I'm Still Sweating...

I just did something this afternoon that I've been wanting to do for months but never worked up the courage to do it. I finally did it! I got season tickets for next year's Lyric Opera!! Yay!!

So now I get to see Renee Fleming in La Traviata and Juan Diego Florez in The Barber of Seville. Oh, goodness, I'm so excited!

A New Development

Today the Chicago Plan Commission gave the final OK for the most ambitious architectural development in the history of the city. The Chicago Spire (formerly to be named the Fordham Spire, and then the Calatrava Spire, after the architect Santiago Calatrava) will stretch 2,000 feet (150 stories) high. The architect and developers are planning for enough private apartments in the Spire to house 1,200 people. If the Zoning Board okays the plan on May 9th, then construction would begin almost immediately, with a tentative completion date of 2009.

Pretty interesting, isn't it? The first time I saw the picture, I thought it looked a little like something out of George Lucas' late (and lame) additions to the Star Wars saga. Marcie, do you remember those nice pink apartments with the light green trim on the riverside, right before we went out on Lake Michigan during the architectural tour? The spire is to be built right next to those apartments.

Oh, I Love Books!

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
Usually hardback (they seem to last longer), although for train rides to and from Chicago, nothing beats a little trade paperback that I can stow in my book-sized purse. The flexibility of a paperback is also a mark in its favor.

Amazon or brick and mortar?
Both, with Half.com leading the pack. You can find such wonderful deals there, though it is very sparse on info. I usually find the book on Amazon, and then buy it on Half.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Borders seems to have a bit more character to it (more titles and editions) but Barnes and Noble wins the day because I have one not five minutes from my apartment and everyone keeps giving me B&N gift certificates.

Bookmark or dogear?
I use bookmarks until my supply runs out. Then I turn to more unconventional tools to keep my place: grocery lists, coasters, twigs, barrettes, or anything that will fit.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
Since I have so much British stuff, I organize most of my books by era. Everything else is lumped by country of origin and genre.

Keep, throw away or sell?
Most definitely sell. When I sell unwanted or disappointing books, it gives me such a satisfied feeling, like I’m taking revenge on them for making me waste my time and money on them. Speaking of which, if any of the people who read this blog are in need of 1980s feminist criticism, I’ve got a whole stack that has been up for sale since August and that I’m desperate to be rid of. At this point, I’d be willing to pay someone (in cookies or tea or something) to take them off my hands.

Keep dustjacket or toss it?
Keep it, but take it off when I’m actually reading the book.

Novel or short story?
Usually novels. They have more meat on them.

Short story collection (short stories by the same author) or anthology (short stories by a different author)?
Difficult to say. When I find an interesting author, I kind of go nuts and read everything by them (I’m in a J.S. LeFanu and Arthur Conan Doyle rut right now). But I also crave variety. I guess it would depend on the author(s) involved.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Since I’ve only read a few pages of Lemony Snicket, I’ll have to go with Harry, though I have to say that my enthusiasm for the series has faded quite a bit over the past couple years. Don’t hate me, Dev!

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Chapter breaks. That way, should the teaspoon marking my place get knocked out of the book, I know right where to turn to.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
Dark and stormy. No question about it! Nothing cranks up my Victorian gothic thing like a line that immediately makes one think of thunder, lightning, and a sublime scene with at least one dilapidated castle on the horizon.

Buy or Borrow?
Buy. If I read a book, I want to keep it. I have conquered it. I’m a bit like the hunter that must stuff every animal that he kills. I don’t have a library – I have a trophy room.

New or used?
New, for the most part. I get the willies if my book has food or liquid stains on it. The last thing I want on my book is an orange fingerprint created with Cheeto residue and saliva.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
All three equally (with a sprinkle of impulse buying added to the mix).

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Tidy endings. Obvious cliffhangers have always struck me as cravenly mercantile. But let’s not confuse cliffhangers with surprise endings: the end of Henry James’ Turn of the Screw is one of the best endings I have yet encountered.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?
I love ‘em all, but I do more nighttime reading, if only because that’s the only time I’m free to read uninterrupted.

