Thursday: Mad Chaucer Debate

Class was really fired up over the Wife of Bath debate we did today.

I just split them down the middle and called one side "The Optimists" and one side "The Pessimists" and asked them to answer the following questions as a team:

"Did the Knight really change? Or is he just 'gaming the system?' Is the woman actually a sovereign being, or does she end up perpetuating the cycle?"

They already knew the answers, based on what team they were on, but then they had to find evidence from the text.

At first, I was worried it wouldn't work because I "assigned" them a position, but I did it because I wanted them to think through both sides, not necessarily just form an opinion. And, much to my surprise and delight, they took OFF.

And now, a picture that warms my heart:

Wednesday Writing

Not that I have any babies to name or anything, but I always have names kicking around in my head. I'm a fiction writer, and I figure, they're characters waiting to be born.

I will actually often go and search for names from specific countries if I'm working on a character who I've come up with a background/ history for, but not yet named. If I didn't look, my characters would all sound like the same WASP-y or Latina kids I grew up with. Which is fine when that's what I'm writing about, but often, it's not.

I wrote a story a long time ago about a nurse in Johannesburg who adopts a baby boy. I looked for African names online and found one I love: Kefentse.

I also thought Asher was a really cool, unique sounding name (this was found during my Hebrew-name search). I liked that one so much, I filed it away under "possible future baby names," thinking I was so original and off the beaten path.

But, according to this, I am so not. Number FIVE on top 100 boy baby names of 2010. Lame. Maybe by the time we have kids it'll be as original and uncommon as I thought it was.

Do you have any tricks that help you write stories?

Face Off

Don't get me wrong, I love Anthropologie, and if I won the lottery it would probably make the top three places I'd go first, after Etsy and REI. Maybe fourth, after Cost Plus. But, Anthro has always reminded me of stuff I'd find at the flea market or antique store for way cheaper, if I could just comb the stalls long enough.

Then, the problem becomes... the waiting. In a month I will have a kitchen that's three times the size of the one I have now and it's soooooooo tempting for me fill those cupboards. Gah.

But, when I found this, the challenge became clear: which one is the $6 glass, and which one is the $3 glass? Both are available for purchase right now.

Heh heh heh

New Place...

... has a yard.

A small one, but an honest-to-goodness, plant-stuff-in-the-ground, surrounded-by-a-fence YARD.

I am just a wee bit ecstatic.

Monday: Wish I Were Here

Morocco

I've been working my way through this cookbook for a few months now, and I have the travel bug, bad. The pictures just make we want to teleport.

We're moving June 1st, and the new place will have a designated classroom for me and my students. I'm so excited! We're picking out colors to paint the walls as we speak. I have been really inspired by some of the rich reds and golds and vibrant sea blues, and think they would work well in a room that will do triple duty as a classroom, office, and guest room.

If you could teleport right this very minute, where would you go?

What We're Having Tonight: Spinach Pesto

Ed is not the biggest veggie-man. He'll dutifully eat a few raw ones, mainly tomatoes and cucumbers, assuming they come in salad form, but beyond that, he's not too adventurous: no broccoli, under any circumstances, no more than a bite of swiss chard followed by a gag, and brussel sprouts aren't even up for discussion.

I, on the other hand, love my veggies, in just about any form. Call it the by-product of having a nutrition scientist for a mother. To keep us both happy, we have a lot of salads, and I usually puree whatever's in season beyond oblivion, into a soup that he doesn't even suspect is mostly carrot.

When that gets old, this is my best stand by. He literally had no idea it was mostly spinach until this past Friday, when we were meeting friends for a dinner party, and running behind, so he had to make the pesto while I stuffed the peppers. He kept saying, "Are you sure it's this much spinach?" And I would smile, nod, and remind him that, Honey, I know what I'm doing.

Sneaky Spinach Pesto:

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of organic spinach leaves, cleaned
• 2-3 handfuls of fresh basil (we grow it on the patio and I basically pick both plants clean every time we make this)
• 3-8 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Small handful of toasted pine nuts
• Salt to taste
• Pecorino Romano cheese to taste (optional)

Puree everything in the food processor until smooth. Toss it with fresh pasta, use it as a dip for bread, drip it over a Caprese salad, bake it over polenta... or, like we did on Friday, make an easy party food: slice mini red bell peppers in half, fill with a spoonful of goat cheese, and top with a dollop of pesto. Bake at 350 for fifteen minutes or until the cheese bubbles slightly.

It keeps well for about a week in the fridge, in an airtight container. Ours has never actually made it that long, but I'm guessing.

Enjoy!

Love

"As an undergraduate, I liked writing short stories and was happy to be in the air conditioning, rather than out banging nails in the Arizona heat. It was cool to hang out with other people who loved books and go to smarty-pants parties. But it was a teacher who took me aside, a mentor who made me strive, a writer who showed me that all my perceived faults — lying, exaggerating, daydreaming, rubbernecking — combined to make something good called a story." ~Adam Johnson

Oh, that just makes my heart hurt.