had with dinner really hit the spot. I love a glass of cold milk with dinner. It's just so good.)

In other news, today I accomplished the following:

• Taxes. I know, I can hardly believe I was this on the ball about this either. But I really need the refund :)
• Preparation for upcoming trip.

Things I did not accomplish:

• Prep for classes.
• Grading for classes.
• Work related to book proposal/manuscript.

Maybe I'll accomplish some of the above before I sleep. Probably not.

Recipe for Loubia bi Zeit

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. green beans (you can use any kind, but I really think it's best with fresh Italian pole beans if one can get them, which is what my Tayta uses when she can get them; also, in a pinch you can use frozen green beans)
• 5 tbsp olive oil (though of course use your judgment on the oil - I felt like this was a little too much, though I should also say that I just eyeballed my measurements on this, so I may have added more than five perfect tablespoons)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• small can of plum tomatoes, drained and chopped (the recipe called for a 7 oz can, which I didn't even know existed, but I used a 14.5 oz can and that seemed like the right amount)
• 1 crushed dried chili pepper
• salt/pepper to taste
• (This recipe also called for cayenne to taste, which I didn't do as my Tayta does not use cayenne when she makes it - I'm not sure she uses a dried chili-pepper either, but I used it and it seemed fine....)

1. Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Trim the beans and add them to the water; simmer for five minutes; drain them thoroughly.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the onion for 5-6 minutes, until softened but not browned.
3. Add the garlic and stir; saute for another two minutes.
4. Stir in the tomatoes, crushed pepper, and cayenne to taste.
5. Pour into a serving bowl.

Can be served warm, room temperature, or cold (especially delicious in the very hot summer right from the refridgerator).

I got this recipe from this book, which I got very cheap, and which has many of the regular, everyday dishes that I know from family gatherings. It's a pretty accessible book, though not every dish has an accompanying picture.

In Not Facing the Start of the Semester News....

This has been an unproductive weekend for the ages. Well, that's not entirely true. But I'm not facing that school's starting, and this means that some of the things that were on my weekend to-do list have been postponed until I can't put them off anymore, i.e., to the school week. What I have accomplished is the following:

1) Made 5 new recipes: A tomato and bean casserole (delish), Indian Tomato Soup (yummy), tapenade, Shrimp with Arugula (pretty good, except that cooking shrimp kind of freaks me out - just as does cooking carbonara, so I probably won't make the shrimp recipe again, as even though it was good, I don't know - I just am kind of grossed out by the thought of it), and today, Loubia bi Zeit (green beans with olive oil and tomatoes - one of my favorite Lebanese dishes, and one of my new year's resolutions is to learn to cook lebanese food, which is no small feat because I can't exactly learn from my Tayta as she doesn't really speak English, and as I don't really speak arabic, I've decided the best course of action is to do my best with a Lebanese cookbook and then to watch her once I've done some things myself a few times, so the resolution is to make one recipe per week, sometimes repeating recipes in order to perfect them - or just because I love them) and now I'm making a mediterannean chicken recipe, in which you stuff boneless skinless chicken breasts with a mixture of tapenade and feta cheese.

2) I cleaned my toilet.

Yeah, that's kind of all I've accomplished. I have not...

1) done laundry
2) organized my closet
3) done some record-keeping things
4) emailed students about Notoriously Difficult Book reading group that I've agreed to lead
5) looked over stuff for the first day of classes TOMORROW (and can I just say that the new MLA dates are really going to suck balls for people with my academic calendar? I know, I know, the current dates suck for many people, especially for those with small children, but as much as the current dates suck, I still prefer them to the new ones, if only because I will have ABSOLUTELY NO TIME BEFORE MY SEMESTER BEGINS once the new dates go into effect. I'm sorry, but I need this time.)
6) Straightened up around the homestead and vaccuumed. But as the kitchen and bathroom are clean, I'm not beating myself up for this. I mean, really, who cares about a little clutter? It's not like the Man-Kitty minds...

While I've been busy not accomplishing the above, I have been busy with the following:

1) Watching the conclusion to the ANTM marathon on VH1
2) Watching The Wedding Crashers, twice.
3) Watching the following movies on TV, with commercials: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, A Few Good Men, a bit of Top Gun, Legally Blonde, A Walk to Remember, The Wedding Planner, a bit of Wimbeldon.
4) Watching the following movies on cable: Hope Floats, Ordinary People, The Family Stone, and I'm not even sure what else, but I think there were actually more movies than that on cable that I watched all or part of.

I think I might be depressed. What else can all of this couch potato behavior possibly mean?

But whether I'm actually depressed or not, I can tell you this: I am not energized about this spring semester, I am not happy with certain aspects of my job, and I am feeling fairly down about the prospect of most aspects of my life in this location, at this job, at this point. And I just don't have the energy to do anything about it - especially if there is even a sliver of hope that I might get a campus visit (which I have now convinced myself is only the tiniest sliver and that I've fucked everything totally up with trying to get out of here).

Maybe the start of the semester will be good, if only because I'll have to interact with people and get out of this funk.

Oh, and My Favorite Christmas Presents!

This year was a good year present-wise, although you'd not think it was since I totally didn't even think to talk about my presents in my last post. (Yes, I'm procrastinating again). ANYWAY, I got GREAT STUFF, even though my mom had claimed that she just "wrapped up a bunch of junk" and that she felt like I wouldn't like any of it. The reason, of course, that it was such a great Christmas is that my mom always gets me stuff I DON'T like usually (unless she asks me for a list) and so the fact that she thought everything sucked actually meant it was all totally awesome. So anyway, here are my favorite things of all my presents:

1. An old-fashioned recipe box. (This was something I asked for. My mom thought it was dumb - why not just xfer my recipes into my ipod or computer or whatever? And what about all those cookbooks I've got? Well, it turns out that my cookbooks are all turning totally disgusting from actually cooking with them, and I can imagine all of my electronic equipment would become similarly disgusting if I tried to use it while cooking. No, the old-fashioned recipe box will be AWESOME. When a recipe gets gross, I can just copy it out onto another card again and voila - no more nasty cookbooks or recipes or whatever.)

