Thursday, April 26, 2007

Enough Narcissism


OK, that was awfully fun getting the sweet comments about my past "cute-itude," but I suppose I should move on to the present. I stayed home from work yesterday, ostensibly to work on my thesis. I still had to go down to school to write out my lesson plans, but I was home by 8:00. I thought, "Mmmmm, I think I'll clean the living room and kitchen until 9:00 and then I'll settle down to work." Then I thought that I should go out and do a little watering...fill the bird feeder...watch MSNBC speculate on whether Rosie was fired or had quit....check to see if that nurse who has been on trial on Court TV since Easter Break for killing her husband was still sitting there looking guilty... You get the picture. I just never could get myself together enough to get to writing. Finally, I decided to finish my second lacey sock that I had never really intended to finish because I don't even like the yarn, except for the color. That's just how desperate I was. I finished that around 2:00 when I had to go pick Kai up from school, so there went my day off.

I did actually get to writing later in the afternoon though, and I'm proud to say that I now have 42 pretty well edited pages discussing the multiple uses of food in literature completed. At first, I was thinking that food was mostly in books to show ethnic traditions and to solidify one's ethnic identity. But there are tons of other reasons for it. One of the functions of food in literature is to evoke memories of the past. It's gotten me started on thinking about foods that evoke memories for me. Off the top of my head, snickerdoobles and canned chicken noodle soup make me think of being at my grandma's house. I have a pasta salad recipe from my mom that she used to make for different occasions when I was in high school, and I always think about swim meet barbeques and stuff like that when I prepare it; and spaghetti with garlic bread makes me remember having big get-togethers at my parents' house with my dad presiding over the stove. I think that it would be fun to hear about what memories other people have about food, even to collect some of those recipes and include little stories to go along with them, BUT first I must finish my paper...must finish....no matter how sick of it I am....must...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

A belated 'how cute' to ya in that last post!

It is true that food evokes memories, especially of past family gatherings. For me growing up, Christmas Eve was instantly equated with shrimp and oysters at my grandmother's. And she would do hand-made french fries in this old dodgy deep-fat fryer she had. Oh boy, I can still smell the grease with those memories!

Laura said...

Love your red socks!

That's so funny. I remember doing that sort of thing a million years ago when I was in college. My friends and I had the fine art of homework avoidance down to a science. We all had clean homes, clean dishes, lots of groceries, filled gas tanks... LOL

Anonymous said...

When I think of Tacos (fried ones), brats and BBQ pizza...I think of Caroline/clan...

Lots of great food/fun memories!!
Ann M. (sis in law)

Julie said...

Food, glorious food. I think that there are certain foods that make me think of seasons as well. I was eating ribs the other night (not all that neatly) and I said to DH, "These taste like summer." He didn't get it, but I'm sharing it with you because I know you'll understand.

Tracy Batchelder said...

The socks turned out great! In fact, I'd love to know which pattern you used. Looks perfect for some yarn I have on hand.