z is for awesome

so proud! last week, one of my lit professors at cola coll, Dr. Zubizaretta (or Dr. Z), was named prof of the year by the carnegie foundation. my favorite class w/him was a southern short story course. he dedicated plenty of time to flannery o'connor. he loves her. he brought her grotesque characters to (even greater) life. he had a good understanding of o'connor's religious background & beliefs. and he seemed to really enjoy the bizarre, disturbing twists at the end of her stories. the more unhinged the characters became, the more he seemed to like it. it was fun to read things through his eyes! learn more about him & the recent award here:

http://www.thestate.com/2010/11/20/1569615/heros-welcome-for-professor-of.html#storylink=addthis

incredible.

there are movies that really stun you and change you. or at least, you watch them & hope you'll be changed. the diving bell & the butterfly was that way for me. docudrama about a man who has a stroke that renders him paralyzed & unable to speak. he learns to communicate through a blinking system. speech therapist calls out letters, beginning with the most commonly used, & he responds by blinking when she says the letter he wants. a painstaking process.

main character jean-dominique bauby made a crucial decision post- stroke. he came to a point where, after wrestling with his new/vast limitations, he reflected on what he did have left: his memory & his imagination. and the ability to blink his way toward sharing that with people.

interspersed with scenes where his memoir's being transcribed are powerful interactions between bauby & his dying father. and then between bauby & his own kids. interactions that prompted him to reflect on the father need in all of us. good lines that i won't spoil! watch it. absorb it. love it. start with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G69Zh7YIg8c

road trip revelations

i just took new car on his first road trip to savannah. for friend aimee's birthday.

some would argue the car's gender should be feminine. but this is not the case. i've chosen to name him paco. and girls who went to savannah (bday girl, lauren, & kari) unanimously sanctioned this choice. i'll have to remind them of this sanctioning once the incessant paco references become annoying. or maybe i can censor myself on occasion. anyways, paco took a little hit this weekend. but you wouldn't know it unless you looked really close. on our way to georgia, we heard a loud thud whilst going 70 on the interstate (& it was brought to my attention that i could've been going faster) but looked around & saw no cracks on windshield or windows. we conjectured it was a piece of tire & later discovered what appeared to be tiny skid marks on windshield. while paco is basically unscathed, i'll admit i was rattled & didn't stop shaking for the next 10 minutes.

in addition to helping me land on a name for vehicle & revealing his fortitude, this road trip also revealed to me- & i'm ashamed to admit it, & i'm pretty sure paco is too- i have the lamest music collection for a road trip, unless driver & passengers are all looking to nap all the way to destination. srsly. no party tunes. a few soundtracks w/maybe an upbeat song or 2. but i have absolutely no music that would engender some waist-up vehicular embarrassment. thankfully, the girls kept decent attitudes despite this deplorable lack. but if paco could talk, i'm fairly certain he would've scolded me & asked for a new owner.

another revelation- i love driving late at night. it's peaceful. and traffic signals are easier to see.

in a somewhat unrelated side note, by way of explanation of the pic, our hotel room was graced w/this wall-hanging. so, intermittently throughout the weekend, we referenced what good times were being had in savann. there may or may not have also been some self-guided touring. since the only things i could remember from a prior trip to savann were that midnight in the garden of good & evil and forrest gump (in part) were filmed there, i made frequent references to this or that place being the spot of filming. historically speaking, it left something to be desired.

hopefully, bday girl was still happy. we love you, aimee! and paco sends hugs.

thanks, tina! & thank you, Father!

sister in law tina gave me this recipe long ago, & i love her for it. it's been a couple years since i've made it, but i'm bringin it back as soon as an opportunity presents itself, most likely for a holiday thing with co-workers. the combination of ingredients may sound strange (ie., jar of salsa with spinach), but it's wonderful. the part that takes the most time & makes it a little messy, or maybe more annoying, is cutting the cream cheese into cubes. but it's worth the effort & minor mess. enjoy!

Tina's Spinach Dip
Ingredients:
1 (16-oz) jar salsa
1 (10-oz) package chopped spinach
2 c. shredded monterrey jack cheese
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 c. evaporated milk (or half n half)
1 T. red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegrette
salt n pepper to taste

Directions: preheat oven to 400. in a medium baking dish, mix together salsa, spinach, cheese, cream cheese (cut into cubes), evaporated milk, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until bubbly. serve with chips or crackers of choice (personal preference is frito scoops :)


...& some food for thought while it bakes- had some challenging discussion last night at small group. it was about the affections. how we cling to things other than Jesus. it reminded me of the verse in ecclesiastes about eternity being placed in our hearts. and about c.s. lewis's thoughts re: the "things temporal" vying for our attention/affection despite knowing, intellectually, that He's better, truer & more beautiful (see october 29th post). thought you might like to see a little more of his insights:

"when we try to keep within us an area that's our own, we try to keep an area of death. therefore, in love, He claims all. ...the fatal choice is the permitted, regularised presence of an area in ourselves which we still claim for our own. we may never, this side of death, drive the invader out of our territory. but we must be in the resistance."

thank you, awesome Father! You are for us in the fray!