Obama's speech on/and Osama's Death

I  was surprised to learn of Osama Bin Laden's death earlier today, but I have conflicting feelings about it. Obviously, he deserves severe punishment, but my belief in the due process of law makes it hard for me to celebrate his death. I have no doubt that any jury would have delivered the same sentence as did the soldiers who attacked his compound, but something irks me about celebrating death in this way. He was horrible - I am aware - but I can't make myself feel as joyous about his death as perhaps I should. Another big part of that is that Al Qaeda is like an ant colony - if one member dies, even the queen, another individual will fill its place. Certainly, psychologically, this is a huge victory for peace, but technically, it could not have been an insurmountable blow for the terrorist organization.

Ah, well. We shall see what comes of this in time, I guess. On to Obama's speech. I thought he spoke well, considering it was 11:30 at night. But he looked so tired, so worn down. I feel bad saying this, it reminds me of the six words that brought down Harriet Jones in Doctor Who (why yes, I am a sci-fi nerd), but I was struck by it. Certainly it must be hell to send soldiers to their deaths and to order the death of another human being - even if they are a monster such as Osama. Sometimes I think I would like to be the president or a surgeon or something, but then I realize that I could never be in a position of such responsibility. Sometimes the responsibility I do have makes me ill. I can only imagine what it must do to Obama - although he is, I'm sure, better equipped for the job. I want to give him a hug. He's done good, despite the world.

College Bound

I'm headed for Smith in the fall, barring serious illness or death.

This is a subject on which I have incredibly mixed emotions. I found out on December 15th and proceeded to jump around happily and call my friends/lovers/boss/relatives.

Now, though, I'm thinking of all the colleges that might have been. My parents were completely apathetic about the whole college process, so to cut down my work I just applied to Smith College Early Decision I (which means if I get accepted and can pay, I must go) and then got in.

Alternatives: Wesleyan University, New York University, Sarah Lawrence College, Maryland Institute College of Art, Reed College, Pomona College...


What if I were going there? Would I be any happier, any more content? Or would my feelings be exactly the same? Is this just my nature? I'm never going to find out, and that terrifies me.

But, if worst comes to worst, there's always the option to transfer. Nothing is concrete.

Tradition, Tradition

I come from a family of physicists and engineers. I've never been to a Christmas Mass, never thought of December 25th as Jesus' birthday. We celebrate Christmas for the fun of it.

But Christmas Eve always brings back a lot of memories for me. I'll break them down by sense.

1. Sound For some reason, Christmas Eve reminds me of Simon and Garfunkel. When I am listening to them, I do not think of Christmas, but around Christmas time, I must listen to them. So, if you can, listen to "Sound of Silence" or "The Boxer" or "Bookends" (even though it is short) while you are reading this.

As far as "Christmas Music" goes, you cannot beat the Trans-Siberian Orchestra revamp of Carol of the Bells: they call it Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo 12/24. Interestingly, the song was written as a portrait of a cellist playing after the Seige of Sarajevo.

George Winston also plays a beautiful arrangement of Carol of the Bells and myriad other tunes; his album December is a masterpiece.

2. Sight Unfortunately, my camera is broken, so I can only post these stock photos, but later, I will show you real ones. A lot of my neighborhood puts out luminaries (this year, one of ours caught fire, and it spread to the leaves on the street before someone discovered it!). We have Scandinavian roots and German family friends, so we have a lot of straw ornaments. And pinecones.

3. Touch The feeling of chapped lips and raw hands always reminds me of winter. 

4. Smell The smell of evergreen always permeates our house; no matter how many times I've asked my parents to use the artificial tree my grandparents gave us, they refuse. So, once a year, a tree is chopped down for our sake and I thank it for blanketing the living room in Christmas-scent.

Also, the smell of cooking food reminds me of Christmas. As a vegetarian, I despise waking up to the aroma of a baking ham, but my family members adore it. More fondly, I remember the batches and batches of Christmas cookies we bake yearly for teachers, friends, ourselves, and "Santa." One particularly stressful year, my mom said that Santa wanted a glass of wine instead of milk, but he still got our cookies.

5. Taste We see my relatives from Philadelphia once a year around Christmas, and we always bake the same, delicious cookies. They're melt-in-your-mouth, chocolate-y, cookie-cuttered goodness. I'll give you all the recipe. 

Pennsylvania Dutch Chocolate Cookies

1 cup sifted whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups sifted unbleached white flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt (scant)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-Process)

8 oz unsalted butter (that's 2 sticks)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tbsp water

Additional sugar (I like using raw sugar) for sprinkling on top of cookies

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil.

2. Sift together both flours, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and cocoa; set aside.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter (ouch!) until soft. Beat in the vanilla and 2 cups of sugar. Then, beat in egg and water. On a low speed, gradually add the sifted dry ingredients, beating until thoroughly mixed. You can also do this with a wooden spoon, it gets quite thick.

4. Turn the mixture out onto the counter and knead until smooth (don't worry too much about this). Divide the dough into two balls.

5. Place one ball onto a lightly floured surface and roll out with a floured rolling pin. Roll the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick (not thinner!)

6. Cut out cookies. Use a spatula to transfer them to cooking sheets. (One of my favorite things is making abstract cookies out of the negative spaces between the cookie cutter shapes.)

7. Repeat rolling and cutting with other half of dough and any scraps.

8. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sugar!

9. Bake for 7-10 minutes, depending on cookie size. They will still feel soft when they are done, but they will firm up as they cool. (You probably won't think they're done; they are.)

10. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool.

11. Eat. They are especially good with milk. 

To those of you who celebrate, Merry Christmas. To those who don't, a peaceful December 25th.

New in Town

Well, actually, I've only lived in one house my entire life (granted, it hasn't been too long) - a large, drafty colonial in suburban New Jersey that my parents bought for next to nothing. I have far too many random interests to summarize here, but I'm sure they'll emerge eventually.

 

I'm not entirely certain what this blog will end up being; most likely, it'll be a conglomeration of books to be read, films to be watched, art to be looked at, and music to be listened to. Add in the occasional social commentary, update on my life, or perhaps some of my own artwork, and you've got the blog. Not too original, but I didn't think that videos of me falling down would get much attention. Scratch that, they probably would. If anybody ever catches my insane klutziness on film, I'll be sure to share it.

For now, signing off, I have a summary of Hamlet's soliloquies to write!