Tasha Tudor

I was very sad to learn that Tasha Tudor died last Wednesday, at the age of 92. She was truly my hero at one point in my life, when I was about eight or nine and my dream was to live out in the country, alone with four or five dogs. I watched both her movies, Take Peace and Take Joy, many times. Aw, so sad.

New adventures on the bus

I'm sorry to say that I have a new bus driver. Well, perhaps I'm not so sorry, because I can now bring a friend home from school without being harassed, and my old bus driver was the meanest person in America. But still, she was funny. My new bus driver is old (sixty, maybe) and he's a little scary. A few days ago, I overheard this conversation:

Bus driver: Some of that fashion during the 80s was hot, and I mean really hot! Short skirts, tight pants...

World of Warcraft-playing freshman: Uh-huh?

Bus driver: Yeah. And for guys, sportscoats, loafers... But I couldn't do that, I was so broke during the 80s, I couldn't do any of that.

World of Warcraft-playing freshman: I'm not really a fashion person. I think it's easier being a guy, not really being a fashion person.

Bus driver: Now here's what you've got to do: go to Goodwill and look for some nice leather shoes. Nice leather shoes. But remember, you can't wear 'em with socks. They wore 'em with socks during the 80s, 'cause that was the fashion then, but now, remember, no socks. Buy a sportscoat. I used to have a nice white linen sportscoat. And polos, but no stripes on those polos!

World of Warcraft-playing freshman (getting up and leaving the bus): Okay!

Bus driver (calling out to him): Remember, loafers with no socks!

Kai (sitting in front of me): Before I go to my interview, I'm gonna go home and put on some loafers with no socks.

The delicious multi-puropse tempeh sandwich

I used to be one of those people who don't like tempeh. I think I was distracted from its flavor by the unusual texture and strange smell of raw tempeh. Now I realize that I was insane, because tempeh is actually really, really delicious, and much easier to prepare than tofu. I know, this sounds unbelievable, but it is completely true. Whenever I try to make a spontaneous tofu dish, the tofu comes out soggy, squishy, and unappealing. But tempeh has a naturally firm, chewy texture and nutty flavor. All you have to do is fry in a pan with some oil, and it comes out perfectly. Here's a recipe (sort of) for an amazing multi-purpose tempeh sandwich.

You will need:
Tempeh
Two pieces of delicious bread
A spread
Sauerkraut
Pickles
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
Anything else

First, fry the tempeh in a frying pan in a little olive oil until it is golden-brown on both sides. Meanwhile, prepare the sandwich. Put a little red wine vinegar on one piece of bread, and the spread (like hummus, olive tapenade, pesto, artichoke spread, white bean spread, mashed chickpea, etc.) on the other. Put the sauerkraut, pickles, and anything else on the bread. Some ingredient ideas are: sprouts, cheese, vegan cheese, veggie salami, caramelized onions, tomato, etc. Make sure you choose veggies carefully, because some become very unpleasant when grilled (I, personally, cannot stand soggy red onion or greens.) Remove the tempeh, keeping the stove on medium, and add it to the sandwich. Grill the sandwich on each side so that the sandwich becomes delicious and melty. Cut it in half if you want. Spread, pickle juice, and sauerkraut juice will leak out, so beware; you can dip the crusts in it if you'd like.

There you are! The best sandwich ever!

Derrida on the science of ghosts

When I saw "Derrida's Elsewhere" at Space, this clip was played beforehand. I think it's pretty fascinating, and funny.

"Cinema plus psychoanalysis equals the science of ghosts."

Also...

Here is a good blog post about that song ("Denkmal") which includes an English translation of the lyrics.

Video of Wir Sind Helden

I like this cute German band, although some of their songs are a bit too upbeat and pop-y. There's other good stuff by them on YouTube if you care to look.

Host family

I made it home from the camping trip on Cow Island (and actually had a great time!) and enjoyed a lovely visit to Cape Cod with my friend Kayla. But, the most excited news is, I have a host family!! I'm so excited!! They live in a town called Birkenfeld, which is an hour outside of Stuttgart in southwest Germany. (Don't try Google Map-ing it; there's a larger town called Birkenfeld that it'll take you to.) The town is tiny and looks very cute and charming; it's also right in the Black Forest! Tonight my mom and I are making a black forest cake to celebrate.
Here's a picture of an old fashioned-looking house in Birkenfeld, courtesy of Google Earth:



I e-mailed my host sister Katharina, but I haven't heard back yet. I'm kind of nervous.

Providence, etc

I think Providence is cute. We went to a couple vintage clothing stores, Blue State Coffee, Brown, a vegetarian-ish restaurant whose name I can't remember (it began with a J...) and, um, the mall -- we originally went there to see Scott Heim read at a Border's, but we arrived two hours early, and soon became really, really tired of the mall. It was nice seeing Scott again; he did a lovely job. There was a rather difficult, idiotic audience member who I'm sure you'll soon read about on my mom's blog. I bought a book for Charlotte and a book about Post-modernism, which I want to study up on before I sit in on a class at USM; I also bought a pair of sandals and a sundress, because today was incredibly, amazingly warm. It was a perfect day to walk around the town.

Next week I'm going camping with my school for four or so days, which I'm rather looking forward to. Unfortunately Charlotte can't go, due to some crazy harp madness. Pumpkin, Luke, and Kai are also missing out; they're instead going to Washington for a parkour adventure. If they can get tickets, that is. Theirs were, unfortunately, Skybus.

Aha, more short sentences -- let me add in some awkward semicolons. Sorry my writing style is so strange.

My song (so far...)

There are some grammar issues, but...

Elles me disaient une histoire historique
De la petite fille parfait catholique
Encore et encore, elles me rancontaient
De Saint Bernadette, comme elle s’appellait.

Madamoiselle Bernadette était tres gentil
Elle écoutait les soeurs et criait jamais
Les soeurs me disaient que j’était charmant
Mais dans la communauté ce me n’aidait pas

Une école catholique, deux theatres francais
Et des Francos infinis qu’étaient oppressés.
Nous essayions mais rien se passait
Les habitants, les éleves et le KKK.

Les soirs j’ecoutait ma famille
Qui parlaient de l’argent et le pénurie ici.
Dans les matins j’essayais être chouette
Et j’écoutait les soeurs dire de Bernadette.

Mais quelquefois, j’ai rit et je dansait
Et puis j’avait ma communauté vrai
Nous fassions nos propres vies
Donc nous fassions une culture aussi.

Les Smiths et les francos

I finished my radio feature at 8:00, played it at 8:25, and (on Wednesday) fixed it up with some fades and Smiths music! At first I detested it, but now I'm actually quite fond of it. I think it's the second-best one I've ever done, after the amazing "teen dating" feature (featuring Ezra, Jill, and Leander.) I want to put it on my blog, but I can't because a) I don't know how and b) It has my real name on it. "For Blunt, I'm..."

In other events, tomorrow I'm going to the Franco-American center in Lewiston pour discuter avec les Francos du Maine. Ils sont gentils, mais ils sont tres vieux. My french sujet is about 60, and she is by far the youngest of the bunch. She's awesome. She went to a catholic elementary school, and they had to watch the same movie every Friday, about Saint Bernadette. I'm writing a song about her for my final project, and I might have to perform it at the Franco-American center. Ich.

OK, that's all! I'm excited to go to Providence next week...