P.S.

I just ate like a cup of frosting while I was writing my research paper. I don't think I've eaten so much frosting in one sitting -- or been interested in doing so -- since I was ten.

Someone needs to come take it away from me or even the three flights of stairs I climb at least four times a day won't keep me from looking like Willy the Whale. I am going to have a ba-donk-a-donk butt (whatever commercial that is makes me laugh hysterically every time).

Here's the recipe. It basically means that the cup of frosting I ate probably amounts to a stick of butter, but can you see why it's so delicious?

Swiss Buttercream frosting:
2 cups of egg whites (approx. 12 large)
3 cups sugar
5 cups butter, softened (2 1/2 pounds, 10 sticks)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1.Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a big metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk occasionally until you can’t feel the sugar granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers.

2.Transfer mixture into the mixer and whip until it turns white and about doubles in size. (Here’s a tip: when you transfer to the mixer, make sure you wipe the condensation off the bottom of the bowl so that no water gets into the egg whites. This can keep them from whipping up properly.)

3.Add the vanilla.

4.Finally, add the butter a stick at a time and whip, whip, whip. Do not have a panic attack when this takes a while to come together (though I did every time). One super-large batch took 15 minutes, but it did and will come together. Patience, young Jedis.

And, by the way, that makes WAAAAAAAY too much frosting for one reasonable-sized cake. I have so much leftover frosting, I might need to bake like three more cakes.

in which i anger 95% of my readers with politics

I'm more convinced than ever, due to this article -- I'm voting Democratically in the coming election, even if I do think Obama is a little bit too glib for his own good. In fact, I'm so motivated, I printed out an absentee ballot request form, filled it out, and addressed it, just five minutes ago. I did tell you, right, that I think nuclear power is about the stupidest kind of power we've got?

On a related note, yesterday I read the best essay I've ever read about warfare, nuclear in particular. It's by Wendell Berry, and it's called "Property, Patriotism, and National Defense." And I wish that I could find somewhere on the internet that it's reproduced in its entirety, but I think it's still under copyright. It's from his book Home Economics, in which nearly all the essay so far sound exactly the same, except this one. If you check the book out from the library, read "Property, Patriotism, and National Defense" first. For once, someone is thinking logically about nuclear warfare, the mere existence of them in our weapons stockpile, and it's amazing.

So yes, the conclusion is, I'm probably a hippie. (A) I've been talking for weeks about heirloom plants and buying locally and living sustainably and (B) I'm going to vote for a liberal.

But what's a liberal, anyway? The language is tricky. Conservation (in the sense of preserving the world's resources) seems to be the almost sole province of liberal candidates. And a lot of conservatives believe in free will, which is, historically speaking, a very liberal position. Conservatives are also, in my experience, much more pro-war, and how is that possibly maintaining the status quo? Spending ridiculous amounts of lives, money, and time in conflict isn't exactly "conserving" anything.

Basically, what I'm saying is that "conservative" and "liberal" positions are made up of arbitrary sets of positions that really aren't logically related to their labels at all. Oh, wait, this is politics? I shouldn't be surprised, then.

I think we need new language. And along with new language, how about a little less of a republic and a little more of a democracy? My discouragement with the political system is that no matter how I vote, I'm going to regret it. If we could vote on issues and not just people, maybe it would be a little easier to make change that's beneficial to the general populace. And lobbyists would have a heck of a much harder time doing their thing (which would give me immense satisfaction).

Although given the debt load of most individual American citizens, I doubt if we would be able to shrink our national debt (didn't you ever wonder, though, whether a decreased national debt might help keep the dollar from plummeting relative to the world market?).

P.S. Here's an exerpt I found later in the day, from an essay John Fea wrote for The Bridge magazine after the Compassion Forum happened at Messiah. It makes a good point, I think, about the difference between reform and redemption. . . but I generally doubt the possibility of serious reform, either: "Perhaps we need a healthy dose of pessimism about what politics can accomplish. Can government help us to bring meaningful reform to the problems that ail us? Of course it can. But government will always fall short when it comes to satisfying the deepest longings of the heart or sustaining the types of communities that allow human beings to flourish. We should challenge our civic leaders to act faithfully as they serve us in government. As Christians, we should not be ashamed of bringing our deepest convictions to bear on public life. Yet we must also remember that politics can never be redemptive."

"make awkward sexual advances, not war"

-- Jenn

(Because I can't really condone "free love".)

I just looked at the list of art supplies I'll need for Intaglio printmaking, and I started to hyperventilate and got dizzy. Breathe in, breathe out. Seriously, guys, is there not the Amazon equivalent for used art supplies? Anyone?

Sigh.

I think I'm panicking over more than art supplies, though -- it's everything. Budgeting, yes. Staying alone in my apartment for two weeks. The semester starting so soon. Getting married in 21 weeks and 5 days. In 17 weeks and 3 days I'll graduate but have no job, and in approximately 14 weeks and three days Greg won't have a job either.

It's time to put to work my second Adult Life Lesson: "You can't do it all (even if your mother did) so you better prioritize like hell to maintain (or recover) your sanity."

In this case, first I deal with classes, one assignment at a time. Then panic about a job. Right? Right. Baby steps (sometimes I suspect, though, that my baby steps are heading me straight to the crazy factory).

I also read a very interesting blog post today about the concept of dating your spouse, and why the author of the blog believes more in friend-ing your spouse instead. It was very well-expressed, so I copy a part of it here:

"Of course the romance and sexiness of dating should fold into marriage, but why use 'dating' as a metaphor for intimacy in marriage? In friendship, impression management diminishes, assessment of the other declines, and two selves meet across difference and take delight."
-- Jenell Williams Paris

So, happy Monday. Take it one deep breath at a time.

urg, urg, urg urg urg.

