The No News is No News Purgatory Thread, Volume 8

Has anyone ever noticed how food is always just better in your home town? If there's any sort of "regional cuisine" unique to where I come from, it's Mexican, and I swear I cannot get burritos anywhere else like they make them at home. I mean, come on, it's a burrito. And while the restaurant I go to has been there since I was born, it's changed hands a bunch of times. So why is it still the best? Why can't I get a burrito like that here, an hour south? I don't get it.

I got to do all kinds of fun Valentine's Day activities with my German kids today. Which was fun, even though I'm really not a fan of V-day.

My poor English sophomores got introduced to their first research essay. l:

In other news, I may actually have started applying places. Meep! My German teacher is totally insisting that I have to stay at my current school. Which is flattering, really and would be nice, but I'm not counting my chickens.

In fact, and I'm probably not the only one here, but I always think that people are just "being nice" to me when they evaluate me, be it professors or now coordinating teachers and university and content supervisors. Don't know if I will ever grow out of that suspicion, to be honest, because, yeah...I feel people give me way more credit than I'm giving myself. I don't know. /end random introspective moment of the day

Anyway, have some of my V-day candy! It comes out of a shiny top hat!

callalily61 said:

I forgot--I blame Tas for messing with my dreams last night.

I dreamed I was back in HS. My brain apparently wanted to mollify the badness of this dream, and in the dream, I was cast as Christine in the school's production of Phantom. Logic asserted itself in the dream, and I told the director that she'd have to transpose all Christine's songs a third lower. And they did! Totally a dream, that.

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That's a kinda awesome dream, and I will totally take credit for it.

Dys, good luck on the applications!

JoNightshade said:

Has anyone ever noticed how food is always just better in your home town? If there's any sort of "regional cuisine" unique to where I come from, it's Mexican, and I swear I cannot get burritos anywhere else like they make them at home. I mean, come on, it's a burrito. And while the restaurant I go to has been there since I was born, it's changed hands a bunch of times. So why is it still the best? Why can't I get a burrito like that here, an hour south? I don't get it.

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It's pretty mind-boggling, right? Obviously I think my adopted hometown, Chicago, is the best place in the entire world to eat anything. However, if I was going to claim a regional, hometown cuisine, that would be Amish (Pennsylvania-Dutch). There are Pennsylvania-Dutch in my grandmother's family. You'd think it's just basic food. Like potato salad. Or apple fritters. Or egg noodles with some gravy on them. But no. Life feels better when I'm eating it. There's this one restaurant we always used to go to when I was a kid that is amazing.

I am happy with food wherever I go. I have no loyalties. Om nom nom.

I, also, am the Anticupid. I do get a kick out of seeing all the grim-faced young swains in line at the store, clutching their floppy carnations and chewy chocolate samplers like the final McGuffin in the world's greatest snatch hunt.

Fire and Red,

Got another 1000 words in a the worst portal fantasy ever concocted by the mind of a clinically depressed hermit, so I'm going to try for another 1000 after tea.

My hometown is such a mish mash, but there are some regional specialties that you really can't get here in Northern Land.

But it's rare-- cause people come to NYC and get super anal about opening these super-authentic restuarants featuring cuisines from all over. (I don't know if using "anal" and "restaurants" in the same sentence is going to earn me a health code violation or not!)

Examples: I can get good gumbo and good barbecue in NYC. I have yet to find good pimiento cheese, though. And things like mint juleps are a total crapshoot.

But I am SURE somewhere there's a transplanted Southerner in Brooklyn who makes all those things to perfection and sells them at the Brooklyn flea!

Also, when I moved here I used to drink bourbon and water, which is easy to order in the South-- you just say what kind of bourbon. But up here people sometimes think you want a shot of bourbon and a glass of water next to it, or other strange things, and you have to mention the ice. In the South you don't have to mention the ice for a bourbon and water.

Haupe said:

I effing love this family. An adoptive mom takes "newborn" photos of her 13 yo adopted son.

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I'm so glad you shared that, Haupe, because it was really special. And I love that the "baby" was into it as well. I was a big sister to a girl when I lived in Atlanta, starting when she was 15. I always wished I could adopt her, or even just have her stay with me, because she lived in a group home, but I couldn't. She was the first person I taught to drive, and she taught me patience with teen drivers! I did keep in touch with her and she became an amazing woman with a Masters in Social Work. You think that kids who've grown up in the system are always going to be damaged and scary to adopt, but that's not necessarily the case. So many of them are just so hungry for love and belonging somewhere.

Kris, that sounds like an amazing birthday provided by someone who really loves you. And thanks for the elaboration on what you do. I actually remember you asking for purgie updates, but it wasn't really as clear as you just made it. *ponders what could be newsworthy enough in my life for Kris*

Fire, yay for great and balanced review you can trust!

Elisabetta, that is such a cute photo. And congrats on the UK release.

I am as romantic and sentimental as they come, but even I'm not into Valentine's Day. I agree with others; it feels forced.

Jo, my take on the food thing is what you've grown up with and associate with certain tastes, and also the fact that you know the best places in your area, as opposed to not necessarily coming across the best in other towns or regions. I have a special affinity for certain foods in Australia that I grew up with and to me they are a taste of heaven every time I go home. OTOH, I now prefer Cheetos to Twisties, and who would ever thought that would happen! I've lived in the U.S. too long!

I have to agree, Red and Fire are on a roll.

Dys, part of me wants to thwap you, the other part says that humility will keep you in beginner's mind--a good thing for your students and coworkers.