Standalone or series?
80% standalone. 20% series.

Favorite series?
The Sherlock Holmes cannon or Raymond Chandler’s collection of Philip Marlowe mysteries.

Favorite books read last year?
Carmilla and Uncle Silas, by J.S. LeFanu.
Book, by Robert Grudin.
The Life of Elizabeth I, The Wars of the Roses, and The Princes in the Tower, all by Alison Weir.

Favorite books of all time?
For a complete list of my favorite books, you’ll need to provide several things:
- You, my friend, here in Bourbonnais
- A big pot of tea and something to snack on
- Internet access
- Six hours worth of lazy summer afternoon
- And two comfortable chairs.

Blood Orange-Chocolate Mousse

I made this from a recipe I modified a few nights ago, and was quite pleased with the results.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 oz. bittersweet baking chocolate
1/4 cup blood orange juice plus 1/4 teaspoon grated orange rind
4 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
Pinch of Cream of Tartar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler over medium heat, stirring often. When the chocolate mixture is fully melted, add the blood orange juice and rind; stir until fully mixed and very warm. In a large bowl, combine the chocolate mixture and the egg yolks, whisking until completely mixed. Set bowl aside and allow it to reach room temperature.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites and the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture, and then fold in the rest. In a medium bowl, whip the cream until thick and stiff, and then fold it in with the chocolate mixture. Cover the mousse with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour or until the mousse is set.

Enjoy!

Test Day

Today was the day of the final test in my class (as a matter of fact, my students are taking the test right now). They're such good kids, and I hope that they feel that I've been a somewhat competent teacher. I didn't get to devote nearly as much time to my teaching as I did last semester, and I feel like I've cheated them a bit for not spending more time planning my lessons and doing more with them outside of class. Luckily, they've got quite a bit of talent, and they will no doubt be successful despite my stuttering and absent-minded performances.

Goodness, I will miss teaching. I get such a thrill out of showing my students the intricacies of our complex (and oftentimes goofy) language. The best part is teaching them what they already instinctively know, but then showing them the reason and the history behind it. It's like taking the faith of your parents and achieving your own personal understanding of it, the "Why" of it. As I pound into my students daily, the best question to ask at every moment is "Why?". I think, as the semester comes to a close, that I have finally begun to see my students ask "Why?" voluntarily. What a feeling!

Puppy Love

As many of you have heard me say, I have been yearning to own a dog. All the apartments where I have lived so far do not allow pets, so I’ve been waiting for the proper time to find an apartment or house that will let me keep a dog. And I’ll probably be waiting for some time.

But this weekend, I can at least pretend that I have a puppy. The chair of the English Department asked me if I could doggy-sit for her while she visits relatives for Easter. Apparently the dog, a white shih tzu-poodle mix named Holly, has abandonment issues and when left alone will gnaw and piddle on every object within reach. Because of this case of canine psychological trauma, I have to stay overnight at the house every night, play with her, and walk her at least three times a day.

Last night, I was enchanted with her. We cuddled on the couch and watched a movie, and we had a wonderful walk through the neighborhood. All throughout the walk, Holly was trying to get free from me to chase some of the many (and I mean many) rabbits in this little subdivision. By the end of the evening, I vowed that I would be getting a dog as soon as possible.

This morning, my happy dreams of spending time with a perfect pet were crushed by some rather naughty behavior. While I was in the shower, Holly piddled all over my bed (though luckily avoiding the bedspread and pillows) and then just sat on the bed to wait for me to discover her crime. I had no idea that a dog that small could have such a large bladder. As if that weren’t bad enough, we had a close encounter with a rabbit during the 5:45 am walk. Holly took off like a light particle after the rabbit, and I chased after them both, shouting at one or both of them to stop and basically shattering the early-morning tranquility.

I have been thoroughly disillusioned. I now know (or “remember”, I should say) that owning a dog is a messy, noisy, smelly, hair-covered experience. I still want one, though.