In the face of a lot of mold and mildew and grime, I'm forced to put the most important grown-up lesson I've ever learned into practice:

"Suck it up and do it. No one else will."

This applies particularly to cleaning and killing bugs. If it makes you unhappy, deal with it. Nobody else is around to do it for you.

I've never boiled so much water in my life, but I do feel better about eating off these plates once I've scrubbed and boiled the heck out of them. And also? I scrubbed and boiled our trash can (that made me imagine a huge pot with a trash can floating in it. But no, I just boiled lots of water and poured it over the trash can)! Possibly the most adult suck-it-up-and-do-it thing I've ever done. Well, except for helping Greg clean out his disgusting, moldy, broken, backed-up dishwasher that one time (even though it's not my house and I didn't break it).

Pride and Prejudice is keeping me company, though, both the ungodly long BBC version and the new one. It makes me feel better about all this upheaval. Slash, it makes noise while I work so that I don't feel quite as bored and by myself.

I only have one more box of kitchen things to clean out! Go me!

ow, ow, ow ow ow.

Firstly I spent four hours moving last night. Then I didn't finish before they locked up the buildings, so I finished moving this morning, which took me about an hour and a half. I moved out of a 2nd floor dorm room and into a 3rd floor apartment in a building with no elevators.

Then I walked over a mile to pick Jess's car up from the mechanic. Good thing it's so close, or else I wouldn't have been able to find anyone to take me there until Monday at the earliest.

My arms and legs hurt.

Also, I feel brave because for the next two weeks I'm sleeping all by myself in my new apartment. And last night I actually made it to sleep and slept pretty well. I'm crossing my fingers about tonight.

Now all I have to do is actually move in and de-clutter-ify. Which, judging by how many dishes I'm going to have to wash because they were stored in Greg's moldy, damp, basement, may take a long time.

Maybe once I forge a path through the living room I'll call it quits.

"his exegetical methodology is flawed"

-- Dan

Today, at work, Dan and I wondered if evangelicals are calling for the end times because Russia invaded Georgia, and isn't the antichrist supposed to come from Russia? Then we contemplated what it would be like if there actually arose a leader called Nicolai Carpathia. Would it mean that Tim Lahaye is really the devil, or just that someone had been bribed to change their name?

Today, there is no one at work. Everyone is on a staff retreat to Baltimore, which is, ironically enough, where I was last weekend. But I visited for a very different reason. Namely: Otakon! An anime convention.

Where I met Peter S. Beagle, one of my favorite authors of all time, creator of "A Fine and Private Place" and "The Last Unicorn." As you can imagine, I geeked out. His was the only event actually sponsored by the convention (henceforth referred to as "the con") that I went to all week.

Oh, and I saw lots of costumed people (including Italian Spiderman! Which caused both Greg and I to geek out), familiarly known as "cosplayers," which is a combination of "costumed" and "players." How etymologically logical!

And we hung out with John and Mike and ate lots of food and wandered around the inner harbor area (which contains the most beautiful Barnes & Noble I have ever layed eyes on -- it's a refurbished energy plant with a balcony overlooking the harbor). Oh, and I learned a word in Japanese: otaku. This is what the people who go to Otakon refer to themselves as. In America, it means roughly "anime nerd." Of course, last night I found out that if you actually use the word in Japan, it really connotes something like "creepy anime nerd who's forty, lives in his parents' basement, showers infrequently, and has questionable social skills."

As you can tell, the Japanese are masters of cramming a lot of connotations into a little word. Their form of puns is off the charts in complexity and prevalence, which kind of makes me want to learn Japanese. Except when would I ever use it? And if I don't use it, I'll forget it. I've already forgotten 95% of my Italian.

Anyway, that's not the point.

The weather has been cooling down lately, that's the point. It's bearable outside now on a regular basis.

And if you want actual thoughtful content, you'll have to visit my Messiah College blog, where I have gone on at ungodly length about how complicated it is to try and live like a hippie. You know, if you're actually thinking about it and not just hyped up on drugs.

Oh, and also, tomorrow I move. I hate moving.

"in the cove the old turtle surfaces again"

Me: We're crazy. It's like we met in a mental home. A mental home of AWESOME!
Greg: [looks confused]
Me: What'cha talkin' about?
Greg: [laughs hysterically] Whaaaaaat?
Me: I forgot how to say "What'cha thinking!" I panicked!
Greg: [laughs until he cries]

Me: C'mon man, we got to get groceries! Piece of . . . garbage!
Greg: Did you just call me a piece of garbage?
Me: I was trying to think of something a cowboy would say! But I panicked!
Greg: [laughs hysterically]
Me: Sheep wrangler!!
Greg: Whaaaaaaat? [continues laughing]
Me: Like mutton! And you can cut its skin off and make a coat!

Me: I could get a tiny ice cream for my tiny fridge!
Greg: Really? You don't like ice cream.
Me: But it's tiny! It would fit in my fridge! Or we could get some tiny cheeses! Oh look, there's a tiny shoofly pie! I love shoe fly pie!
Greg: I don't think we can use this coupon because it's only valid with a $10 purchase.
Me: I could get some juice.
Greg: Do you really want juice?
Me: Yes! I really want juice! It will fit in my tiny fridge! The only thing in there is tiny baby gherkins. [starts laughing] Do you get it?. . . because they're baby gherkins in a baby fridge?


I think Otakon affected our brain capacity. Well, OK. My brain capacity.