2. A Scrabble page-a-day calendar.

3. A gift card for Half-Price Books.

4. Corningwear baking dishes.

5. The movie Elf (which I really love).

6. New wine glasses (for I do enjoy a glass of wine, and I'm perpetually breaking wine glasses).

And then a bunch of other junk, some of which really was junk, like, for example, these weird shoe-polishing cloths. Maybe if I were another person I'd be into them, but I suspect I'll never use them. She also wrapped up some scented pot pourri stuff, but since I don't have a pot pourri burner, the gift fell a bit flat. Ah well, I did have a lot to open :)

Oh! And maybe my best presents! The Man-Kitty apparently phoned ahead to his grandma so that she would get some presents for me from him. (I know, too silly, but whatever.) The Man-Kitty got me a mug that says "Meow-y Christmas" with a drawing of a cat (love it) and a figurine (because apparently I now have a collection of figurines, even though I've never collected such things of my own accord. I've got both angel ones and non-angel ones, and other than the cat one, the others I've got all have to do with books and learning and things. Although I'm still not a figurine person - as I'm not a person who really believes in dusting - these are actually ok and I kind of like them).

Ok, so that's my conspicuous Christmas consumption post. Now I'm going to leave the internet (although it pains me to do so) and do some reading and then make delicious beef-barley-mushroom soup for my parents, because I'm the nicest child in the world (and we won't have anything decent to eat in the house if I don't do that because apparently they just don't cook here anymore).

Disappointment, Exhaustion, Irritation, Happiness

Tomorrow will be the last day of the regular semester, and then next week is finals week. This has been a kind of strange semester, not in the least because of the job market attempt. As of the current moment, I'm feeling pretty dejected related to that attempt, as with each passing day I become more and more convinced that I've put myself in this position for nothing: that when all is said and done, the job that I have is the one that I will continue to have, whatever my high-falutin aspirations. Clearly I've not been rejected everywhere yet, but as the days tick by, with the help of that horrible wiki, it becomes clear to me where I'm out of the running. It's hard not to take it personally, even though I know (having served on a search committee) how impersonal and arbitrary the process is. I had gone into this process aware of that - and I'd thought that I could handle it - and, well, I can handle it, and I am handling it - but it doesn't make it easier, even knowing that it's not, well, me. Because it feels like me that is being passed over, however much I know that the needs and desires of departments and universities have little to do with me as an individual, ultimately. So that's the disappointment part of things.

The exhaustion, well, we're all feeling it. It comes with the territory at this time of year. Too much grading, too little energy, etc. Really, there's little more to say than that.

As for the irritation, well, today began with an irritating meeting and it ended with an irritating meeting. Both were irritating for different reasons, but both were irritating for particular reasons that have to do with the culture of my institution. Combine this with the disappointment in paragraph one, and, well, as you might imagine, the irritation is multiplied exponentially.

But then there's the happiness. This semester was one of my best teaching semesters I've had - ever. I am pleased with all of my classes - so much so that for the first time I've allowed for two of the three to have "parties" on the last day (something not unheard of at my university, but something I've never done - in part because there's never been time before, but somehow this semester there is time.) I have such a good rapport with the students in my classes this semester, and they've all come so far - from my little class of freshmen, who've grown up so much as people - not only as writers - since august, to my seniors, who have pushed themselves beyond what I'd imagined they could or would do, to all of those students in between in my survey class.

As much as I'm feeling disappointed and exhausted and irritated, it's hard to ignore the fact that I also feel extremely happy with my work as a teacher, and my work at this particular institution as a teacher.

And maybe the thing that I'm most happy about is the fact that a number of my upper-level students want to do a reading group with me in the spring for which they will receive no credit. You can't imagine the sense of accomplishment I feel about this. Students at my university, who work full time and have families and spouses and kids and all of these other commitments, don't tend to sign on for such extracurricular work. I'd mentioned that I'd be willing to lead such a thing in passing around midterm, and I really didn't think that they'd be interested. But now - in the last class of the regular semester, as I sat with them eating dessert for breakfast - they asked me would I still be willing.

And so whatever happens on the job market, I think I've got to pay attention to the fact that I am making a difference where I am. A real difference, a difference that I suspect even many of my colleagues here would never have predicted could be possible. That is real work, and it is good work. And I'm grateful for the fact that I have the chance to do that kind of work, whatever the things about this place or this job I wish were different. Perhaps the thing that really needs to change in my life is me - not my location, not my job, but my approach to things. If I can do this well with something so seemingly intractable, what else might I achieve if I put my mind to it? This is something that I think I need to think about in a serious way.

But I will not be thinking about it in a serious way right now, because I've got to make some food for my little freshmen to eat tomorrow. I know. I'm cooking for my students. What the hell is wrong with me? As BFF said, "What, are you going to start letting them call you 'Mommy,' too?" Not quite, but I really love the thing I'm making for them tomorrow, and it's the sort of dish that one cannot make when one lives alone, so there is something in it for me, too :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Ok, so I know it's late, but what with the cooking, the celebrating, and my attention-seeking parents (who are now at a nearby casino - things must be going well since they had only a hundred bucks between them), there was no time to write before now.

So what am I thankful for?

First, the shallow things:

1. For the fact that I finally learned how to make stuffing that is neither too dry nor too moist.
2. For stuffing generally.
3. For the glass of wine I'm drinking right now.
4. For the internet.
5. For nearly a full week without teaching.

Now, for the less shallow things:
1. For my parents, who really are awesome. Add into this one all of my friends who are really like family, etc.
2. For my sweet, darling Man-Kitty.
3. For the fact that I have done well at my job and that I have some confidence in my abilities as a professor.
4. For the fact that I haven't embarassed myself (yet) in this attempt at being on the market. Or at least not in an irrevocable way. Oh, and I've had another request for more materials (yesterday) - did I mention that? I'm thankful for that. I'd be even more thankful if I were to be offered an interview at any of the places to which I've applied. But scratch that because it's not really in the True Spirit of Thanksgiving.
5. For not necessarily being able to see what the future holds, even though I often wish that I could see what the future holds.

And now, for some Thanksgiving pictures!

This is where the Man-Kitty was hanging out while I was making the Thanksgiving feast. When he wasn't trying to force my stepdad (who had his first experience with using the internet and was wicked-excited about being able to read like 15 different newspapers - some in arabic - all morning long).







