Made with love

"Craftsmanship to be artistic in the final sense must be 'loving'; it must care deeply for the subject matter upon which skill is exercised."

--John Dewey, Art as Experience, p. 69

This is why, then, my Thai curry is art, and my thesis is not. Today I do the work of writing the thesis and tomorrow I practice the art of making curry. (Yum!)

Chicago it is, then

Thank you, everyone, for helping me to decide where to live next year. My poll officially closed last night, and as you can see, Chicago overwhelmingly received the most votes. So, I've decided to move there in August. What would I do without you all?

;)

P.S. By "I've decided to move to Chicago," I of course mean I've decided to delay making a real decision by sticking around Utah for a year while I attempt to save money and put together PhD applications. Then, come next January or February or so, I can let admissions committees decide my life for me. Good plan, no?

Now, the real problem will be if I get accepted nowhere and am, once again, stuck making a decision for myself.

P.P.S. "Provo" and "Salt Lake" together received 7 votes, so sticking around Utah really validates the actual results of the poll. Don't you ever think your vote doesn't count!

Sick of love?

I know there are a lot of single people out there who don't really enjoy Valentine's Day. I'm not sure why this is, since any holiday that places an appropriate emphasis on chocolate is fine by me. But for all the single ladies (and gentlemen) out there who find themselves feeling sick to their stomachs at the thought of Cupid, flowers, and hearts, I offer this simple four-step prescription to achieving catharsis and enjoying a Valentine's day for one.

First, listen to these love (?) songs for singles:

"Anthony," by Nickel Creek

"Hello . . . Goodbye," by Sean Watkins

"They're in Love, Where Am I?" by The Weepies

Second, engage in escapism by watching a movie which features the kind of love you're unlikely to find in real life. For maximum effect, view said movie on a big screen TV.

Third, eat lots of chocolate.

Fourth, think about the fact that even though lasting romantic love has not yet come your way, there are people in your life who do love you--like yourself, for example. So, go ahead, give yourself a hug. (Helpful instructions on how to do this can be found here.)

Repeat the above steps, if necessary, but do not exceed five doses within 24 hours.

Warning: If you have recently been in a relationship or think you may be in a relationship, the above steps may cause severe liver damage, or, at the very least, some heart disease. Please consult with a doctor before use.

Happy Valentine's Day!

P.S. If you haven't clicked on every link in this post, you've truly cheated yourself and the prescription simply will not work. XOXO.

Dear Enemy

Have any of you ever read a little book called Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster, grand-niece of Mark Twain? Or, perhaps more likely, have you seen the movie starring Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron?

No, you say?

Yeah, me neither.

But, the other day, I did happen to read the sequel to Daddy-Long-Legs, a lovely little epistolatory novel called Dear Enemy. Although the novel is somewhat blighted by a heavy focus on eugenics, I actually quite enjoyed Webster's style and her main character.

Dear Enemy is the story of a young woman named Sallie McBride who, as a new college graduate (yay women's movement--this novel was published in 1915), agrees to manage an asylum that is refuge to 113 orphans. The novel is a collection of her letters, mostly to her friend Judy (who is apparently the star of Daddy-Long-Legs), recounting her adventures in superintending the orphanage. In the course of a year of living and working at this orphanage, Sallie grows out of her frivolous society ways, drops her politician boyfriend, and becomes an independent New Woman.

All in all, I recommend it. It's fairly humorous and unsentimental for a story about orphans that contains frequent discussions of alcoholism and insanity and includes a scene with a baby in a burning building.

Really, it is.

Enjoy.

"Jimmer, more interesting than the most interesting man in the world."

This is amazing and hilarious and possibly disturbing. Enjoy.

ESPN: Jimmer Mania spawns epic Facebook thread

A neverending story

Last semester, one of my students concluded her writing reflection with this idea: "But in the end, I neither love nor hate writing. It’s just one part of my life that will probably never go away, and I’ve accepted that."

In echo of her words, I write, "I neither love nor hate my thesis. It's just one part of my life that will probably never go away, and I've accepted that."

You know what I hate?

So, at FHE on Monday, we all shared pet peeves as a method of growing closer together. I always have a hard time identifying pet peeves to share when people ask me what really annoys me. But, today, two days post-FHE, I realized one of my pet peeves.

I hate those people who don't wear coats in single-digit or below-zero weather. I saw a couple of them on campus today. We all know these people are just trying to look tough so they can feel superior to all the Californians and other people around them.

"Look at me, it's 7 degrees outside, and I'm only wearing a t-shirt and shorts."

Seriously?

You should be wearing a shirt, a sweater, a hoodie, a coat, a scarf, boots, gloves, long pants, two pairs of socks, and thermals like any other normal person (cough, cough, me) would do on a day like today.

You know what I like, though? To end this on a positive note?

I like the people who get it. The people who understand that anything below 10 degrees is seriously and possibly deathly cold, and most of what's above 10 degrees is also pretty darn. The people who make comments like the following (both of which I heard today on campus):

"It's weather like this that makes you think that hell is cold." --Guy to his friend

"Hey, if I don't hang up, my hand is going to fall off." --Girl talking on her cellphone while she walked to campus.

Way to sport some common sense, people. You protect those unmittened hands from this hellish cold!

I don't wanna go to school . . .

when it feels like -9 outside. I hope I live to see this summer.

Southern California is sounding better and better all the time.

P.S. If you decide to make a comment, I'm accepting sympathy only. Please no "well-it-is-way-colder-here" or "it-was-much-colder-in-Canada-when-I-was-on-my-mission,-so-you're-a-wimp" type things. ;) Thank you!