Bulgur. and other stuff

I love the song "The Origin of Love" from the Hedwig and the Angry Inch soundtrack. Check it!

Yesterday, I learned that Syracuse has not offered me any financial aid. Even though I filed my taxes this year (and the FAFSA) as an independent, Syracuse expects my family contribution to be $38 grand plus which is equal to the total tuition and estimated living expenses and all that jazz. Nice. I just don't understand why UW expects me to only pay over one thousand dollars and has therefore offered me over $40 grand in various loans while Syracuse offered me zip. I sent their financial aid department a little email posing this question, but I'm not sure when I'll receive a response. I was leaning towards Syracuse, but as of now it looks like I will be attending the University of Washington. It's a little disappointing because Syracuse has guaranteed all of their incoming library master's students a $10/hr 10hr/ week job working with the faculty. They also have a program that pays for half of one's tuition by writing blogs and creating videos and whatnot for the MLIS program. I didn't turn in my application in time for that this year, but there was always next year. And besides being a little bit cheaper in terms of tuition and living expenses, I've always wanted to live on the East Coast and this was a golden chance. So, it looks like Seattle instead, and I'm trying to get myself pumped for that. I have to accept by Thursday. Anyway, I'm putting my faith in these lyrics:

and i never cared too much for the money
but i know right now
that it's in god's hands
but i don't know who the father is

Yesterday, I was listening to the Splendid Table on NPR and they were talking about bulgur. Janet Fletcher who wrote this article for the San Francisco Chronicle came on the program, and told us that bulgur is a type of prepared whole grain wheat that is popular from Greece and Turkey and the Levant region. Bulgur came about because it was a way to preserve wheat which can quickly go rancid once harvested. Traditionally whole grains are boiled until soft and then laid out on flat roofs to sun dry. Today, much of that process takes place in factories. Bulgur is used in everything from stew to dumplings to salads to lamb tartare to pilaf. Anyway, I was in the grocery store buying chocolate to make brownies (they just came out of the oven and smell delicious), and I decided to buy some bulgur too. Anyway, the aforementioned article includes several Turkish recipes that utilize bulgur which I am eager to try out.

Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV proclaimed April 3rd (clearly I am behind on my podcasts) to be Good People Day or something like that and encouraged people to give shout-outs (e.g. blog posts) about important people in their lives. While there are many people near and dear to me who have profoundly influenced my life, I wanted to give a special shout-out to my good friend and former roommate Melissa. I would be lost without her. I cannot tell you how many times she helped me out with my dearly departed Buick (I miss you!) when it broke down--which was a regular occurrence. Or how often she helped me clean my college apartments as I was moving out. She is fiercely loyal to her friends and a great empathizer. She has the largest heart of anyone I know, and I enjoy being around her. I consider myself lucky and blessed to know such a friend, and I just wanted to say, "Melissa, I love you."

This past weekend I went to Lagoon with Melissa and Ellen and her husband Justin. We decided to splurge and buy season passports which I have never had before, and I figured this might be the last summer I live in Utah (or not; we'll see). Anyway, we got there around six thirty and didn't know that the park was scheduled to close at seven--it is still April after all. However, it ended up being perfect. We didn't have to pay for parking as it was so late in the day, and we managed to get in four rides before the park closed which made for a perfect little outing. We started with the Tidal Wave and then moved onto the Turn of the Century, or swings, which is one of my favorites as it features art of women in Victorian costume. Plus, who doesn't love a good swings ride? We then rode on the original "White" Roller Coaster which just gets ricketier and ricketier every year, and is no longer even close to white in color any longer. We ended the evening on the Carousel which still features hand carved figures. There was a scene in Adventureland which takes place on a warm, summer's night and the park is all lit up and it really made me want to go to Lagoon. Anyway, I look forward to many more lovely adventures there this summer. Also, I just saw Lagoon's new commercial on TV and it was actually quite nice and not obnoxious at all as many of their commercials have been in years past.

As I've mentioned before, I'm currently reading Little, Big by John Crowley for book club. While it is wonderful and superb, I am unconvinced it was the right choice for our group. It is a wondrous fantasy of epic dimensions, but I already have the acute sensation that this book is not meant to be read only once--it needs multiple readings, and it's quite a long book at that too. The writing is fantastic but also dense and frequently abstruse. There are five generations of interrelated characters and the novel switches from different generations with seeming abandon. The plot is a bit difficult to describe as I'm not sure there really is one (yet)--certainly not in the traditional terms of conflict and rising action. I just read this sentence from the novel which perfectly describes how I feel about it: "The long, long ambiguity of Edgewood, the stifling sense of mysteries continually propounded, never solved, the endless waiting for purposes to be made clear and directions pointed out--all over." Except, in the case of the reader it is far from over, and I am still waiting for the denouement where everything will be made clear--and I expect it to be amazing. Currently, it's still all a-muddle. And so I fear whether or not our group will valiantly persevere through. It's been awhile since we've read/finished a good book and had a rousing discussion.

On a final note, these few quotes have been running through my mind lately, and I leave them to you to do with as you will.