But then, the turkey was ready!



After turkey (and all of the many side-dishes on the menu), pie.


When Dinner was done, naps were taken, etc., the Man-Kitty then retired with the Stepdad of Crazy for some quality male bonding time. Did I mention that the Man-Kitty and my stepdad are best friends? And that if the M-K hears the S-D's voice on the phone, that he immediately leaps toward Crazy's head and begins purring and nuzzling the phone and meowing? And that he follows S-D around like he's the second coming whenever they're together? It is very strange, but I think probably good that the M-K has a strong male role model.

Note to Self

Hire a maid. Get over the working-class guilt thing that makes you think it is wrong not to clean your own house. Forget everything that you read in Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. You are a slob. If somebody was coming in once a month to clean, you would be less of a slob because you would feel ashamed of yourself. You would clean for the cleaning person. You would not (as is your current MO during the school year) save cleaning for times when you're having out-of-town guests (and you don't have many of those during the school year).

That said, the bedroom is cleaned (though my mother better not enter my closet, for apparently I'm still 14 and I just shove everything in there willy-nilly in order to try to hide my sloppiness from my mother), the dining room is cleaned, the study is, well, a place where I like to put paper and so nobody would really want to hang out in there, but at the same time, it's not an embarassment. Now, to tackle the bathroom (which is actually not terrible - I am not ok with a not-clean bathroom), the living room (clutter, clutter), the kitchen (also not terrible, except for the floor, but I think I'll just swiffer and full-on mop after I finish cooking the T-day feast), and then finally, if I'm feeling REALLY ambitious, I really should dust. Obviously, that is last on the list, as my mother never dusts either, and so she will understand if it doesn't get done.

The one nice thing about all this cleaning though is that when I get rid of the Thanksgiving guests, I will have a very clean house. I'd say that I'm going to turn over a new leaf and keep it clean, but that would be a lie. Which is why I should hire a maid. Even though I probably won't. I really don't like people in my house. Sigh.

Only 24 Hours Left! Crap!

It's true - in 24 hours, the Parents of Crazy will arrive for Thanksgiving.

Needless to say, I have to clean my entire house (for I did NOTHING this weekend related to this task) and I need to begin cooking tomorrow, for I make the entire thanksgiving feast (as it is a way to control my thanksgiving experience, and since thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, there are some things that need to be in place in order for me to be happy).

What's on the Thanksgiving menu you ask?

1. Turkey.
2. Stuffing (or is it dressing if you don't make it in the bird?) At any rate, just a basic bread stuffing. Nothing fancy at all. I don't come from the kind of people who put oysters or sausage or chestnuts or whatever in stuffing. I come from the kind of people who make stuffing with the cheapest bread at the store - i.e., "stuffing bread" - carrots, celery, and onion and a shitload of butter. It's really yummy, and it has approximately no nutritional value.
3. Mashed potatoes. The only advice I have on these is to use yukon gold potatoes and to mash them with real butter and a minimum of 2% milk (though I like to throw in a little half-and-half, too).
4. Green Bean Casserole. You know, the one with the recipe on the back of the can of french-fried onions. Oh, though I do add some almonds in for crunch into my version of this "classic."
5. Mashed rutabaga. YUMMY.
6. My dead grandmother's famous giblet gravy (a perfect non-lumpy gravy that actually doesn't require one to make a roux).
7. maple-syrup glazed baby carrots (a new addition this year, per my mom's request).
8. Sweet potato gratin.

I'm going to include the sweet potato recipe, because it is AWESOME if one wants a savory sweet potato/yam option. In the past I did a sweet option with pecans, but it was almost dessert-y, and I really don't like any sweet potato/yam recipe that involves marshmallow. So anyway, here is the recipe, from the Wild Women in the Kitchen cookbook.

Ingredients:
3 sweet potatoes, peled and sliced thin.
1 tablespoon finely minced fresh sage (or you can use a teaspoon of dried, if necessary - you could also switch out the sage and use tarragon.)
1 cup of cream (though you can use half and half if you just can't imagine going the actual cream route)
1/2 cup grated Jarlsberg cheese

Preheat oven to 350. In a buttered casserole dish, overlap the potato slices in a single layer. Sprinkle with half of the sage and pour half of the cream over. Add another layer of potatoes and top with the rest of the sage and cream. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 40 minutes and until the top is bubbly.

1. This recipe is rich and delicious.
2. You can do everything ahead of time so that all you need to do on Thanksgiving is pop it in the oven.
3. Did I mention that this is rich and delicious? Oh, and it allows me to incorporate cheese into the meal, which really makes me happy, as I love cheese.

For dessert, there will be homemade (from crust to filling - my only compromise is that I do use canned pumpkin) pies - apple and pumpkin. And if I do say so myself, I make a wicked-good pie. And my crust is PERFECT.


At any rate, I suspect I may not have time to post for a couple of days. If that's so... gobble gobble! See you after the holiday!

Cooking Sunday

Over the past few weeks, I've gotten into a habit of doing a lot of cooking on Sundays. Part of this is because I've been committed to packing lunches and eating like a sensible person. If one hopes to stay true to such commitments, and one is a busy person, one must plan ahead. It's also that I've been so busy during the week that I come home exhausted and don't feel like cooking. So I cook like those women you hear about who make a week's worth of meals for an incompetent husband before they go out of town to visit their ailing sister or something. I make vast quantities of food, enough to feed multitudes, when really there is just me.

Now, the funny (funny odd, not funny haha) thing about me is that I much prefer cooking for myself than cooking for other people. Most people I talk to will say that they can't be motivated to cook when it's just for themselves. They need to cook for someone to be motivated. For me, though, cooking for others is not generally ideal. I find myself afraid to experiment, concerned that the food I'll make won't be well received. I tend to stick to recipes of which I am certain. And this takes a lot of the fun out of it for me. But the cooking I've been doing on Sundays has been of the more inventive variety. While I may start with a recipe, I find myself tweaking it as I go. I don't follow directions precisely; I make adjustments according to my own whims. Or I just make up recipes, and try them out. I've never been in a position where I felt comfortable doing such things when I've cooked for others. When I cook for others, I tend not to try new things. I go with what I know will please.