Clovia said:

I, also, am the Anticupid. I do get a kick out of seeing all the grim-faced young swains in line at the store, clutching their floppy carnations and chewy chocolate samplers like the final McGuffin in the world's greatest snatch hunt.

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My daughter said the Dollar Store was packed with them yesterday. The Dollar Store. I'm not in the least romantical about the day, but I perceive challenges in turning a Dollar Store gift into a Valentine's win.

I consider Pittsburgh my home town, since that's where I spent my formative years. There was good food there and if I ever manage to visit the place again I have a list of things I want to eat.

Nearly finished with the WIP. Just going back through and adding some stuff.

dystophil said:

In fact, and I'm probably not the only one here, but I always think that people are just "being nice" to me when they evaluate me, be it professors or now coordinating teachers and university and content supervisors. Don't know if I will ever grow out of that suspicion, to be honest, because, yeah...I feel people give me way more credit than I'm giving myself. I don't know. /end random introspective moment of the day

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I always suspect people are flattering me, but it's because I think, "There's no way anyone else's opinion of me could be higher than MY ridiculous opinion of my own awesomeness."

Clovia said:

I, also, am the Anticupid. I do get a kick out of seeing all the grim-faced young swains in line at the store, clutching their floppy carnations and chewy chocolate samplers like the final McGuffin in the world's greatest snatch hunt.

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OMG, you just got a sniffly, soggy, snotty laugh out of me.

Not gonna be a super eventful V-day here. I knew this was gonna happen, but I was in fact the only parent that sent my 3 year old to school without treats/toys for the other kids. And yeah. I am totally that lazy-ass deadbeat parent. I am not gonna go hunt down some clever Valentine's crap for a bunch of little kids who don't have a clue what it's all about. When Sharkbite gets it enough to want to participate, I'll help him put something together, but it's going to be on his initiative. I WILL NOT BE PEER PRESSURED.

Also, my mom apologized because she thought the card she sent might be late. I was like, aw, that's sweet, she didn't have to get me a card but then she's my mom and she always does. Well, it came. She didn't mean me. It's for Sharkbite. Ahhh, I've been passed over.

There is this one guy on LinkedIn who is apparently an entrepreneur and consultant in the "New York Area" who found me from a thread on my college's alumni site and he keeps sending me messages like, "I may have some leads for you. Let's set up a conference call!" "We should definitely chat, I'd be a grrrrreat source for you. Let's set up that conference call!"

Like, is it just me, or... why is it a conference call if it's just me and him? I keep wanting to message him back something like ".... Maybe I'm the dumb one, but you do know what a conference call IS, don't you?"

Evening team. Had a lovely dinner with Ms Coffee and chocolate was exchanged.

Maryn! You've acquired a colorful siggy. Have you been hiding your bushe(l)s under some candelabras?






Okay. Those are some bad puns up there. VERY bad puns. ETA: The point being, wooohooo!

I just unearthed a cool little factoid which may or may not be interesting to my fellow bibliophiles. The earliest known owner of the only extant Beowulf manuscript was Laurence Nowell. Apparently it is surmised that Nowell obtained the manuscript in the household where he was tutoring a young Edward de Vere. Edward de Vere being the true Shakespeare according to Oxfordian theory. (Which I ascribe to.)

That's a roundabout way to say I think it's cool to imagine a young Shakespeare being one of the only people in his time to have the privilege of reading Beowulf.

Haupe said:

Maryn! You've acquired a colorful siggy. Have you been hiding your bushe(l)s under some candelabras?






Okay. Those are some bad puns up there. VERY bad puns. ETA: The point being, wooohooo!

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We now have a very good reason for not hiring wandering workers without references right in our front yard: A brand new tree is dying just a week after it went in.

Why?

Because they put it in the ground still in the pot. D's father got what he paid for, LOL!

K. Taylor said:

Because they put it in the ground still in the pot. D's father got what he paid for, LOL!

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OMG, that's worse than ours. We moved into our place right after the previous tenants had planted three new trees out front. Our landlords told us we needed to keep them alive. Kinda hard to keep delicate little maples alive when they've been planted in SAND. They're still hangin' in there almost a year later... sorta...

callalily61 said:

All the 14-year-olds who wanted to know "how do I start a story? how do I make it suspenseful? how do I hide my clues?" have been answered.

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Yes, but did you feed them COOKIES. Don't forget the important thing.

Evening all HEHEHE love all the VD stores. Sadly I have yet to have a valintine EVER on vd

YAY for cake success!!

Lil, dreams of HS should not happen! LOL

JoNightshade said:

OMG, that's worse than ours. We moved into our place right after the previous tenants had planted three new trees out front. Our landlords told us we needed to keep them alive. Kinda hard to keep delicate little maples alive when they've been planted in SAND. They're still hangin' in there almost a year later... sorta...

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Poor things.

Wow...Dollar Store V-day gifts? Keep it classy, people.

Also, Clovia is awesome.

callalily61 said:

All the 14-year-olds who wanted to know "how do I start a story? how do I make it suspenseful? how do I hide my clues?" have been answered.

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Lily is my hero! (And the hero of all the 14-year-olds ). And...COOKIES!

Speaking of yummy food, I finally got to hang out with WD again today and we went for deliciously delicious Indian food. Om nom.

In other news, I need to start giving away some clothes. My closet is bursting and I must NOT buy any more new clothes. On the upside, I do have the perfect interview outfit now.