Yeah, I went out with a couple of dumb guys in high school. I never thought of myself as smart but, unbeknownst to me, always surrounded myself with smart people. All well-spoken, they write well although their handwriting may be atrocious (witness husband Jim) and some genius-level talents.
My father is smart, Mom was wicked smart. Sophomore year in college I got tired of hanging out at school so met some folks at the local law school and shared witty banter. Years later I ended up with engineers. My loving husband is a physics grad who went into software development. He’s of the brilliant variety, getting a letter from a place called MIT at age 15 and not knowing what it was, he threw it away. He still got a good education and is furthering it every day.
Here is a lesson for you young girls out there today. Study. Learn your lessons. Concentrate on math and science. If you’re the smart girl in school, don’t hang out all the time with those with lesser potential just because it makes you feel superior. Always hang out with folks that are smarter than you. Learn. Do not dismiss guys you think are “geeks.” Go out with the cute running back or go out with a future Bill Gates. Your choice. The Bill Gates variety will give you 50 years of great conversation, which is way better than the physical rush you’ll get from the dumb jock. Not that all jocks are dumb.
Learn something new every day. How to press grapes, mine copper or whatever. Always be learning. In junior high, I hung out with girls who wanted to be Freshmen cheerleaders. They were neighbors and we’d just moved in. They passed because they were “cool” and I failed. Mom said, why cheer for something when you could be doing something? So I joined track and gymnastics. Thanks, Mom. Cheers, Dee
Categories: Editorial
Tagged: Education, geeks, smart girls
It’s tough moving to a new town with no idea where you’re going to live for a short period of time. Fully furnished place, all of our dear belongings in storage 1,500 miles away. When I need a kitchen item it’s a thought process that makes me ask myself: do I really need this?; is this a complement to what I have in storage or merely a duplicate?’ and when am I getting my stuff back.
The peeler was easy. It was a cheap grocery store metal peeler that cannot be used by a leftie like me. I couldn’t find the OXO I have in storage so got a Kitchenaid instead. I have a great meat pounder from Sur La Table that makes my chicken saltimbocca a breeze, but it’s in storage. We had to pick up another a couple of weeks ago because I really wanted to make that dish. The mixer. I bought it to whip cream for trifle that I made and need to make more (also the additional trifle bowl for $10). I justified the $40 mixer because my 5 qt. Kitchenaid stand mixer is in storage, and there are times when I weigh the option of whether I want to wash all that stuff by hand. Two blades are nothing.
So, we go along and get along in the cooking arena, not as well office-wise but I’m trying to minimize paperwork and all our bills are done electronically. Camera, now a couple of years old (I lent my other to my sister, never to be seen again) is digital so I’m working on this.
We would like this size or slightly larger place but with a two-car garage. Jim got a ding on his windshield last week and it’ll be repaired tomorrow at no cost to us and no deductible but it has to stay in the one-car garage overnight and my car has to go elsewhere and it’s going to snow.
So, we’re making do with what we’ve got. We brought very little with us seven months ago and have had to get a few shirts and socks and basics for both of us. Aside from my kitchen and office, I really miss our quilts, one Civil war-era and the other hand-made by Margie, Jim’s mom. They always helped make our house a home, and since she’s guarding them for us, will do so once again. Cheers, Dee
Categories: Editorial
Tagged: kitchen needs, moving?, Trifle
I remember the drama department at the college my father worked at staged Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. My sister, a few years old, was cast as the silent Dolore (Sorrow), the protagonist Cio Cio-San’s daughter. At one point she was on stage to pretend to sleep and actually fell asleep and had to be taken off-stage.
This is pertinent because my grade school music teacher had us sing “The Happy Wanderer” and many other songs. Her husband led the operatic performance, and also stepped in as the lead in our school recital on “Swinging On a Star.”
Now she’s found this blog and has even made a pie from Concord grapes. She still thinks I’m eight but I’m trying to get the recipe for you. And because of her and Mrs. Smith’s influence on my musical life, I’ve been to Giacomo Puccini’s Lake House in Italy and was shown around the house by his grand-daughter. I am a happy and intent wanderer, and always seek good food en route. Cheers! Dee
Categories: Editorial
Tagged: Concord grape pie, Puccini
October 26, 2009 · 1 Comment
The indomitable Juni Fisher was with us here for part of the weekend. We didn’t do many exciting things but went to town to walk down Main Street’s shops with no crowds. Juni’s a cowgirl poet and has won many awards for her songwriting and performances.
So, yesterday she called and said she was an hour away. Jim and I had been to Best Buy and, on a whim, we bought Rock Band, Beatles edition. He’d just set up drums and a guitar. We were terrible! The second song we did a bit better. Then Juni arrived and we played together – she sang. So did I, but harmony and not on the mike. She got 100%, I got zero, zip, nada, and Jim on drums was somewhere in-between. I know I got all the “chords” right but need to figure out their timing.
We laughed and put the ensemble aside after joking that we had to go out for a gig. It was fun. On Saturday, Jim and I went to the cowboy store for a few shirts. It was a nice, quiet weekend capped off with a viewing of “Some Like It Hot” and visions of the Hotel Del Coronado that brings back memories.
Berry Trifle
Sunrise, October 2009
This is what I walked Zoe to this morning.
Friday night I made the baby back ribs with roasted potatoes, and Sunday we had chicken saltimbocca with rice and green beans. I made a lovely trifle that we shared with neighbors and finished, and a broccoli-cheese soup that there’s just enough of for my lunch with a slice of good Italian bread. We ate well and had an enjoyable weekend. Cheers! Dee
Categories: Editorial · Utah