The liberating thing about cooking for yourself - cooking really delicious things for yourself, rather than just making a stupid frozen pizza or eating cereal or something - is that if you screw it up and the food comes out bad that it's no big deal. There's nobody to complain. You can throw the bad food out if you don't like it, and nobody will be the wiser. And so that then allows you to take risks in the kitchen - to try out something that you've never tried out before.

I love cooking. I think cooking might be my one and only actual hobby. And I think I do make yummy food.

But I'm not a gourmet cook. No, not at all. I don't have the patience for recipes with too many ingredients; I don't have the interest in learning complicated methods of preparation. Instead, I tend to gravitate toward foods that are simple and comforting.

So today, the cooking began with brunch, after I'd gone to the grocery store. I made myself scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese and ham and a piece of wheat toast with blackberry jam. (By the way, I will only eat my own scrambled eggs and my mother's. Why? Because I hate scrambled eggs that are not fluffy (a), that are too dry (b), or that are too runny (c). I NEVER get scrambled eggs if I go out to eat - only over-easy.)

Then, this afternoon, I made a delicious roast. A roast, you say? For one person? Well, yes. But I did something with the rest of it later. At any rate, I made a 2.5 lb. roast, and I made some mashed turnips to accompany it. Mmmm. Love turnips.

After I had my dinner, I then took the remaining roast beef and cut it into bite-sized pieces. And I made some beef, barley, and mushroom soup. While that was cooking, I then took some apples, cored them, and sprinkled them with splenda and cinnamon, used some of that "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" stuff that is no calories, and baked them.

When the soup was done, I put it in individual serving-sized containers, and I freezed half of them. When the apples were done, I put all but one portion in individual serving-sized containers and put them in the fridge. Then, I had my dessert: the baked apples with a dollop of sugar-free cool whip. Delicious! Like apple pie without the crust! (Though I've got to say, I do make a wicked-good pie crust, and I did miss it, but as it is about 7,000 calories per bite, I will have to wait until thanksgiving for that treat.)

I am really excited for all of my meals this week. And on one night when I'm feeling some cooking energy? I'm going to make one of my favorite things - cabbage and noodles. (I know, it doesn't sound all that great, but trust me - a better comfort food there never was.)

A Number of Things

Item One
I haven't written much about the diet/exercise since the beginning of the year, when I joined a gym and began paying attention to those things as part of a whole resolution-related thing. I want to write about this because I haven't abandoned the project. Now, I'm hovering around the weight I achieved at the beginning of the spring (though am losing again! as I'm back on the wagon! and packing one's lunch seems to be the main key in doing this!), but I have succeeded in that I DO continue to go to the gym and I AM in better shape and I AM one size smaller than I was when I began 2006. My aim is to lose one more size by the end of the year. We shall see. (As you see, I'm not a very hard-core diet/exercise person - for me it's all about being able to live with myself as I try to do this, which means that a) I eat real food and b) I have one total cheating day a week.)

Item Two
So speaking of real food, on today, what I like to call "Cheating Friday," I made an awesome dinner (after indulging on potato chips and bacon and onion dip). The first part of it actually is in line with phase two of the South Beach Diet (I was being good given the whole "chips and dip" fiasco), and I want to post the recipe, as I totally enjoyed it.

The dish: stuffed (that's right, stuffed) pork chops.

Ingredients:

• Boneless center-cut pork chops, with fat trimmed. The ones I used were about 3/4 of an inch in thickness, maybe a little less. As I'm a single person, I only made two, though the ingredients I will list for the stuffing would definitely make enough for four, if not six. I chose just to make what was left of the stuffing separately to use as a side for some other meal I will make this week.
• Pam cooking spray. (Original recipe called for two full tablespoons of oil.)
• 1 medium onion, chopped.
• 1 cup of chopped mushrooms. I just bought one of the pre-sliced/cleaned packages of mushrooms that measures to a cup, and gave them a rough chop.
• 1 cup of bread cubes. (I used whole wheat bread, and it was yummy. I just cubed three slices. Incidentally, this is a great use for the heels of loaves of bread. Also, I like the Brownberry Double Fiber 100% Whole Wheat Bread, so that's what I used.)
• (The recipe called for 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, but I didn't have any, so I just eliminated it from the recipe. I didn't miss it. Does parsely have any taste in any dish except tabbouli?)
• Salt, pepper, sage to taste
• Two tablespoons of reduced fat-sour cream (I suppose you could use non-fat, but I find that reduced-fat has a texture that's preferable.)
  
• 1/4 cup of water.

1. Cut side pockets in chops and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Sautee onion (spray a nonstick sautee pan with some Pam) until transparent. Add mushrooms, stirring often, and cook for about two minutes. Add the bread crumbs, parsley, sage, ground black pepper, and salt. Mix well.
3. Add the sour cream, again, mixing well. ( I turned off the heat when I added the sour cream.)
4. Stuff the pork chops, using toothpick(s) to keep the stuffing in. (I've got to admit, I used like one toothpick. I'm just not anal about such things.)
5. Arrange the pork chops in a baking dish, and cover with 1/4 cup of water. Bake covered for 30 minutes, and then bake uncovered another 30 minutes until the pork chops are all delicious and browned.

The prep time is only like 20 minutes total (if that). Yes, it takes a while for it to cook, but virtually unattended. If I make this again, I suspect I'll add some celery to the stuffing, but even as it was it was really yummy.

If this weren't Cheating Friday, I think this would be lovely with either broccoli or asparagus. As it was Cheating Friday, it was AWESOME with mashed potatoes made with asiago cheese :)

Item Three
I finished grading my exams from the lower-division class that I received yesterday. Can I just say I love grading exams? Compared to grading papers? Because I do not comment on them? At any rate, I have to say, I think I write a really good exam. I did curve it up three points (I tend to do this with the midterm, showing them what they would have received, but then bumping them up in part to account for my tendency to be pretty hard on them - the highest grade but one who would have blown any curving were I a meaner person was a 93 - and in part to avoid any haggling over points - I've already given you three, so don't come to me wanting an extra one) but here was the range of grades: 5 A's, 7 B's, 5 C's, 4 D's, and an F. How much better of a curve could there be for a take-home? I mean, it takes some effort on the part of a student to actually fail a take-home exam.

