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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Tuesday, December 02, 2003 There's some kind of profound irony in the fact that for the first time in weeks, I actually had some time for my own pursuits and could update the blog if I wished, and Blogger had disappeared into the ether. Turns out it was only for a while, and here we are again.Isolated tidbits . . . . . . growing up in a family of professional musicians, one of my greatest desires was to go to Interlochen, not just to one of the music camps or seminars, but to actually attend the academy. I sent away for a brochure and planned a curriculum and spent hours daydreaming. Way too expensive, of course, and I would only have been able to attend for my senior year anyway, as I graduated the year after the academy was established. But I've never forgotten that secret longing. Today I discovered that they have streaming classical music audio, and I'm sitting here listening to a Norwegian Gregorian Chant Mass, the Mass of the Golden Ring. Fantastic. Remember NetRadio and all the others who used to offer vast selections of music online? They are no more, but Interlachen remains. Go, listen, and support them.. . . "You never make anything new any more!" Nick grumbled last night as we sat down to Spanish Rice. I responded with a blank look and something on the order of "Huh?" and he explained that when I first moved in with him, everything I made for dinner was something new that he hadn't eaten before. Now, that's not exactly true, because Shelley had long ago prodded me for recipes for spaghetti, Spanish Rice, meat loaf and other classics of the childhood dinner table, and I know she prepared them for Nick, but it was true that I'd made a lot of other dishes too."Every time I sat down to eat, it was a surprise," Nick said. "Now you don't surprise me any more."I didn't tell him that I had planned a pork roast for dinner today, along with a hot pot of vegetables--turnips, carrots, onions, brussels sprouts and cabbage--steamed and then roasted briefly in the pan drippings from the roast. He was nicely surprised.I've surprised myself by the amount of cooking I've done. I always enjoyed cooking, but like most people, I find it very difficult to come home from working all day and immediately set to in the kitchen. I need to unwind, sit on something besides the seat of a car, listen to something other than highway noises. "What's for dinner?" does not normally fall in the category of what I want to hear. So it's been something of a revelation to me that I could walk in after six hours on the road and head for the kitchen. I'll be the first to admit that a good slug of something alcoholic is my immediate goal, but once that's out of the way, dinner is likely to follow. Now if I can just figure out how to work off the ten pounds I've added recently . . .. . . I'll forgo the weekly political rant for a change, but in the gradual move toward greater political content, I've added another sub-section to the sidebar, for blogs with political content and for a list of books I'm reading. Wish I had time to write personal reviews of the books, but that is far beyond what is possible with my current obligations. For the moment, the links are to the Amazon listings for the books. posted by Liz @ 9:32 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
There's some kind of profound irony in the fact that for the first time in weeks, I actually had some time for my own pursuits and could update the blog if I wished, and Blogger had disappeared into the ether. Turns out it was only for a while, and here we are again.Isolated tidbits . . . . . . growing up in a family of professional musicians, one of my greatest desires was to go to Interlochen, not just to one of the music camps or seminars, but to actually attend the academy. I sent away for a brochure and planned a curriculum and spent hours daydreaming. Way too expensive, of course, and I would only have been able to attend for my senior year anyway, as I graduated the year after the academy was established. But I've never forgotten that secret longing. Today I discovered that they have streaming classical music audio, and I'm sitting here listening to a Norwegian Gregorian Chant Mass, the Mass of the Golden Ring. Fantastic. Remember NetRadio and all the others who used to offer vast selections of music online? They are no more, but Interlachen remains. Go, listen, and support them.. . . "You never make anything new any more!" Nick grumbled last night as we sat down to Spanish Rice. I responded with a blank look and something on the order of "Huh?" and he explained that when I first moved in with him, everything I made for dinner was something new that he hadn't eaten before. Now, that's not exactly true, because Shelley had long ago prodded me for recipes for spaghetti, Spanish Rice, meat loaf and other classics of the childhood dinner table, and I know she prepared them for Nick, but it was true that I'd made a lot of other dishes too."Every time I sat down to eat, it was a surprise," Nick said. "Now you don't surprise me any more."I didn't tell him that I had planned a pork roast for dinner today, along with a hot pot of vegetables--turnips, carrots, onions, brussels sprouts and cabbage--steamed and then roasted briefly in the pan drippings from the roast. He was nicely surprised.I've surprised myself by the amount of cooking I've done. I always enjoyed cooking, but like most people, I find it very difficult to come home from working all day and immediately set to in the kitchen. I need to unwind, sit on something besides the seat of a car, listen to something other than highway noises. "What's for dinner?" does not normally fall in the category of what I want to hear. So it's been something of a revelation to me that I could walk in after six hours on the road and head for the kitchen. I'll be the first to admit that a good slug of something alcoholic is my immediate goal, but once that's out of the way, dinner is likely to follow. Now if I can just figure out how to work off the ten pounds I've added recently . . .. . . I'll forgo the weekly political rant for a change, but in the gradual move toward greater political content, I've added another sub-section to the sidebar, for blogs with political content and for a list of books I'm reading. Wish I had time to write personal reviews of the books, but that is far beyond what is possible with my current obligations. For the moment, the links are to the Amazon listings for the books.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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