"I think . . . that I would rather recollect a life mis-spent on fragile things than spent avoiding moral debt."
--Neil Gaiman Fragile Things

"You said that humanity was a flawed creation, and that people still kill one another for petty jealousy and greed. You said that humanity never asked itself why it deserved to survive. Maybe you don't."
--Sharon Agathon "Resurrection Ship, Part II" Battlestar Galactica

"The things that make us happy make us wise."
--John Crowley Little, Big

What's in a Name?

I would like to thank Lianablog tumblr thing for this formula and TBTL for sharing it. Liana writes, "Eric and I recently discovered a shared fascination with the slew of impossibly named NPR hosts we listen to every day: Renee Montagne, Steve Inskeep, Corey Flintoff, Korva Coleman, Kai Ryssdal, Dina Temple-Raston.

"In fact, we've often wondered what it would be like to be one of them. A Nina Totenberg or a Renita Jablonski. A David Kestenbaum or a Lakshmi Singh. Even (on our most ambitious days) a Cherry Glaser or a Sylvia Poggioli.

"So finally, after years of Fresh Air sign-off ambitions, we came up with a system for creating our own NPR Names. Here's how it works: You take the middle initial and insert it somewhere into your first name. Then you add on the smallest foreign town you've ever visited."

So I've toyed with a few different options. Gregsory and Gregorsy, but I think I like Gresgory the best. Unfortunately, I am not well travelled, which does not allow for an amazing NPR last name. I think London would be a bitchin' last name, but the smallest foreign town I've been to is actually Stratford-upon-Avon which is über-lame (as a surname as well as the town itself. Suck it Shakespere!) If only I had gone to Bath or Brighton. So I'm thinking of just going with Stratford or Avon. Gregorsy Avon? What is your NPR name?

This is Gresgory Stratford for NPR News.

At the Movies

I just saw 17 Again. I know, you would never expect me to see that. I was dragged along by my friend Ellen. What I said to her when the movie was over was, "It was cute, I laughed, and I'll never see it ever again." Oh and, "Let's make sure this is the last movie in which Michelle Trachtenberg plays a high school teenager." Most of the funniest parts were in the trailer, aside from the screwball romance between the principal (Jan from The Office) and Ned, who is Mike's (Matt Perry/Zac Efron) best friend. Efron gave a solid performance, and has really found his niche as a dancing basketball player--alas he did not sing. And Perry hardly had any screen time at all, which was a shame. Anyway, it wasn't horrible, in fact it was half-way decent. So when there aren't a lot of good movies coming out this time of year, one could do a lot worse. Of course one could do a lot better too.

So who needs a movie? I also found myself in the movie theater last weekend watching Adventureland which I rather enjoyed. Some people have said that it reminded them of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I myself did not think of that for one minute while watching Adventureland but I suppose it's in a slightly similar vein. N&N was an odd and delightful romp through NYC with Michael Cera doing his usual shtick. Adventureland is not the uproarious Apatow-esque film the trailer portrays it to be, but an indie coming-of-age story that is more or less a comedy of sorts. Both have excellent soundtracks. The characters, which could easily have been archetypes, are fleshed out and therefore more interesting. Kristen Stewart, who I fell in love with in Speak, is excellent and has a promising future ahead of her. And while there are some laugh-out-loud moments, most of the humor was quiet head chuckling. Anyway, I would recommend Adventureland as a film well worth seeing.

I got Frozen River from my Netflix last week, and it was a good film. Melissa Leo really carries that movie with an amazing performance. Kate (and Meryl) deserved the Oscar, but Leo was rightfully nominated. The movie shows us an America we hardly ever see in film or fiction, and it is harsh. It is a completely naturalistic movie about a hardscrabble life. And yet it also works as a thriller. Leo unexpectedly finds herself transporting illegal aliens across the American-Canadian border over a frozen river that is part of the Mohawk tribal land. We find ourselves on the edge of our seats, cheering for Ray (Leo), who's single mother trying to make ends meet. It's a film about race, immigration, poverty, and most of all, the story of two mothers' resilient love for their children.

I also just watched Grande Ecole from Netflix. It was a really interesting film that I'm still not sure I understand. It is French after all. The one warning I would give is that this movie has a lot of skin (which I of course I enjoy!). It reminded me a little bit of Dangerous Liaisons (or Cruel Intentions) and it's a story of race, class, sex, and education in modern France. But mostly it's about desire. Paul has been accepted to the Ecole Normale Superieur--one of France's most prestigious and exclusive schools. He has a girlfriend Agnes, who is a student at a sister school, but also falls in love with his roommate (Louis-Arnault), and carries on a sexual affair with young Arab man, Mecir, who works for the school. The script is intelligent, erotic, and literate--lots of Foucault--and the actors all do a lovely job. Especially Gregori Baquet (Paul), Alice Taglioni (Agnes), and Salim Kechiouche (Mecir). It was a very interesting film about the transference and consequences of desire as well as a film about contemporary French society, but in the end I am not quite sure what to make of it. Nevertheless, I think it's worth checking out.