Item Four
Ok, so for the past couple of days I've been kind of super-stressed and freaked out and a little bit nuts. I suppose it had to happen, what with going on the market and all. All I have to say about it, now that I've chilled a bit, is this: 1) thank God that Job Search Mentor is very mellow and is able to talk me off of ledges, 2) love the lovely Man-Kitty who is a total alleviator of stress with his awesomeness, 3) love my funny mom, who doesn't really get it but who listens, 4) (though this is actually kind of mean) thank god for my high-school/college ex-boyfriend, because things are so screwed up with him right now that it was able to take me out of my own head when I finally talked to him at length last night, 5) am very happy that IB (a person with whom I kind of correspond via email) didn't think I was a weirdo last night (a) and also that we didn't talk so that he would have seen first-hand what a weirdo I am (b).

Item Five
I'm sending off the remaining application packets tomorrow. I'm kind of psyched, kind of freaked out still, but also kind of relieved that this initial phase of things is over.

So Much to Write About, and Yet Rusty, So Not Sure How to Write Any of It

Well, I've been an erratic (at best) blogger this summer, and in part that has been because of my travels and in part that has been because of just being busy with other things and, well, I don't know. I think perhaps that I needed some time away from blogging in order to think about things and gather ideas to blog about, etc. And, hell, who am I kidding, my time that I usually devote to blogging has been spent lying in the sun and reading trashy books.

At any rate, now I'm feeling the itch to blog, but I'm not entirely sure how to scratch it, if you know what I mean. I've kind of fallen out of the voice that I use for the blog, and I've fallen out of the habit of crafting particular posts with readers in mind. And so here I am, bursting with things to tell you all, and yet I'm not sure how to get any of it from my brain and into writing. I know I can always fall back on the list method of posting, but, well, I've been doing a lot of that since summer began and it feels kind of lame and lazy to me right now. Also, well, I suppose I've got things to say that don't really fit into a list-y format. So, in no particular order, here are the things that are on my mind and what I've been doing, etc.

Work-Related

You might think that with my traveling and my lounging poolside that I don't have work-related things going on with me. Or that if I do they are not particularly pressing things. For the most part, I don't have much pressing on the table at the moment (except for the special issue of the journal thing that i'm responsible for that basically I'm going to force myself to do in a 48-hour period when the weekend is over, because apparently I just need to make a push and get the thing done), but I suppose I have a number of things that have been weighing on my mind related to work. First and foremost, in August it will be 3 years since I defended my disseration, and I've already done some revising of it but never gotten around to much else, and so fuck it, I've decided, I'm turning the thing into a book proposal, I'm polishing a couple of chapters, and I'm starting to shop the bastard. I mean, really. Now's the time, right? If I don't do it now, the whole thing will be out of date and basically useless. I really believe that it SHOULD be a book and that it would add to the field (blah blah blah), so I've got to just force myself to get my shit together and to get it out there. I realize that this may sound somewhat rash as a course of action, but well, worst that will happen is I'll be rejected, and even that would be better than letting the thing continue to gather dust. At least then I'd have confirmation that the manuscript is kind of a piece of crap, right? (By the way, I feel a sense of purpose and resolve related to this with a simultaneous feeling of fear and hopelessness. What's that all about?) The other big work-thing (and also something that I think relates to the fire that seems to have been lit under my ass re: the book thing) is that I'm pretty serious about going on the market this year. This is entirely daunting, as 1) I'm going to need to ask some people for letters that will require delicate handling, 2) I don't feel entirely "worthy" to go on the market because a) I'm not totally miserable b) I'm not trying to live nearer to a partner (which seems to be the only "personal" reason that the books, people in the profession, etc. don't question), and c) I'm entirely afraid that the result will be something along the lines of, "Dr. Crazy, who do you think you are trying to gain employment at a place better than your current place because really you're just not good enough." That said, insecurity and feelings of inadequacy have never stopped me from doing anything before, and thus, I need to get to work on job-search-related things.

Personal

Well, to be completely honest, I've been a bit of a recluse this last week or so. Partly, I've just needed time to myself after all of my travels, and partly, I'm trying to get back on track with just my life - things like cooking decent meals, eating at regular times, working out, sleeping on a nice schedule in which I get enough - if not more than enough - sleep. All of that takes a lot of time/energy, and I just haven't felt like dealing with people while trying to deal with all of that. This may, however, be making me somewhat crazy, and so I plan to venture out into the world and to interact with people in the coming days. Funnily enough, while I know that this is a good thing, I'm not looking forward to it. Oh, and the Man-Kitty thrives. I have some new pics of him, as well as pics of my various trips, so I should probably post those, huh? I think my camera is still packed somewhere....

Pop Culture
Ok, this portion of the post is going to be list-y, as, well, I don't have any deep thoughts about the pop culture things that are on my mind.

1. I really enjoy that new Nelly Furtado CD.
2. Does anybody else feel like the Pussycat Dolls are like the Spice Girls without the Girl Power? And does that depress anybody else but me? I mean, sure, the Spice Girls weren't exactly singing "I am woman hear me roar," but isn't a lyric like, "If you wanna be my lover/you gotta get wit' my friends" better than a lyric like, "And now, ain't nothing else I could need/ And now, I'm singing 'cause you're so, so into me/ I got you, we'll be making love endlessly/ I'm with you (baby I'm with you)"? I think so.
3. Ok, that song, by The Fray? That "in over my head" song? A.) It's really catchy B.) Does the video remind anybody else of XTC's video for "Dear God"? I watched the video for a couple of weeks and I kept felt like I'd seen it before, and I think that's because it's the same as that XTC video (or very similar). And if that's true, have we really reached the point where videos are just remakes of other videos? (The answer to this is probably yes, as the new artist Cassie has a video for her song "me and u" (a song I've got to admit I love) is pretty much Janet Jackson's "Pleasure Principle" video.) And what ever happened to MTV designating certain videos as "buzzworthy"? And why is that horrible Matt Pinhead - oh, I'm sorry, Pinfield - now on VH1? Why didn't they just retire that dude outright?

