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Lots of various little things to report, but for now, I'll leave it at a brief list of what I've been up to this last week or so:

1. A visit to Emily Dickinson's house in Amherst, MA.

2. Several very nice pints at the Northampton Brewery.

3. A hectic re-entry into The City, which involved me, unfed, having to race from train to home to school to show the undergrads a video about bossa nova.

4. Shopping for our very low-key Thanksgiving, which involved a crazy trip to Whole Foods, during which I witnessed water pouring from the ceiling, a fire alarm, and people shouting at each other near the fish. I left without buying anything and had a much more civilized experience at Citarella (where I bought several lovely-looking rainbow trout for tomorrow, iconoclast that I am).

5. Witnessing Jenny make some lovely carrot soup, and giving myself a nasty blister making caramel sauce. Take it from me: when Joy of Cooking says "stand back," stand back!

Perhaps tomorrow I'll have something to report on two firsts: my first time cooking stuffed fish, and my first time making bread pudding (for which the caramel sauce is intended).

My Daemon!

Thanks to Lauren for pointing this site out. You guys can take a mini-questionnaire here to see if you agree with my daemon assignment (apologies to anyone who hasn't read the Philip Pullman books--and if you haven't, you SHOULD!)

Question of the Day

Why did writing biography get so popular in the 1980s?

Any ideas, y'all?

Whoa There, Nelly!

A rotten head cold has me down and dopey, so I decided to transform Wednesday night's left over bean burrito concoction into chili. And drastically underestimated the power of those little canned chipotle peppers in ancho sauce. But damn, if this stuff isn't good even so. My sinuses are certainly clearer than they were, even if the inside of my mouth feels destroyed!

Last night, Jenny made a gorgeous vegetable soup out of potato, sweet potato, carrot, and onion. That was perfect for my be-coldened state, too, as was spending this afternoon in bed. Unfortunately, the stack of undergrads' midterms remains mostly ungraded because of my extended nap, not to mention the new charms of Facebook....

Yep, the semester has hit its stride.