Sharing is Caring

"The Real Revolution is Love." I saw that on a bumper sticker as I was driving home today, and it struck me as very, very true.

I just saw this video on the TBTL page and it filled me with simple joy. It's a group of people suddenly breaking into dance at an Antwerp train station set to The Sound of Music. Cheesy, but fabulous. If all the world's a stage, there should be more musical numbers in life!


Spring is in the air--or in Utah that brief season where it basically feels like summer in the valley but there's still snow on the mountains. It makes me miss spring in Cedar City where we would lounge on the grass on a lazy Sunday afternoon--studying and trying to get a tan. Not to mention the shirtless tennis players on the courts...

The Sandman Meets Charles Schulz

This is one of the greatest things I've seen in a long while. It made me laugh real hard.If you've never read The Sandman then you won't get it, but that's an easy remedy: read it! The Sandman is basically awesome and also my favorite comic/graphic novel thing. Also, I just wanted to credit this image by Evan Shaner aka DocShaner of deviantART (since I probably don't have permission to share it here--don't tell!).

I haven't been up to a whole lot, but I've been meaning to blog about this and that. So here's just a bunch of thoughts. I've been listening to a lot of Tori Amos lately--I mean more than I usually do. I borrowed A Piano: The Collection from the SLC Public Library and I've just been listening the discs over and over again in my car. It's been delightful. On a brief side-note, I've realized I am basically the man in "Snow Cherries from France" which is just a beautiful song.

I've also been attempting to catch up on my RadioWest podcasts which has been a somewhat successful venture. Today I listened as Tom Hodgkinson discussed idleness. He argues that the Western addiction to work has resulted in ill health, debt, and anxiety. He proposes that to lead a pleasurable life requires idleness. He of course discusses Oscar Wilde (and many other philosophers including Jesus!), but never used one my favorite Wilde quotes: "It is awfully hard work doing nothing. However, I don't mind hard work when there is no definite object of any kind." They also discussed meditation and the Eastern philosophy of Taoism: being not doing--which is of course immensely complicated and difficult. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion and not just because it justified my own idleness. Of course Hodgkinson differentiated somewhat between thoughtful idleness and wasteful laziness. He also made this point--why do we rush around constantly completing tasks and making money? to then enjoy life of course! But do we need to wait until the weekend or until we've made X amount of money to enjoy ourselves--or can we make idle time for ourselves every day to enjoy? I think so. "Isn't it nobler to sit like Job contemplating the world than to scurry around like an ant being busy?"
I also just discovered RadioWest had Alexandra Fuller on the show discussing her book, The Legend of Colton H. Bryant, and I can't even tell you how excited I am to listen to her (again)!

I don't generally watch American Idol but my family goes nuts for that show. Anyway, I caught Adam Lambert performing "Mad World" this week and it was amazing! I actually downloaded his version of the song off iTunes, which I have never done before, but has the awful American Idol cover art, but I can deal with that. He also performed in Wicked at the Panatages Theatre in LA as Fiyero. Anyway, he's probably the best contestant Idol has had on since Kelly Clarkson (maybe ever), and he should definitely win this season.

Currently, I'm reading Little, Big by John Crowley for book club which is an epic fantasy novel, though I found it in the Fiction & Literature section at Barnes & Noble rather than the SciFi / Fantasy area. It was recommended by Harold Bloom. Anyway, so far it's quite unusual and very good. I haven't read a book this dense in a long time--I really have to pay constant attention as I'm reading or I miss a lot. I also need a good dictionary nearby as Crowley's vocabulary is immense. It's going to take a chunk of time to finish it, but I have the highest expectations. I think it's an excellent way to be semi-idle.

I really miss my Will & Grace ever since they stopped playing it on KJZZ. Thank god for YouTube! Anyway, I love this clip which in ten minutes explains pretty much every reason why I love television. Enjoy!

Be Generous

The Mormons have some six or seven BEs that they like to throw around like Be Grateful and Be Humble but I got a new BE and I like it a little bit better: Be Generous. I know it's corny, but let me explain. I can't remember if I was watching Kingdom of Heaven or Six Feet Under (yes, I know they're very different shows--maybe it was even something entirely different) when this came up. I'm pretty sure it was Kingdom of Heaven and either Godfrey de Ibelin (Liam Neeson) or King Baldwin (Edward Norton) said to Balian "Be Generous. With your time, your heart, your life." or something like that. And it struck me that this is how one lives--by being generous. This isn't something I'm great at; I'm a rather selfish and vain person. But narcissistic navel-gazing isn't how a person grows. And society teaches us not to be generous--we might be taken in, taken advantage of. And while we should never just give away our time or our hearts or our lives, we should be generous with them. I think that's a fine balancing act between being stingy and being careless. But I think that this sort of generosity is how we learn about ourselves and others and the world. It's how we grow and develop, how we build friendships and relationships, how we become the type of people we want to be. So be generous. It's something I plan at to become better.

On a side note, this other quote, which I know for a fact is from Kingdom of Heaven, is a favorite of Rae's and mine: "God will understand, my lord. And if he doesn't, then he is not God and we need not worry."