Ok, I think that's all of my pop-culture related stuff. Anything else? Well, not really. I'm trying to weed all of the paper out in my house and to re-organize (for the umpteenth time) my study. My mom's coming to visit in two weeks, I'm late on getting my travel voucher in to be reimbursed for my trip and I'm pissed because it's not my fault I'm late getting it in (or at least not entirely my fault), I'm successfully through 6 days in phase 1 of the south beach diet (yes, I returned to phase one) and I'm feeling really energetic and good re: that but will be happy when I'm done with the de-toxing aspects of phase 1, for I miss things like brown rice (how sad), and I think that's all. Oh, and I'm thinking about starting another blog that just relates to job-searching things. Not sure. Basically, I'm not sure that I want to junk up this blogspace with that nonsense, but I don't know. Must think on it some more. Now it's time to print out my manuscript and to begin organizing a schedule for whipping the thing into shape and into a book proposal.

Ok, So We Forgot about Happy Hour....

But we are having a bit of a.... discussion.... over at Dr. Medusa's place. We've come up with some talking points, so if anybody wants to stop on by, I think that would be a good time. Oh, and we've also developed a "phase 4" for the south beach diet, which, while not endorsed by Dr. Agatston, does seem to us the logical conclusion of all of the cooking, eating of fresh and healthy ingredients, etc., that he advises.

Achievement, Balance, Workaholism, Etc.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how much work I take on vs. the amount of time that I'm willing to invest in non-work activities. The truth of the matter is that I have been much better over the past semester about prioritizing non-work-related things. I mean, yes, all the while I keep volunteering for things and saying yes to requests and all of my usual work-related antics, but I have also this semester kept to my commitment to working out (though sometimes only once a week, but still) and to cooking decent food for myself (I'd estimate 85% of the time) and to pursue dating things, even if nothing has really materialized from all of that yet.

But last night, I wasn't able to think about all of the ways in which I've been putting myself first, and instead I was thinking to myself that I would never have a fulfilling personal life because the job is sucking away my soul. This also may have had something to do with the fact that I was watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in preparation for teaching it, and well, those people aren't too happy with their lives either.

--- time passes ---

At any rate, now, I started this post but then got side-tracked because a student came by to be advised and another student came by to interview me for an assignment he had to do for his literary theory class, and then I decided to send these emails that I should have sent two weeks ago, and now I'm not feeling all ambivalent and upset and everything the way I was but instead I'm feeling energized because I'm getting good work done. See, this is the problem: I really, really like my job. All the parts of it. I know, it's sick, isn't it? In the past, when I've worked at jobs that I don't like, I've had no problem putting my personal life first. Even when I was a student, I was not a model student, but skipped class and put my own personal needs above the demands of the course. But now that I'm a professor, I have a hard time doing it not because I feel like I have to - I am probably the one person in my cohort who is certain to get tenure based on publication alone - but because I really like all of what I'm doing. And so, how do you say no to things that you actually want to do?

I mean, even this thing where I'm taking over for my colleague. No, it's not my dream gig, but I do want to help her/the department out and I am being (well) compensated for my (minimal) efforts. So should I say no on principal, or should I do the thing and be ok about it? I think the problem is that I feel like I'm not "supposed" to enjoy doing all of what I'm doing - I feel like I'm "supposed" to be upset that my life is so dominated by work instead of energized by the work that I'm doing. And so I feel this weird need to beat myself up because I'm not beating myself up enough or something.

I don't know where I'm going with any of this. I suppose I just wanted to blurt out all of this - that I'm really quite pleased with all of what I'm accomplishing, and I'm afraid of becoming overwhelmed even though I don't necessarily feel overwhelmed, and I do want to have a personal life but at the same time I'm finding my professional life really, really rewarding right now and so I don't really feel that bad about the lameness of the personal, and yeah-I don't know what else. I guess that's it, for now. I'm going to go accomplish more things!

Productivity: It's a Beautiful Thing

I don't really know what's gotten into me. I've been crazy productive over the past couple of days. Well, this whole week really. I'm about 90% to done on the article, I've graded 40 4-6-page essays, I've begun a new unit in Intro to Lit, which included teaching two poems and introducing Jane Eyre, I've considered submitting a proposal for another article for an essay collection, I've done a student recommendation, I met with Favorite Student Ever, I sent some important emails, I've continued the correspondence with the Chemist, I did 3 loads of laundry, I spent quality time with the Man-Kitty, I readied the assignments through the end of the semester for my comp. classes and did so early enough that I don't have to copy them myself, I've been to the gym regularly and I've been cooking actual meals for myself and bringing my lunch like a good girl. What's the deal?

• Part of it is that the system I have of conferencing with students to give back papers really works for me, and it's something I've got to continue in future semesters for my writing classes.
• Part of it is hormonal. At certain times in the month I just have more energy and more motivation.
• Part of it is that I've been good about the gym this week, which does give energy (although this post is in part inspired by the fact that I'm procrastinating about heading to the gym right now and considering putting off doing so until tomorrow).
• Part of it is caffeine, I've got to admit. I've had a Starbucks Venti Nonfat Latte three or four times this week.
• Part of it is that I always feel more inspired when I'm doing research/writing as well as The Job (teaching, service, etc.). Something about having too much to do can actually make me more excited to do all of the things I've got to do - or feel like I need to do them in a more timely fashion at any rate.
• Part of it, and this is the most pathetic part, is that since I began the online dating I feel pressure to be really busy in order to be captivating to suitors, whether with my job or socially, and this has only intensified since talks with The Chemist entered "open communication," as he actually knows what I do (basically) and so I want to be able to talk about it like I'm not a total slacker. And nobody likes the complainy slacker people anyway.

The point here, though, is that I've been getting a tremendous amount done, and that I'm excited to keep on this productive streak. The problem is, if The Chemist returns from his research trip and wants to see me, I might need to tell him no because there's really not room in my life for anything but work. And this, my friends, is why this profession is totally fucked up.

Dr. Crazy's Weight-Loss Plan (But I'm No Expert, Nor Am I An M.D.)

Ejnw06 asked in a comment what I've been doing to lose weight. Let me preface all that will follow with the fact that, as I stated in the title to the post, I'm no authority on things fitness or weight loss. I should also preface this with the fact that I really love food, and I generally have tended to hate exercise.

