"Are you growing some rust in that pan?" - Dri

In childhood, I was known for experimenting with food. Not tasting experiments, but scientific ones. What would happen if I combined some milk and peanut butter and green beans and shook it all up and let it sit for two days? (Turns out it smells pretty funny after a while.)

I baked bread the other day and did the trick where you also put a pan full of boiling water in the oven, it helps the loaf stay moist while it bakes. And then I forgot to take the water pan out, so I was growing some lovely rusty bits in the oven for a couple days.

They're all washed away now, but it did make me think of food technology, what a great field it is and how fun it would be to combine milk and peanut butter for a living.

one more reason to love bill and melinda

even though they're doing work our systems should be:


Attention to Higher Ed.

"Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context..." Eliel Saarinen

"We were reading the same book but on different pages."

- 25 year old student on the #2 bus, describing why things didn't work out with her boyfriend


BeC's theory is that in order to have a successful relationship - wait, I really just wanted to write "in order to form a more perfect union." But decided not to.


Anyway, BeC has this theory I am expounding on today, so that 1) I can tell her I analyzed a theory she worked on and 2) I'm in that kind of mood.

BeC thinks relationships require

1) chemistry
2) timing
3) context

And I think what the girl was getting at, albeit in an unoriginal manner, was the context piece of things.

Obviously - well, maybe this isn't obvious. In fact, in much of the world historically and even today, long-term partnerships are more pragmatic than romantic. Which I think is true, you can make something work with probably just about anyone if you had to. But I still believe in chemistry. Anyway, if chemistry's there but say one person's about to move to deep Alaska and not ever talk to anyone again, this might not work out - the timing piece, where say if she had met him 6 months previously and clicked, she might not have decided to move. And then there comes context.

Context (Noun): (from Webster's)


Pronunciation:
\ˈkän-ˌtekst\


Etymology:
Middle English, weaving together of words, from Latin contextus connection of words, coherence, from contexere to weave together, from com- + texere to weave
Date:
circa 1568

1 : the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning

2 : the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs: environment, setting


If you've got chemistry right, and timing right, and then each get the other's context, and in fact can start contextualizing together, I think it might work. I've been 2 for 3 of these categories in every relationship thus far, but I'm pretty hopeful it could happen. Well, I'm not really, but I think it's possible in theory.

BeC, any thoughts?


Speaking of context, Eliel Saarinen was a Finnish architect, and I'm not sure I'm a fan of his style.

g-chat tootsie roll

evs: eats Tootsie Rolls for breakfast.

and

wishes she could drink beer during the day instead of obscene amounts of coffee.

cab: raccoon in my attic

taft: NOT handling her business. oops!

rosie: eating cookie batter out of a jar in my pjs. wow.

st: my dad rocks

k8: my coworker was supposed to get her braces off last week, but asked the dentist if she could keep them on until after halloween so that she could pull off a more successful Ugly Betty costume. that is committment.

and:

the first two days will be taken up by discussions on God's love and loving one's neighbour: Rome hosts Vatican Muslim summit.

lkt: put an american flag in her classroom.

"The tuba player is normally a stocky, bearded guy whose hobby is plumbing...

...The only member of the orchestra who bowls over 250 and gets his deer every year and changes his own oil. In his locker downstairs, he keeps a pair of lederhosen for free-lance jobs. Anyway, there's only one tuba in the bunch and he's it."

Garrison Keillor, from A Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra


When I think of things I loved in my childhood, there's a big bearded guy playing a tuba on a bench in the middle of the Center grounds. The lights near the Fountain soften the darkness, and I follow my dad's long legs into the arena while the tuba strains follow us into the game.

I'll forever associate those tuba sounds with the game of basketball, which I could watch anytime, anyplace. Kids, professionals, pick-up games, doesn't matter who or where. I love watching the swirl of the ball sailing across the court, a perfect pass, a hard-fought basket. I love that it lets individuals shine but only works well if all team members play in sync. I love how fast it is, and fierce, and graceful.

I grew up tagging after my dad and brothers to Sonics games. First at the kingdome, then the Coliseum, then the Tacoma Dome, then at the Key. And every time, there'd be Ed the tuba man, playing his repertoire of tuba songs. I hear Kevin Callaboro announcing plays, I hear fans cheering for Payton. I hear the sound of sneakers against the court, the basketball hitting the backboard, and before and after it all, I hear the strains of tuba music lingering.

Kathleen Norris remarked in Dakota that she lived in a place where one person's death still matters, that the community was impacted by even just one person's leaving.

I'm glad the media is covering his death, that in this city, his life mattered.