For the Record

April 28, 2008:
I see snow flurries.

the season

it now stays light until almost 8pm. Today was 66 degrees, and things are growing. We are still a bit behind most of the lower-48 in blooms and such, but what we do have is much appreciated and - in our case - significantly documented. All photos were taken within the last hour.


Lemon Cucumber Seedlings



Lilac Buds



Buds on Unknown Tree (Do you know?)

go-obama-go!

I called my parents (in Pennsylvania) a few hours ago and left a message that went like this:

"Hi Mom and Dad. Uhm... I meant to tell you this a few days ago, but if you don't vote for Obama today you can't come and visit us in May. And, oh yeah, can we buy your sump pump, Dad? Ours is broken. Love you, bye."

I imagine it is technically illegal (to extort votes, not buying sump pumps) but that just shows how much I care about this election.

Chicago: Land of Good Things

At about 8:15 last night we pulled into our driveway happy and satisfied after a quick visit with friends in Chicago. On Saturday afternoon Rhonda picked me up at my department meeting in Waukesha (which I like to say very fast, with emphasis on the S-h-a!), and we headed to Chicago to see some of our closest friends. It was really exciting to catch up with folks from grad school (even briefly, Yang), walk around Millennium park with Lauren, and spend a good 24 hours with Vince and Ji. A lot has changed in the nine months since we left Seattle, and yet it felt as though it had only been a few weeks since we saw each other last.

At the core of our friendship with V & J is a love of good food. In Seattle we would regularly plan big, extravagant meals to cook together at our house. Thanksgiving with them was a must. Another notable event was the time we went in together on a bushel of peaches from the Farmer's Market, and then had a peach-themed meal (including the amazing peach barbeque sauce). So, combine our love of food with Rhonda and my good-food deprivation, and you get a Chicago food fest.

The quick run-down: We chowed down at Little 3 Happiness on Cermak. The meal included salt-n-pepper squid (sorely missed since we left Seattle), pea shoots in garlic sauce,rice noodles with Chinese broccoli and beef, and honey walnut shrimp.

Breakfast the next day was *really good* lattes and pastries at Intelligentsia.

There was a quick driveby of an ethiopian grocery where we purchased injera for a homemade ethiopian feast.

And lunch was an amazing repast of falafel, pita, stuffed grape leaves, and chicken shwarma at the Chicagoland institution, Pita Inn.

All of this foodie-ness was topped off with a routine stop at Woodman's in Green Bay where we bought lot of good food to stock our northwoods pantry.

My advice column - a preview

I am the faculty adviser for the campus Writer's Club. My very ambitious students have recently begun publishing a c.w. 'zine called The Quill (you can find the recent issue by scrolling down to the Writer's Club entry here). I have been enlisted to write an advice column that we named "Ask Dr. A." I just finished the most recent column and I am quite proud of my little piece. I though I would share. (The question was actually written by a student.)

Dear Dr. A,

I have a dilemma. I love myself, but I caught myself cheating on myself with me. I don’t know if I should forgive myself and take myself back or if I should let myself go. What should I do?

Selfless in Seattle

Dear Selfless,

Inscribed in the courtyard of the temple of Apollo is the aphorism “Know Yourself.” You , my dear friend, may have the distinct honor of knowing yourself too well. Woody Allen, himself a champion of narcissism, once wrote that masturbation is the only guarantee of sex with someone you love. Funny, yes, I agree. Nonetheless, you must move beyond the love-of-self or you will end up just like Woody Allen: really old, creepy, and married to your adopted daughter.

This brings me to the next topic which is that too much love of self leads to slightly incestuous tendencies. Freud addresses this very issue of the connections between narcissism and incest in Totem and Taboo and Narcissism. To completely butcher the ideas and work of this great thinker: it is my guess that all of your problems can be explained by your inability to detach from your mother. Do some deep soul searching and see if there isn’t a little truth to this idea.

Considering the tangle of family and self-identity issues implied in your conundrum, I would suggest that you take some time for celibacy. You might want to remove yourself to a monastery for a period of time; there are some jam-making monks in the UP looking for new membership. Or, you may just take to the woods for a period of solitude (again, I might recommend the UP as an ideal destination). Whatever your selected retreat, I encourage you to come to some closure with yourself, and then get away from it all.

This is to say that it is definitely time for you to let yourself go. But be gentle. Maybe you could take yourself out to dinner and give yourself flowers. Write a letter explaining that your love of self is unyielding, but you must move on to a healthier relationship. Don’t mention any other lovers just yet. Simply explain that you feel it is time to move on. Be honest and firm. You will thank yourself later.

Advisedly yours,

Dr. A