Background:
As many of you know, I quit smoking in November, the day before thanksgiving. I had been a smoker for 10 years. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I gained 10 lbs. My clothes weren't fitting right. This was no good. One of the reasons that this was no good is that I'm not a tiny girl. I have the body of my Hungarian/Polish ancestors, which means that I've always been, as my mother horrifyingly put it throughout my adolescence, a "big girl." Now, I've never been what I'd call fat, but if I gain weight, I'm ever in danger of having to shop at plus-sized stores, which for me is the thing that drives me to any attempt at weight loss. Now, it's also important to note here that I've been carrying around about 20 lbs. extra weight since I began dissertating/began dating my ex-boyfriend. Thus, with the added weight of quitting smoking, I was NOT happy. I should also note that I tend to need to gain/lose a significant amount of weight in order for it to change my size significantly. I've ranged from a size 10 to a size 16 since I was 12 years old, and for the great majority of the time I've been a size 12-14. When I started this whole "new year, new me" program, I was threatening to bust out of size 16. The last time that I was in this predicament, I took up smoking and stopped eating. I also walked a ton because I didn't have a car. This was a) not wise and b) not something I wanted to try to do again.

The Plan:
Ok, so what I've done is nothing mysterious. I've been exercising 3-4 times a week (without fail) and I've been watching what I eat. I haven't in any way been fanatical, but more exercise (and before I was doing pretty much nothing) plus fewer calories is going to equal weight loss. Even if you cheat sometimes on the diet stuff, which I do. But let me be more specific.

Dr. Crazy's Exercise Plan:
First and foremost, I joined a gym. For me, this was entirely necessary, as I really can talk myself out of exercising and into a snack without much effort at all. By joining a gym, I increased my motivation to work out in three ways: 1) I'm wasting money if I don't go; 2) the people at my gym are really friendly and congratulatory about the fact that you are showing up regularly, and that makes me feel good; 3) As long as I go on my way home from work, I'm totally motivated to go, whereas if I am at home, the likelihood of my forcing myself to exercise is small indeed. On top of those three main things, the gym is a good thing for me because the machines time exactly how long one is working out, and I'm the kind of person who can cheat myself if I don't have a clock right in front of me (for example, if I go walking around my neighborhood I will lie to myself that I've gone farther or longer than I really have gone or I won't walk as fast as I might).

So, when I go to the gym, I work out solidly for 40 to 50 minutes. I always start out with the exercise bike, because the bike doesn't feel as much like working out to start because I'm sitting down. Also, I like to warm up with the bike. I usually ride the bike for about 10-15 minutes. From there, it depends on what I feel like doing. Now that I'm finally in shape to do it, I'm a huge fan of the elliptical, and I've been doing it for 30 mins after the bike. Then I'll walk on the treadmill to cool down for maybe 10 minutes. On days when I'm tired, I might do the elliptical for only 10-15 minutes and follow it up with walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes. On days when all of the elliptical machines are being used by others, I'll just do the treadmill for 30/45 minutes, with a combination of walking/running. NEVER have I worked out for more than an hour. NEVER have I worked out more than 4 days in a week. I'm going to start incorporating weight training in the coming weeks, but just for the toning up stuff - not because I have learned how to enjoy exercise. Exercising sucks, even if it does relieve stress (which I like).

The Diet
Ok, so I began the new year with a modified version of the south beach diet. Modified because I didn't restrict myself quite as much as they tell you to (I didn't cut out carrots for example), but basically a diet of veggies and lean meats and some lowfat dairy. No bread. No potatoes. No fruit. It was rough, but it did get me off of the carb/sugar habit that had dominated my diet since quitting smoking. That lasted for two weeks. Because I didn't follow it precisely, I lost only 5 lbs. in that first two weeks (they say that during phase one you can expect to lose 9-14 lbs.). After that first two weeks, I could then start adding back in some "good" carbs, like whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, fruit, etc. As soon as I entered phase two, I was fine in terms of feeling like I'm not even on a diet. Yes, I've had to pay more attention to what I'm shoving in my mouth, but I like what I'm eating, and I don't feel deprived. Also, I really enjoy cooking, and this means I have to cook, so it actually forces me to do something that I like to do, which I need sometimes.

I cheat one day a week and I eat whatever I want. What I've found is that I don't tend to eat as much of the bad stuff because I'm so used to eating well, even on the day when I'm "allowed" to cheat.

Crucial to my success with all of the diet stuff has been the following:
1) I pack myself a healthy lunch every single day.
2) I try to eat breakfast every morning, but if I don't I bring an apple or something to eat so that I don't gorge myself later in the day.
3) I don't keep crap food in the house. If it's in the house, I will eat it.
4) 100-calorie packages of microwave popcorn.
5) nuts.
6) tea.
7) splenda.
8) diet cherry coke.
9) not really drinking alcohol.
10) I don't want to eat garbage after I work out.

The Benefits:
I suppose having done all of this for a month and a half I'd say the benefits are these: My skin looks great, I get amazing sleep at night, I have a ton more energy, and I'm much less stressed out (not only because of exercising but also because cooking relaxes me). Again, I'm no doctor (well, unless you count being a doctor of philosophy) and I've got no real secrets to impart. But this is what I've been doing, and it's working, so there you have it.

Time, Space, and Living a Professorial Life

I'd like to continue to think a bit more about this notion of "reassigned" time. First of all (as I suppose you might intuit from my choice of title for the blog) I greatly prefer this term to the terms "course reduction," "course release," "course relief," etc. As I've become acclimated to my particular institution, those other terms, which were the only one's I heard at my Fancy Graduate School, seem incredibly mystifying and, well, not to recognize teaching as a scholarly activity.

To talk about "course reduction" seems to indicate "reduction in workload," which of course is not ever going to be the case, not even at a Fancy Research Institution. It also perpetuates the idea that one's research is one's "own work" and thus preferable to teaching which is not one's "own work" but rather the price one has to pay in order to be allowed to do one's "own work," from which, of course, one would never want a break.

To talk about "course release" reminds me of release from prison or something.... kind of like being let out on "work release." (Wait a minute! Maybe this is an appropriate term! Only if one thinks of the classroom as a prison, though, which I choose not to do.)

