Bad News in Higher Ed: No Surprise Here

More bad news and commentary on higher ed matters from the New York Times OP-Ed column and MLA Report on the status of women in the profession. Why did I even bother coming to the academy in the first place? I'll leave it to you to read the report, but I will say this: Because neither source considers the ways in which the economic crisis, tenure promotion, status of faculty, etc. specifically impact writing specialists, I wonder selfishly to what extent all this bad stuff will affect moi. While it is clear that rhet/comp specialists have been significantly affected by hiring freezes and less than ideal job circumstances because of the economy (trust me in knowing that they have!), since writing is one of the only courses that nearly every undergrad in the university is required to take, I wonder if rhet/comp has been less affected in comparison to other disciplines in the humanities like literature or religion. I mean, I wouldn't suppose that there'd be a huge demand to teach medieval lit or western and modern religion--not that there's anything wrong with people who specialize in those sets of knowledge. I'm just saying that I could understand the logic in cutting faculty in some disciplines in the humanities, especially if enrollment in those types of courses is down; I ain't saying that these cuts are fair and should happen more in the humanities than in the other sciences or rhet/comp for that matter. Nonetheless, I still hope that I'll a) get a job when I go on the market next year since I'm a writing specialist, and b) if I do get a job, I won't have to sacrifice family too much as a woman... *sigh.

OSF: This Song Never Should Have Been Made

I gotta go with Eddie Murphy's "Party all the Time." Sorry, Seriously, how did he even get a record deal? (Sorry Rick James; RIP. But this is foolishness!)

Treats to Myself for Working Hard on the Dissertation

I've gotten a ton of writing done the past couple weeks and worked through tons of data. As a pat on the back, I've been making fun desserts this past couple of weeks. Last week, I made a yummy limeade pie and yesterday I made orange French cream cookies with orange zest icing. Mommy and Revvy, I'm bring samples of the cookies home today for y'all to try. :-) For all others, see the photos! LOL!

PS: Mommy, I plan on coming home to visit for a brief break the week of May 11th. Please fry me up some of your famous chicken wings and make a tuna noodle casserole when I visit. I will repay you with my undying love :-)

OSF: Blogger's Choice

Mr. C and I were talking a couple days ago about how the cartoons of today are quite different from the ones of our childhoods. It seems that today's cartoons seem too real and lack the fantasy aspects necessary for being a child. So, for this week's OSF theme, I chose a few cartoon theme songs. I wanted to focus on cartoon songs because I think it's important--at least for a moment--to forget about all the problems, worries, and stresses of life's demands. Sometimes, we just gotta have fun and laugh!

Heathcliff:


Alvin and the Chipmunks:


Punky Brewster:

The Benefits and Limitations of Cooking Healthy

This year I decided to try a bunch of homemade healthy recipes and have blogged about the process of cooking and eating healthy off and on. Monday I tried a limeade pie and substituted fat-free condensed milk for regular and used a reduced-fat graham cracker crust. I swear, you couldn't tell the difference. Mr. Clark never noticed; that pie was da bomb. There's just enough for one more serving tonight. Then the pie's history!

Tuesday, I baked homemade whole wheat banana bread with yogurt and an omega soy and canola oil blend. I got the recipe from Denise Austin, and it wasn't bad. While the texture and flavor were really good (I CAN bake!), it would have tasted better had I used more sugar, white flour and butter. Done my way, I know it would have tasted even better. Oh Well.

Yesterday I tried a heart healthy shrimp gumbo recipe, and used low sodium chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, thyme, and other low sodium/sodium free herbs and seasonings. The recipe only called for a teaspoon of salt for a large pot, so I knew that the gumbo may potentially be bland. Although the gumbo was good, and while the flavors were good, it could have definitely benefited from more salt, so Mr. Clark and I sprinkled just a lil' bit (approx. less than an eight of a teaspoon)in our bowls with rice. If I were to do this recipe again, though, I'd use another can of dice tomatoes and a little bit of tomato sauce to give it more flavor, and at the very least, an nicer and redder color. Still good though.

I think I'll keep each of these recipes around though, especially the pie since you couldn't really tell the difference. With the others, although you could tell the difference, if you weight the benefits associated with eating healthy, you can sacrifice a little bit of extra flavor.

Note to Mommy

These weekend, I told mom about my plans to cook and try new recipes for the upcoming week. I mentioned several recipes that I wanted to try: A shrimp gumbo, red beans and rice with smoked turkey, a limeade pie (which I made today... Yum!), a pasta crab casserole that I'd made a few times, candied sweet potatoes with crushed pineapple (seriously, all that butter is NOT necessary!),orange and whiskey French cream cookies (I made them once and loved them, but lost the recipe and finally found it) etc., etc. My mom's response? She asked why the rest of the family never gets to taste these creations. My response: A) I'm tired on the weekend and am never in one place long enough to cook anything, and B) I want to perfect the recipes at home first before I take them out in public. My mom's response? She told me to bring it to her and if it ain't right, she'd tell me how to perfect it!

So here's my proposition to Mom: The next time you come up to visit me, instead of going out to try our local restaurants, I'll cook one of these creations for you. The agreement is that you'll come up and visit to get these creations. As a compromise, I'll wait until close to the weekend to bake the orange and whiskey French cream cookies and bring some to you when I come in town for the weekend. Do we have a deal? :-)

OSF: If Mamma Only New

Before I introduce this song/theme, let me preface this post: I really didn't listen to any music that Mamma didn't approve of (maybe stuff the dad didn't approve of, but certainly not Mamma! LOL!), so I posted a song that, had I snuck and listened to it while Mamma was gone, and had she found out, my ___ would be grass! LOL!

Anyone remember 2 Live Crew's "Shake A Lil' Somethin'"? I definitely wouldn't have been allowed to listen to this one, or even watch the video! Look at all dat booty shakin'! Me and Mr. C. were just talking a couple of days ago about how when we were kids there used to be what we called kids' rap with kids' issues (like Kris Kross' "I Missed the Bus," Another Bad Creation's "At the Playground," Fresh Prince's "Parents Just Don't Understand," etc.) Whatever happened to kids' rap? Anyhow, I digress. Here's the cut:

Where Can I Get These (Locally)?

There's this lady at my church who always has these candies, and gives me a bunch on Sunday to take with me during the week. Well, I'm out (it's only Wednesday) and want some more right now! Every time I ask her where she gets them, she just says it's from some corner store. At this point, after asking her hundreds of times, I think she's deliberately keeping her location secret.

I've been looking all over for these, but I can't find them in either the MSU area (where I go to school), or where I go to church in Toledo, OH. I found them on ebay, but $5.50 a bag plus 3 bucks in shipping, seems kinda steep for this lil' bag here. Anyone know where to get these for cheap and with decent shipping? (I know, I'm pinching pennies and tryin' to make a dollar holla right now! LOL!)

OSF: If I were I boy

Obviously I'm not a boy, but if I were a boy and if I were a hip hop artist, I'd have a trusty female sidekick in my song, and we'd both be rulin' the world. Like the saying goes, behind every good man is a strong women. So, I picked "If I Ruled the World" by Nas featuring Lauren Hill. Enjoy!