Finally Working on My Master's Project

...well not really. Clearly, I am blogging. I have been reading a great article "Paradise Lost and Found: Obedience, Disobedience, and Storytelling in C. S. Lewis and Philip Pullman" by Dr. Naomi Wood, and as I was reading I got to thinking about the similarities between Monsters Inc. and the harpies in the land of the dead in The Amber Spyglass.

VS


The monsters initially feed upon the fear of children, scaring them to produce their power. Harpies, on the other hand, feed on the worst of people in Pullman's series. Yet by the end of both stories, both creatures who harm humanity end up feeding/using the opposite from humans only to find it more nourishing/powerful. The monsters find laugher more suitable. The harpies find the truth in great stories more nourishing than the misery they had previously fed upon.

Just thought I'd share because I thought it was interesting.

Back to writing my paper. :(

The Baking Gods Have Spoken: Cheesy-Potato Scones

I love savory scones. Two of the local coffee shops make the greatest scones with cheese and sausage or bacon, and they are maybe my favorite food ever! I have wanted to learn to make my own, but every scone recipe I have is very British (crusty scones that require coffee or tea just to swallow), and these bakeries do a very Americanized fluffy, biscuit-like scone.

With a little help from Epicurious.com and my own ingenuity, I developed a scone that I love with the random stuff that I had around the house! I'm going to share a mentally adjusted recipe because when I'm playing around with recipes, I often don't read as well as I should, and I made some mistakes that probably could have ruined my scones, and I don't want to include those in the recipe (I don't expect to get this lucky with attempt two if I repeat those mistakes). The recipe will have lots of options because I believe in fudging if you don't have what's necessary. Bake with what you have.

Prep: Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

I use 400 because my oven seems to draw it's heat straight from hell. It gets excessively hot in there. Grease a cookie sheet.

Step 1: Sift/whisk together 2-and-3/4 cups self-rising flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 2 teaspoons baking powder.

Step 2: Throw in 1 heaping cup of frozen hashbrown potatoes (the shredded kind), 2 cups of coursely shredded cheese of your choice.

I recommend a more potent cheese like cheddar. All I had was colby jack and pepperjack. I did the colby because my roommate doesn't like spicy, but I think a more flavorful cheese would be better. Havarti dill might be good too. Mmmmm!

Step 3: Throw in a few tablespoons of this or that. Whatever you like. I added garlic salt (if you don't add garlic salt, make sure you do add a tsp of salt).

I also added some sage and some onion flakes because I didn't have any real onion. Epicurious calls for chives. Dill would add a nice touch if you have it. Crisply cooked bacon or any breakfast sausage is good. If you like sweeter scones, add some honey. I also highly recommend a tablespoon of dry mustard or just throw a couple spoonfuls of whatever mustard you have in the fridge. I used some dijon mustard we have and never use.

Step 3.1: Stir.

Step 4: In a separate bowl, beat together one egg with 3/4 cup whatever milk you have and  1 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter.

Epicurious calls for whole milk, but a reviewer said they used skim, and it was fine. I used some of the skim sour milk I have for making waffles, which also seemed fine. I used butter instead of veg oil because most baked goods end up flakier with butter. I needed to get the fat back that I lost using skim milk, too. I don't believe in being too low calorie. That's what yoga and kickboxing are for--eating whatever I want.

Step 5: Gradually add your liquids from Step 4 to your flour mixture. If it seems dry, throw in some more milk a tablespoon at a time. I did.

Step 6: Knead your dough a tiny bit so that it sticks together--not too much, you don't want to overwork it and make it tough.

Step 7: Roll out your dough/press it into whatever shape with your hands so that it's about 1-and-a-1/2 inches high. Then cut it into whatever shape you want.

I make two balls, flatten them a bit with my hands, and then cut wedges out of the round. If you have giant cookie cutters, you could make scone blobs that vaguely resemble cookie shapes.

Step 8: Put scones on cookie sheet with at least a half inch between them. Bake your scones for about 15 minutes.

Step 9: Pull your scones out of the oven, let them cool a bit, then pig out.

Here's the Epicurious recipe that aided me, along with the very useful user reviews, which guided some of my own baking choices.

Desire to Clean, Bake, and Reference Redwall

I'm procrastinating. The paper I've been struggling with for two-and-a-half months would take me five years to adequately research. I'm starting a new paper today. Or, at least, I should be.

So far, I've swept the entire house, done some laundry and dishes, scrubbed the tub, read a couple articles that people's tweets led me to. Twitter is turning out to not be all bad. I just had to delete some of the publishing companies I was following who pay people to tweet all day. It was overwhelming.

