Thoughts and Words Ill-Sorted

This morning I took my students to the university museum, which is hosting an exhibit of works by the Bloomsbury Group, the group of friends, painters, and writers of which Virginia Woolf was a member.  The goal was to get my students to come at the Woolf novel we’re reading with an eye to the painterly aspects of the book that they may have too-readily dismissed as just “filler” material in the novel.  And I hoped that by showing them the group’s contribution to major changes in the art world they’d be in a better position to appreciate the changes Woolf and her fellow writers made to the literary one.  Although I would have loved to spend more time at the exhibit I think it went over well with my students.  And I had a great time working with the museum staff to come up with a direction for the class and exercises for my students.  Although I’m generally reluctant to take time away from the discussion of literature and writing (I mean, there’s enough trouble right there, right?), in a class that’s all about finding new ways of looking at a book I think it was worth it.

In other news, it seems Ithaca’s beginning its winter weather.  Threats of snow (enough to stick!) for later this week.  It’s been pretty wintry since the beginning of the month, so I have to wonder if this means we’re in for a “real” Ithaca winter for once.

Erin

Katherine is no longer interested in munching on blankets and soft toys.  She now wants spoons, wood, and, apparently, cardboard books.  She dissolved a good inch of a board book page the other day before I noticed.  A great source of fiber?

Erin

Miss Katherine turned six months old yesterday.  Despite my grand visions, we did not spend the day dressing her up and taking formal pictures of her.  That will need to come a bit later, since we, instead, spent the day sniffling as a three-part chorus (awwww).

Six months, in case you’re interested, is also the date set by the American Academy of Pediatrics for beginning to introduce solid foods to infants.  I haven’t been pushing Katherine on it, partly because she’s still more interested in spoons than in the contents of those spoons, and partly, I admit, because, as a cloth-diapering family, solid food will require us to get into whole new diaper-cleaning territory!

But we have given Katherine a few things here and there.  She seemed quite interested in watermelon, since she could grasp it and suck all of the juice out of it.  Sorbet, of course, she licks quite happily.  We’ve also started using food as a distraction technique.  Last night I was chopping peppers and set Katherine up in her usual observation post, right next to the cutting board.  She got very interested in my pepper pieces, which are far too small for her (and near the knife!), so I gave her a large piece.  It took her about a minute to decide that she was fine with the flavor (funny faces, many funny faces), and then she munched on it quite happily for ten minutes or so.  Then we went back to the shiny spoon.  Sydney did something similar with zucchini today, which she also seemed to like.  The red pepper surprised us; maybe we’ll have an adventurous eater on our hands!  When it looks like she’s really interested in food we have lots of squash, potatoes, and sweet potatoes from Sydney’s garden to mash up for her, but for now we’re all enjoying her playing with food.

Ah-ha: the incessant colds that I’ve had since the semester began appear to be due to a sinus infection.  Lovely.  And I can’t go on antibiotics since I’m feeding Katherine.  Lovelier.  I’m doing my best to make sure I get rid of this thing before it costs me job applications!

Erin

Hey, it’s a lot cuter than any pictures of us dissertating . . .

Erin

I’ve been doing mostly guerilla cooking recently, working with whatever we have lying around, trying to fit in soups and casseroles when Katherine’s content to watch.  We’re basically just trying to outlast these next two months, as we balance teaching, dissertating, and job applications.  And that means using what we’ve pillaged from the garden to make simple food that keeps us running.  Sydney might call it harvesting, but, what with all of the other things taking our attention this year (and Katherine’s unwillingness to begin garden help before she’s old enough to walk–willful child) it feel more like stripping the garden of goodies whenever we have a moment to drop by.  It hasn’t been bad cooking, though, if I do say so myself; because of the bounty of zucchini this year and my unwillingness to make dessert-y breads with it I’ve made over a dozen zucchini-lime-avocado pizzas.   Can’t get enough of those.  I’ve also found a potato-corn soup recipe that calls for lime and avocado, so I’ll get my green fix even after the zucchini runs out.  This recipe calls for jalapenos.  Which Sydney has.  But, as I’m sure you know, hot peppers vary greatly in their heat, depending on the growing conditions as well as the kind of pepper.  When I found myself without a jalapeno I picked up a small yellow pepper Sydney had brought home from the garden.  We know nothing about the pepper, other than that it’s a hot rather than a sweet one.  So I put it in a large pot (by which I mean vat) of potato soup.  That little pepper, about the size of my pinky finger, gives an incredible heat to that pot of soup!  Good thing we like spicy food!

Erin

Did you know that Jesus Christ wrote an autobiography?

It seems he also wrote poetry and was a member of the Victorian Institute:

The members of the Holy Trinity also collaborated on a work to clear up — at long last — the mystery of their unity:

Okay, so Google Books clearly has some problems in its metadata …

Sydney

The other day I was exhausted and sure that I would head for a nap as soon as I got Katherine down for one.  She had awoken several times in the night and then kicked me for an hour or so at each awakening as she worked herself back toward sleep.  Yes, she’s one of those who fights it until the bitter end.

Surprisingly, though, I found myself digging out my bread recipes and starting up a brioche as soon as she was asleep.  Something about making my favorite dessert bread restored a bit of my humanity to me.  I still need the sleep, but I’m glad I took the time to make the bread.

Erin