"Course relief" has a similar tone to "course release," though it reminds me of "disaster relief" or "hurricane relief," so I suppose if we are to use this terminology the classroom is not a prison but it is a place where there is great loss of human life and/or massive destruction from which it will take years to recover. Again, this doesn't seem like a very positive view of what we do in the classroom.

So yes, reassigned time seems a much more apt term, to my mind, for what this semester-long reduction in my course load will actually mean. But before I continue on this meditative track, let me give a fuller explanation of "reassigned time" for those not in the know. (Note: this will be specific to my institution and department, and so there I'm sure are variations across other institutions.)

• In a nutshell, "reassigned time" at my institution can be awarded to compensate one for administrative work (chair, asst. chair duties, for example), curricular development (though I've never seen it awarded for this), a specific research project (i.e., not just "I'd like to spend more time on my research" but rather "I am going to die under the weight of all of my commitments which are, specifically, the following"), or a major service project. Also, new tenure-track faculty are generally allowed one semester of reassigned time in their first year on the tenure-track. We try to do this for everybody, as I learned after I "negotiated" for it; there is no possibility of "negotiating" for more than that as part of one's hiring package.
• If one is awarded reassigned time for an administrative position (like chair) this is figured into his/her compensation package for doing the job and so one does not need to apply for it; if one wants it for anything else, one must apply for it each and every semester. In other words, one cannot ask for reassigned time over the course of an academic year with one application; one must request it on a per semester basis.
• In order to be awarded reassigned time you need three things: a specific and detailed agenda about what you will do with the massive amounts of time that you'll have if only you don't have to teach one course, the recommendation of your chair, and the approval of the dean. If one needs more reassigned time than one course, I believe the provost is also involved in the decision. And no, whether one has a grant from outside makes little-to-no difference in these determinations, as far as I can tell and from what I've heard around the water-cooler.
• One can also be awarded reassigned time if one has accumulated 24-hours of independent study instruction. Yes, that means a minimum of 8 independent studies, for which there is no monetary compensation. I expect to receive reassigned time for this in 2027.
• Finally, one has little control over what course is "reassigned" for the semester in which one is awarded reassigned time. While one can request one course or the other, what ultimately makes this decision are enrollment figures. Thus, if you imagine that one will have the productive interplay between your upper-division course and your research during that semester, don't count on it, because ultimately the bottom line is what will drive whether that course goes or not, regardless of the impact on the faculty member.

Lest you all get the wrong idea, though, I'm behind this idea of reassigned time. First, I think that it gives a reward to those who maintain an active research agenda in an institutional setting that can inspire one to let one's research agenda collapse. Second, I think that it offers a good way of thinking about how we organize our time as faculty members - it acknowledges that there are only so many hours in the day, and so we need to set goals and priorities for how we use those hours.

As I conceived my New Year's resolutions and as I looked back on 2005 after MLA, I realized that I need to reassign a lot of my time - not just those hours that I would have spent teaching and prepping for that one class.

First, as I sat at an MLA panel on the first night that was put together by colleagues of mine from grad school (all of whom were on the market, two of the three having been on the market for at least three years), I realized that I have fallen out of the habit of thinking in sophisticated and theoretical ways. Not that I don't use theory in my work, but I tend to pay attention only to that theory that's jammed in front of me at the moment, and I've lost a lot of the theory that I acquired in grad school. As I sat there listening to their highly theoretical papers (and cursing myself for the teaching paper that I would give in two days' time) I made a promise to myself that I would get back into the theoretical swing of things with the next conference paper that I propose, and that I would "reassign" some time for reading theoretical stuff every week this semester.

Second, I decided that it's important for me to "reassign" some time for working out. This one's easy, in that if one adds up all of the time that I used to spend smoking, I'm sure that it would add up to at least 30 minutes. Also, since I'm reassigning the smoking funds for a gym membership, I do believe that I can make time to work out most days. So far, so good: I've been to the gym twice, and though I was planning to take today off I'm kind of itching to go.... Hmmmm...

Third, I need to reassign time for cooking, in large part because it really does relax me. Also, I love to eat delicious things, and I often feel that my food is more delicious than the garbage I would otherwise eat. Here's an example. Last night, dying for starchy pasta but knowing that it is against my dieting agenda, I invented the following awesome dish. It's compatible with Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet and probably any other diet as well, as it's basically just healthy. It doesn't have a name, so I will call it....

"Yummy Thing That Stopped Me From Eating a Pound of Pasta"

1. Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil, 4 slices turkey bacon, 2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, 1 head cauliflower, 1 bag pre-washed baby spinach, 2 cloves garlic, grated parmagiano-reggiano cheese to taste, salt and pepper to taste.
2. prep cauliflower to steam or boil, and get it on the stove.
3. get big pot of water on the stove for boiling spinach.
4. put olive oil in skillet and start heating the pan.
5. Slice garlic (or chop it or whatever you prefer, but I tend to slice garlic because it's easy and then non-garlic people can choose not to eat it if they wish); cut bacon and spinach into bite-sized pieces.
6. Dump items from 5 into skillet. Throw in a pinch of salt and a few grates of fresh pepper.
7. Dumdedum.... food's cooking.... hmmm.... perhaps I'll grate the parm.... oh, better flip the chicken over.... is the cauliflower done? nah... it can go for a couple more minutes.... ooh! the spinach water is boiling!
8. Salt the water in the spinach pot; dump the spinach into the pot; let cook for one minute.
9. Strain spinach. (It holds a lot of water, so be sure to do a good job with the straining. I kind of forgot about this, and so last night's feast, while delicious, was a little more liquidy than I'd have liked.)
10. Oh look! The cauliflower is done! And so is the chicken/garlic/turkey-bacon concoction! Let's throw all of the veggies in with that and stir it around and then add some parm/reg and salt and pepper to taste at the last minute! (I liked it all mixed together because it made it more pasta-like for me and also because then the bacon/chicken/garlic flavor got to hang out with the veggies, though I suppose one could make all of this separately, too, but I don't think it would be the same.)
11. Voila! Dinner is served! Serves four, depending on the size of the ingredients involved, of course.

Ok, apparently I reassigned the time that I was going to spend blogging about reassigned time toward blogging about food. Maybe this will become a food blog? Nah. I need to be broader in my scope. What I do know for sure is this. I'm done with this post. How can I follow the invented recipe with anything else?