I think I want to do some baking. My sister called me to ask me some cooking questions. She plays a great game where she calls me, tells me whats in her fridge, and then I advise her on what she can do with it. It's one of my favorite puzzles to solve. Recently, she's had some health issues that have required her to give up red meat, berries, caffeine, and other random stuff that she loves, so she was asking me about some pork seasonings. We talked about an apple curry glaze (ginger pear is good too). Yum! I also recommended she try Shrimp'N'Hotroot Soup, a Redwall delicacy from the otters.

If you haven't read Brian Jacques Redwall series, you might give it a try. I have a harder time getting into the series lately, but I was reading them from fourth grade up into my undergraduate career. They're animal fantasies set in a medieval environment with adventure, riddles, humor, well-written dialogue & dialects, great food, and a good dose of morality. I give them a great deal of credit for developing my vocabulary growing up. I used to pull out the dictionary all the time while reading them.

Anywho, Jacques initially wrote the first five books for blind children, which meant he often emphasized senses other than sight. Jacques wrote British dialects into the text, so his characters can really be heard. My favorites are the moles who speak as if they're from the West Country. Jacques based them off of the people of Sommerset. The hares are pretty great too. You'll just have to read to find out.

You'll also want to read to see how he writes about taste. The books are mouthwatering. There are always feasts, often with animal species signature dishes. They've come out with a cookbook to share the recipes with readers. I've tried Deeper'N'Ever Turnip'N'Tater'N'Beetroot pie from the moles. It was a bit bland--it is British--, but I think with some seasoning it would be great. I also tried the Hotroot soup, and that was wonderful and well seasoned. I do recommend browning some carrots, running them through a food processor, and throwing them in the pot too. Adds a nice touch.

If you don't want to buy the official cookbook (which includes a cute story for kids), try Redwall.net Kitchen. It's a web site of fan-made recipes.

So You Want to Be an Editor? (Maybe)

I always knew it would be hard. When I looked into it during my undergraduate career, I was sure there was no way I could get in. All the internships seemed to require previous internships, and some of them were just not affordable. I wasn't sure publishing institutes worked. Everywhere I looked everyone said being overeducated was a hindrance to getting in, so I didn't go to a publishing institute. Big mistake--though I'm still not sure I want to go into publishing, so a potential big mistake. We'll see. Anywho...

When I met Cheryl Klein this past November, she finally gave me all the information I had wanted:

Step 1. Develop an internet presence. Blog, tweet, comment on other blogs, comment on publishers' web sites. Learning this while in grad school is bad timing. I don't have time for all of this right now, but I'm gonna try. Once this semester starts, I'm committing myself to one blog a week. I'll probably talk about cooking almost as much as I talk about books.

Step 2. Read, read, read. Read the books you like, read reviews, read publisher's weekly. I already read nearly non-stop, and it's often not the stuff I'd be interested in editing. I'm in grad school. There are requirements, but I'll make it work. I'd heard some of this before, but Cheryl made the process seem so much less random, and much more productive.

Step 3. Learn the ropes. If you're still an undergrad, try to get an internship. A lot of large publishing companies offer unpaid internships, which can be invaluable, but you often need to receive college credit to qualify. If you're not an undergrad, take some courses in publishing. Cheryl Klein recommended the summer publishing institutes at Columbia and the University of Denver. I had looked at DU before, but I'm looking again with the assurance that it is worth it, but I'd really like to get a little closer to the action and go to Columbia.

Step 4. Get connected.  Attending a publishing institute is a good way to network, but if it doesn't pan out, get a job in NYC doing whatever so that you can do informational interviews. Cheryl suggested that a lot of people do informational interviews to leave an impression with hiring editors, to gain knowledge about publishers, and to get their resumes put on file.

This is the general plan that Cheryl gave out (with some edits by me), so this is my plan (if I decide I don't like tech writing, but I might love tech writing). It's weird writing this blog to no one, but I'm gonna do it, and perhaps it will stop being to no one. My roommate and I are going to split a subscription to publisher's weekly. I've started reading Cheryl Klein's blog, and I'm hoping to expand my awareness of editors' blogs over time. Does Harriet McDougal keep one?

