Dailies
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Bitterness is what you feel when you dwell on what you don't have. Things didn't turn out the way you wanted, and that hurts. Your marriage is bad, your family isn't the way you wanted it to be, you didn't achieve the success you thought you would -- all these things can make you bitter. And it's all because you're thinking about what you don't have instead of what you have. You're blaming someone else (like God) instead of taking personal responsibility.
How to be a miserable, bitter old woman? Want what you don't have.
Monday, February 14, 2005. Valentine's Day
Last Friday evening, Eric C., a student at my daughters' high school, attempted suicide. He was mostly successful. He wound
up in intensive care, his life hanging by a thread, and that thread tied to this earth by high-tech machines. There was no hope, though, and
on Sunday his parents gave permission to remove him from life-support. Thus they finished
the job they themselves had started on Friday afternoon, when Eric told them he
was gay and they kicked him out of the house. He was sixteen years old; all my girls knew him.
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Critique in PhotoShop 1 today. I'm very proud of my picture, Bitter Heart, and was eager to have the class see it. Well, it took FOREVER for the teacher to get to my pic. I was beginning to think I wasn't on the class list anymore and I was getting grumpy, disappointed and impatient. I had to close my eyes, take some deep breaths, and surrender to the flow of the universe, reminding myself that it would all turn out okay. Finally, when there were only ten minutes left, the teacher called my name. "Is Charity here?" he said. "Right here," I answered. Another student let out an exclamation. Apparently he'd seen my work and had been wondering who I was. Afterward he came over and complemented my design.
I used a Stephen Crane poem for inspiration:
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter -- bitter," he answered,
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Chili Cook-off at work today. Only four people brought chili (hey, where's the team spirit?) but everyone came to eat. It was like the Little Red Hen baking bread. I was one of the chili makers. I brought the same recipe as last year, Best Ever Chili, and this year I won People's Choice! Hurrah! It is a pretty good recipe, with lots of unusual things like coffee, cocoa and beer. Everyone liked the beer.
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onions, chopped
1 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound beef sirloin, cubed
1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 cup dark beer
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee
1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoons chili powder
1 t cumin seeds
1 t unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t ground cayenne pepper
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t salt
2 (15 ounce) cans pinto beans
1 fresh hot chile pepper, seeded and chopped
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions, garlic, ground beef and cubed sirloin for 10 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and onions are transparent. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and simmer on low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
Monday, February 28, 2005
So there I am, driving Michaela to school, and she's sitting there in the passenger seat finishing up her world history homework. The assignment: fill out an information sheet about Portugal (foods, religion, terrain, a current event, etc.) Turns out she paid her older sister to do the research for her. All Michaela had to do was copy the compiled info onto the homework sheet.
I certainly don't feel this is a punishable offense. As a matter of fact, I find the whole incident amusing.
It's a family concern -- let's all help Michaela get through high school with decent grades.
I Thought You Loved Me More Than That; ExplodingDog.com
2005
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