He has, if the truth be told, been putting it off for months: the moment when he must face the blank page, strike the first note, see what he is worth. -J.M. Coetzee (Disgrace) May, the Emerald month, has arrived in all of its glory, bringing with it its usual companions of bright colors, blossoms, sunshine,…
Let your soul be whole or split, let your perception of the world be mystical, realistic, skeptical, or even idealistic (if you are so misfortunate), let the creative devices be impressionistic, realistic, naturalistic, the content lyrical or narrative, let there be mood, impression -- whatever you like; only I beg you, be logical -- and…
An old Chinese proverb has it, "To eat well requires an adventurous spirit." -John Thorne (foreword to An Omelette and a Glass of Wine)Sometimes you come across recipes that you really believe in. For me, oddly enough, this recipe for parsley juice is one of those recipes. I don't know why I'm so taken with…
After a semester of grading, more grading and endless office hours, only one more 8 a.m. class stands between me and freedom (or, as I refer to it in my mind, time to write my dissertation). An even more comforting thought is that this is probably the last time I'll ever teach this course--especially at…
At moments of restriction, fantasy alone can lift people above dreariness. Fantasy is a flower that does not flourish on passivity. -Elsa Schiaparelli ("Impossible Conversations") It's strange to think that only a few weeks ago I was in New York City. The weekend there--the first full weekend in July--passed by in a blur of activity;…
When we eat alone we often break all the rules surrounding not only what to eat but when to eat and even where. And this is true regardless of what we know about cooking or about what makes a proper meal...Solo meals can be all corn and tomatoes if that's what you like. Solo meals…
With postwar guilt, he decried bratwurst, sauerbraten, and Konigsberger Klopse as dishes verging on poison. They were the Hitler of foods. Instead, he looked to our own Greek diet--our eggplant aswim in tomato sauce, our cucumber dressings and fish egg-spreads, our pilafi, raisins and figs--as potential curatives, as live-giving, artery-cleansing, skin-smoothing wonder drugs...They didn't call…
Dining with Dostoevsky 