Recently Read: A Slew of YA Novels

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

If you appreciate sarcasm and biting wit, this book is for you. Toggling between the perspectives of a disgruntled demon and a proud magician's apprentice, the novel negotiates the pitfalls of so many vengeful schemes, ploys for power, and manipulation of weaker beings. In a fantastic, magician-controlled London, the boy and the demon get entangled in the snow-balling conflict they've unknowingly entered. The series reminded me a little of reading C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters. While Stroud's novel isn't written in letter format, it's tone and perspective challenges the way we see the world just as Lewis did. I can't wait to get started on the next book, The Golem's Eye.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

I started reading this book with a friend who had already read it once. She recommended it highly, but I'm not sure if I'm sold on it yet. The novel is focused in a late 19th century all girl's school, but it's not limited to the petty intrigue of the girl's who live there (although there is certainly plenty of teenage cruelty and love). What's more important is the exploration of magic, evil, and death--which serve as reminders that there is more to life than striving to acquire an advantageous marriage. As the young girl's learn the potential and limitations of the magic available to them, they unravel the mysteries of the murders and disappearances of their forbears. Having finished the first novel, I can't say that I loved it, but I can say that I am intrigued enough to read the next book in the series because the foreshadowing in this first book promises a great adventure and some romance to come.

All Young Adult Rick Riordan Novels

I loved the action and the mystery of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I have a great appreciation for this series and its educational revisit to ancient Greek mythology through the lens of the modern child/teen. What can I say? The books are fast-paced, pure adventure, with a bit of teen romance. I love action and battle in movies and books. The series is epic, literally. I laughed at the humor of the banter between characters and the ironic moments, appreciated the devotion of friends, and the lessons about modern honor.  The Kane Chronicles thus far are much darker than Percy Jackson, but having been a child obsessed with ancient Egyptian culture, I find the books fascinating. The Red Pyramid was a nice refresher, which enlightened my recent visit to the King Tut exhibit at the Denver Museum of Art. Finally, I just finished The Lost Hero, the first book in The Heroes of Olympus. It was by far my favorite Riordan novel. It had the action, adventure, and humor that I have loved in Riordan's other books, but I felt the gravity of the situation much more poignantly in this book than I have in his others. Jason, is a great hero.

Rhetoric Meets Fantasy

I've always been a fantasy fan, and the thing about fandom is that it privileges the reader. When I decide I like a book, it's because it appeals to me as an individual,--pretty selfish, huh?--but as a graduate student in English, I often have to explore things that I don't like (like The Barrytown Trilogy--I didn't like it, but it offers one of the best female perspectives written by a male author). Despite my inclination to dislike certain texts, I find that my perspective changes for the better when I know enough about them. I have recognized that even when I don't particularly like a book I can still see the value of what it's doing for literary tradition or for potential readers. With that in mind, I want to share with readers some of my perspective of books that this lens has given me, so that they can decide to read a text because they know it will be meaningful to them, rather than because I like it.

I think my experience with the Harry Potter series demonstrates this best. As a long time reader of fantasy, I felt myself betraying my sense of genre-ed self in liking Harry and his adventures (well, actually I like Harry's friends, especially Neville. Harry himself is not a chap I'd hang around with; I think he's lame). I know that there was something about Harry Potter that appealed to me, but I didn't feel like it was fantasy. I mean if you look through the books you think magic? check, fantastic creatures? check, battle between good and evil? check, but something still didn't seem to fit. I'm still not quite sure why that is.

What I do know is that the series is drawing on so much literary tradition that it boggles the mind, and a lot of it isn't fantasy. As a fantasy reader, you might think the language is simple, but it's real and modern, which only seems simple in contrast to the formal and old/historic sentence patterns of much fantasy (I would be over-generalizing if I attached a single time period to fantasy--it varies more than you'd think).

Also, if you think of Harry Potter  as a mystery series, you're likely to be pleased. The series is elaborately constructed of tiny clues and brilliant red herrings. The Great Snape Debate is evidence of how much of this series is mystery. I think structurally, the series meets the needs and reading strategies of mystery fans best. Although, I'm not sure what mystery fans would think of the Epilogue.

I'm not an expert in mystery, I understand the reading strategies of fantasy readers, not mystery. Just let me say that if you feel like Rowling should have scrapped the ending or that her editors failed in allowing it to be printed, I would have agreed with you whole-heartedly just a few weeks ago, but now I know how much Jane Austen (a mastery of mystery herself, check out Emma) influenced Rowling. I don't think you can help but appreciate the Epilogue of the Harry Potter series knowing that it stems from the Austen tradition. 

I'm rambling, but I promise that I will be more concise in the future. I'll provide a clear list of what can be appreciated from each novel, so that you can read only what interests you.