lower case g

Sunday, October 23, 2005

this is a story about me and squash and why i should never try to do anything domestic

this past friday i decided to try my hand at something that i dont do all that often (even though i, for the most part enjoy it)- i decided to cook . it was a beautiful fall day and so in the spirit of all things autumn i thought "hey, squash soup would be amazingly tasty!" so on my way home from school i stopped at bennett's and bought the nessessary ingredients (minus an onion which my wonderful friend jo took me to get at a latter time becuase i forgot to get it when i was at bennett's) . i came home and began my preperations.

carrot's peeled and chopped...check
potatoes peeled and chopped... check
celery chopped *no peeling needed*... check
onion chopped... check
eyes watering... check
squash chopped.... here's where i ran into the first of my cooking difficulties... chopping up a squash is much much harder then it appears that it would be. so my chopping actually turned more into mutilating the squash into several small bits of squash all over the counter. thankfully katrina came to my rescue (this will be a theme present throughout the whole enterprise of me in the kitchen). she helped me cut up the remaining squash and then i boiled my soup and let it simmer. mmmm.... the smell of squash soup in the house... so much tastyness... so much anticipation.... so much warmth on this autumn day.

so once my soup had boiled and i had added in the appropriate amount of salt and pepper *to taste* it was time to blend my soup... this was necessary because chuncky squash soup is just not the same as creamy squash soup. so i put about 4 cups of soup into our handy and very powerful... (the very powerful part is important soon) glass blender. i placed the lid on and proceeded to push the button of the blender. however, for some reason the soup decided that it wanted to build up in pressure and come squirting out of the blender and onto my hand and onto the counter. i was not so impressed by this action of my soup. but i thought that a good way to fix it would be to take some of the soup out of the blender and blend less of it at a time. by this point in my decision making process i had already removed the lid of the blender, so i reached over and grapped the glass part of the blender to take it off, however at this point my right hand slipped and pushed the blender on. caused steaming hot squash soup to explode out of the blender and onto me, the walls, the floor, the counter, and the sink. at this point katrina came rushing into the kitchen while i rushed to the sink to put my burned hand underneath cold water. she then, lovingly, proceeded to blend the rest of my squash soup while i ran my hand under cold water. all the time i was thinking to myself... this soup better taste good! and i really need to rethink this whole domesticity thing... i either need to work to get a lot better or hope to live with those who can come to my rescue...

the story ends happily with me enjoying my soup... which i also put hot chillies in... so unfortunatly for those who where not raised in a house where medium salsa is considered a mild salsa without much spice, it required one full glass of milk for every spoonful of soup... eep

Posted by lowercaseg :: 6:22 PM :: |
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Saturday, October 15, 2005

the complexities of communication from language to language

wikepedia surveyed 1,000 linguists and came up with the top 10 hardest words to translate from one langauge into another (most times becuase of the cultural connotations and overtones.) anyway, i thought the list was pretty fun... and i particularly liked number 6 :)
  1. Ilunga: Bantu language of Tshiluba for "a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time." However, there is no independent evidence that the word actually means what the translation company claims. When asked for confirmation by one reporter, representatives of the Congo government recognized the word only as a personal name. Furthermore, the translation company failed to respond to inquiries regarding the survey.
  2. Shlimazl (שלימזל): Yiddish for a chronically unlucky person. [Dutch] Schlemiel.
  3. Radiostukacz: Polish for a person who worked as a telegraphist for the resistance movements on the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain. It is not a real word, only a mistake or a hoax.
  4. Naa (なぁ or なー): Japanese word only used in the Kansai (関西) area of Japan, especially in Osaka (大阪府), to emphasize statements or agree with someone.
  5. Altahmam (التهمام) †: Arabic for a kind of deep sadness.
  6. Gezellig †: Dutch for cosy (room, house, chair, etc.), pleasant (evening spent with friends), friendly (atmosphere).
  7. Saudade †: Portuguese for a certain type of longing.
  8. Selathirupavar † (செல்லாதிருப்பவர்): Tamil for a certain type of truancy.
  9. Pochemuchka (почемучка): Russian for a person who asks a lot of questions (usually a kid).
  10. Klloshar †: Albanian for loser. Could be derived from French clochard.

Posted by lowercaseg :: 7:16 PM :: |
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Thursday, October 13, 2005

an ode to sleep

oh sleep,
how i miss thee
for you have become an absentee
in the life of me

oh sleep,
you must understand
i have to give into school's demands
so much work it command

oh sleep,
on day soon i will find you
for of an 8 hour night i am overdue
for to you i must subdue

oh wakefulness
i must rely on those precious 13 hours
that three nights "rest" did encounter
maybe i will go take a nap... :)

Posted by lowercaseg :: 9:40 AM :: |
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