This and that

[luzula]

1) I was asked out of the blue to do a series of posts on the comm poetree on reading poetry out loud and listening to it (on the basis of a post I'd written about recording poetry for Librivox). I don't feel that this is something I know a lot about, but I was happy to talk enthusiastically about it! If you want to check out the posts, they're here.

2) Held the first lecture on a new course today, and it went well. A student came up to me afterwards and said it was great, and she felt like she understood everything even though she flunked the exam on the previous course! I wonder if students know how happy they make you when they say things like that. In tomorrow's lecture I will define the Riemann integral!

3) I have a new red pen for graaaading, and it almost makes me enjoy it. See, you can erase it even though it's a pen and not a pencil! It is so cool! *marvels at the advance of technology*

4) I heartily recommend the mushroom soup recipe that sage recently posted. Although being me, of course I couldn't actually follow the recipe but added whatever vegetables I had around (a squash and leftover boiled cabbage) as well as black beans. The leftover boiled cabbage was from making rice-and-ground-meat-wrapped-in-boiled-cabbage-leaves (I have no idea what this is called in English). There is a cringe-worthy dirty pun on the Swedish name of this dish, and my boyfriend gleefully makes that pun at least five times while he is cooking the dish.

5) Am very busy right now, what with teaching + graaaading + dSSS + Yuletide + environmental volunteer work. I'm also beginning to stress out about my dSSS and Yuletide stories, and I am worrying that my drafts suck. Augh. Right, I should go work on one of them right now.

Comments

[malnpudl]

Re the rice-and-ground-meat-wrapped-in-boiled-cabbage-leaves -- that sounds good. Do you have a recipe?

Also: Beta underway. :-)

[luzula]

Basically you boil the rice first, then mix it with equal parts ground meat. Traditionally you probably just spice it with salt and pepper (traditional Swedish spicing is rather uninspiring) but you can add herbs, paprika, or whatever you like. You also boil a cabbage head whole (which needs a big pan) and then peel off the leaves and if necessary cut out the hard stems. Then wrap rice/meat in a leaf to make a package (you can make it hang together with a toothpick if it falls apart). I like to add a few slices of cheese inside the package. Then you glaze it with a mixture of soy sauce and dark syrup (or honey) and put it in a pan and bake it in the oven until the meat is done. I think it makes a fairly complete meal in itself, but you can eat it with potatoes and/or a brown sauce and/or vegetables if you want. Traditionally you have lingonberry jam on the side.

[cantarina]

re #2 - You guys make us really happy too! It's so frustrating to go through all of that work and feel like you're banging your head against a wall, only to have someone else explain it to you and give you that wonderful lightbulb moment. <3 good teachers!

You will be marvelous at Yuletide and dSSS!

[luzula]

I think today's lecture went well, too! And thank you. I managed 350 words on my Yuletide story yesterday--if I keep that up I should be fine.

[mergatrude]

Your posts were fascinating! They reminded me of my high school teacher playing a recording of W.H. Auden reading his own poem, Museé des Beaux Arts, which was amazing and cemented it eternally as one of my favourites.

Now I'm going to keep my eyes out for the next time you offer your services for auction and bid for you to record my poem. ;-)

[luzula]

I'm glad you enjoyed the posts!

Now I'm going to keep my eyes out for the next time you offer your services for auction and bid for you to record my poem. ;-)

Ooh, I love that, especially the last four rows! I'll try to remember to record it for your next birthday, or some other time. : )

[mergatrude]

*beams at you*

Also, I am failing to tell you how much I am enjoying listening to
your podfics. \luzula/
- Show quoted text -

[luzula]

I am so happy to know that you enjoy them! Thank you so much. : )

It's really cool to think that somewhere around the world, someone might be listening to my voice right now (well, you probably aren't right now, since it's the middle of the night for you, but someone might!)

[sage]

You can do it!! You can do it!! You can do it!! \o/ \o/ \o/

And isn't that a great soup? I'm half tempted to make it again tonight. In case/before someone else mentions it, my food posts are friends-locked so I don't have to worry about people I know in RL finding my fannish journal by searching for recipes I've made, but feel free to repost the recipes and/or the links I got them from! Good food for all!

[luzula]

Thank you! Am still waiting on a beta for dSSS, but I managed 350 words on Yuletide story yesterday. \o/

*redirects the link*

[akamine_chan]

I'm not here, but I can say that your draft for dSSS didn't suck.

*disappears*

[luzula]

Yes, I know you said you liked it! I'm just on the downward swing between the poles of "best fic ever" and "OMG, this fic sucks". Rationally, I know that the truth is more like "needs a little more work and then it will be fine", but I don't feel it emotionally.

*hugs*

re #4

[jesse_the_k]

That mysterious dish with the ground beef and rice wrapped in boiled cabbage? I've heard it called "cabbage rolls" or "stuffed cabbage" in American English. Please to share the terrible pun from boyfriend!!!!!

Your dSSSS & Yuletide will be complete as per usual — in other words, GREAT.

Re: re #4

[luzula]

Okay, the pun. In Swedish, cabbage rolls are called "kåldolmar", singular "kåldolme". "Kål" = cabbage. I suspect it's related to the word kale. "Dolme" is a loan word from Turkish "dolma". They usually use wine leaves instead of cabbage for the same dish. Anyway, "dolme" is also one of the Swedish slang terms for penis. I am sure you can see all the possibilities for puns now. : )

And thanks for the vote of confidence!

[jjhunter]

Thank you again for agreeing to host and doing such a wonderful job of it. Here's a roundup post re: the week, including summaries of your posts, highlights from the comments, and associated posts by members off-comm.

[luzula]

Ooh, nice roundup post! You seem like a wonderful and organized mod.

I feel a little bad about not responding to all the stuff that was posted as a response, but I don't really have the time right now. : ( Hopefully I can get around to it later.

[jjhunter]

The responses aren't going anywhere -- guilt thyself not. ;o)