Son of a...!

Here I am, it is 3 on Tuesday and I am stuck at 16 pages on a 15-18 page paper. At this point, it is not even about making the page limit, it is about writing a coherent paper that will help me retain my grade describe the poor performance I turned in for the final a week ago. And even more than that, this is the paper I submitted for consideration to one of my associations to present in the Spring of 2008. Augh! This is what I want to write about but I am just stuck! I don't know if it is because I don't have enough information or if I am trying too hard or if I really need to rethink my topic, which I just don't have time for. So here I am, venting in this space and trying to motivate myself to get done in one hour so I can proofread and bake cupcakes as my contribution to tonight's celebration.

oh, and here is a little hint on what my paper is about....

Yes, that is right, I join the rest of the world in writing about J.Lo's butt. My paper is titled, “Butt” What Does it all Mean? The Performance of Latinidad in Popular Culture and its Effect on Latina Identity. of course, this is the third title I have created...

get er dun, part II!

Well, this weekend is starting differently. I just finished everything I need to get done for the classes I teach. I graded all of the final lab assignments(45), the last of the speeches(24), and wrote my final exams (2 versions to help prevent cheating). All I have to do is copy the exams for my classes today at some point and grade the scantron tests and prepare the test key before Wednesday. Easy, breezy, done!

Woo hoo! On the home stretch. I have a paper due Tuesday evening that I need to get working on and I took all day Tuesday off to prepare. Next on the list, X-mas shopping!

get er dun!

i turned in my final and i presented on the paper that i still need to write which is due on tuesday. still have lots of grading for my classes i teach and getting sick again. i just got well from a cold at thanksgiving and here i have a bad headache and feeling queasy. bleh.

Primal Scream

[insert here]

I have a final due at 7. What I have written so far is not good but I have four out of five questions answered. One more to go and then research and present my final paper in class tonight. I can do this in 2.5 hours, right?

big sigh.

It's been a while

Since I did a music blog. As I am taking a break from finishing my final exam.





Soundtrack of my life

So, here's how it works:

1. Open your music library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool

1. Opening Credits: Bodels by 311

2. Waking Up: If I Could by Seal

3.First Day At School: When I Look into your Eyes by Andre 3000

4.Falling In Love: Rainy Days and Mondays by The Carpenters

5.Fight Song: If you Could Only See by Tonic

6.Breaking Up: Too Little Too Late by Barenaked Ladies

7.Prom: baby Hold On by Dixie Chicks

8.Life: Girl by Tori Amos

9.Mental breakdown:Blue Jean by David Bowie

10.Driving: PJ & Rooster by Outkast

11.Flashback: Sixteen by No Doubt

12.Getting back together: I Love You by Sarah McLachlan

13.Wedding: Ready to Run by Dixie Chicks

14.Birth of Child: 125 pt. 3 (Connections) by Joell Ortiz

15.Final Battle: Intuition (Todd Terry Radio Remix) by Jewel

16.Death Scene: Pulse by Ani DiFranco

17.Funeral Song: American Angel by George Michael

18.End Credits: Come Original by 311


Wow, some of those are strangely appropriate, at least with the song title I did not change anything up, I swear, I just hit party shuffle in iTunes and started typing.

Okay! Back to work!

As Requested via Email

Hey Lucky,

I was going to give you the Mac n' cheese recipe straight out of the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook since that is the one I use all the time but in typing up the recipe, I realized that I don't use that one at all. I will give you the recipe as best as I remember, the noodle size is an estimate, I usually just use one package and fill the dish, if there is any extra - I'll eat it or put it in Tupperware.



Marz' Mac n Cheese

Ingredients:
16 oz. pkg Elbow macaroni
Approx. 1/4 Lb mild cheddar - shredded(or what ever amount looks good to you)
Approx. 1/4 Lb jack cheese - shredded

White Sauce Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter (or margarine)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350.

Follow the package instructions to boil the noodle. Drain, and rinse noodles. Place half the noodles in the casserole dish and half the cheese on top of the noodles. Or, you can put half the noodles in the dish and then mix half the cheese into the noodles. Keep the other half of the noodles and cheese within reach for after making the white sauce.

For White Sauce: Using a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once it is completely melted, add in the flour, salt and pepper. Stir the ingredients together; you should end up with a kind of paste at the bottom of the pan (your rue). Caution, be sure to keep stirring so this paste does not burn. Add the milk in, it is best to add it a third at a time, stirring the paste into the milk so you don't end up with lumps, although you can add it in all at once if you really want to. Keep stirring constantly until the sauce starts to thicken up. It will feel like you are stirring forever and then all of the sudden, the liquid will start thickening up. You want it to a consistency of cream.

Immediately pour half the sauce into the casserole dish. Add the rest of the noodles and most of the cheese, reserve a little of the cheese for a decorative topping. Pour the rest of the sauce over the top of the noodles and cheese, covering the dish as evenly as possible. Use the last of the cheese to sprinkle in the middle of the dish.

Put the casserole in the heated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and you have a nice light browning of the top.


So, that is the basic recipe. Sometimes, for a little bit of a kick, I use cayenne pepper in place of the black pepper. Just eyeball the amount, you don't need a lot. Or if I am feeling gourmet, I use white pepper so you can't see the flecks in the white sauce. I also tend to double the white sauce recipe I gave you above so that the dish is extra creamy (2 cups of milk, etc.). You can also put half the noodles in the dish, then a layer of cheese and then a second layer of noodles and cheese and then make the white sauce and pour it over the entire dish at one shot. The sauce will drip down through the dish and it is easier to construct that way. I like to be sure that the sauce is all the way through the dish using the method I describe in the recipe above since once I let the sauce get too thick while stirring and it didn't sink in and the casserole had a weird layer of sauce that baked into it. My brother liked it but I wasn't too crazy about it. But that only happened once.

Hope you enjoy!

Love,

Marz