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For the bird must flee the winter, sir
I don't know how cold it is outside, but it is too cold for June. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ladymondegreen sent me a black overshirt which is seeing a lot of use right now. The Guardian has given a very nice obituary to Tanith Lee.
This afternoon I accompanied my mother and my niece to the Museum of Science. It was Charlotte's first visit. She's seventeen months old. She loved the dioramas of New England; she pushed all the buttons to make the shorebirds light up and pointed at the stuffed black bear that visitors can touch and shouted, "Ba!" In the butterfly garden, she ran back and forth after the brightly closing wings (and the brightly colored flowers, one of which she tried to eat—my mother and the docent stopped her simultaneously), displaying incredible restraint for a toddler by obeying when told not to touch. I took dozens of pictures, some of which I can even identify. I don't know why ayaya means "butterfly" in Charlottese, but it very clearly does. I worried very much that Mathematica had been shut down, but it's just been mysteriously relocated from the main hall of the Blue Wing (its former gallery now occupied by "The Photography of Modernist Cuisine") to the back of the Theater of Electricity, directly behind the Van de Graff generator. The mockup of the Apollo Command Module has also moved from the last time I saw it. It's being saved for the next visit, along with more time with fossils. Her reactions to the Tyrannosaurus rex were equivocal, but she really liked the Pteranodon, suspended against a painted Cretaceous sky.
A selection of butterfly pictures; a fraction of the number I took. I may post a few more tomorrow. I do not know all the species I photographed. I can identify the Common Morpho (Morpho peleides), even though I never quite caught one with the shimmering blue wings open, and a couple of lacewings, although never the intricately black-and-white one that looked like a flying scrap of text. If you recognize any, shout out. There were also some female Atlas moths (Attacus atlas) in an enclosure, enormous and map-winged.
That is the only picture I managed of Charlotte observing a butterfly. The rest mostly came out like this:
Most of my evening went toward making Käsespätzle withderspatchel and schreibergasse. We were working from a German cookbook from the 1960's. I didn't think we had translation problems, but we must have missed the line where it said "feeds one small standing army." So much spätzle. So much. We covered them in a mix of Emmenthaler and Chorherrenkäse (of which I had never heard before seeing it in the European cheese counter of Dave's Fresh Pasta) and an experimental sprinkling of paprika in the overflow dish. They were terrific. Chewy, cheesy, the weird sweet spot between egg noodle and dumpling that makes me want to put a meat gravy over them. Schreiber' puts nutmeg in the batter, which goes very well with the basic dairy profile. They were also filling to the point of causing me to question the life decision of ever eating again. And it's not that making spätzle is strictly a complicated process—there are five ingredients in the recipe and they cook in boiling water until they're done—but it is somehow a consuming process, so that earlier we joked about Cleaning All the Things and then we really had to. Without Schreiber's spätzle maker (Spätzlehobel), I'm not sure we'd have survived. I remember washing at least two bowls and two pots and an infinite number of spoons afterward anyway. I regret nothing. Except maybe thinking about food at all since.
Autolycus is grooming on my lap as I type. The presence of a small warm cat is greatly appreciated in endothermic times like these.
ladymondegreen sent me a black overshirt which is seeing a lot of use right now. The Guardian has given a very nice obituary to Tanith Lee.This afternoon I accompanied my mother and my niece to the Museum of Science. It was Charlotte's first visit. She's seventeen months old. She loved the dioramas of New England; she pushed all the buttons to make the shorebirds light up and pointed at the stuffed black bear that visitors can touch and shouted, "Ba!" In the butterfly garden, she ran back and forth after the brightly closing wings (and the brightly colored flowers, one of which she tried to eat—my mother and the docent stopped her simultaneously), displaying incredible restraint for a toddler by obeying when told not to touch. I took dozens of pictures, some of which I can even identify. I don't know why ayaya means "butterfly" in Charlottese, but it very clearly does. I worried very much that Mathematica had been shut down, but it's just been mysteriously relocated from the main hall of the Blue Wing (its former gallery now occupied by "The Photography of Modernist Cuisine") to the back of the Theater of Electricity, directly behind the Van de Graff generator. The mockup of the Apollo Command Module has also moved from the last time I saw it. It's being saved for the next visit, along with more time with fossils. Her reactions to the Tyrannosaurus rex were equivocal, but she really liked the Pteranodon, suspended against a painted Cretaceous sky.
A selection of butterfly pictures; a fraction of the number I took. I may post a few more tomorrow. I do not know all the species I photographed. I can identify the Common Morpho (Morpho peleides), even though I never quite caught one with the shimmering blue wings open, and a couple of lacewings, although never the intricately black-and-white one that looked like a flying scrap of text. If you recognize any, shout out. There were also some female Atlas moths (Attacus atlas) in an enclosure, enormous and map-winged.
That is the only picture I managed of Charlotte observing a butterfly. The rest mostly came out like this:
Most of my evening went toward making Käsespätzle with
derspatchel and schreibergasse. We were working from a German cookbook from the 1960's. I didn't think we had translation problems, but we must have missed the line where it said "feeds one small standing army." So much spätzle. So much. We covered them in a mix of Emmenthaler and Chorherrenkäse (of which I had never heard before seeing it in the European cheese counter of Dave's Fresh Pasta) and an experimental sprinkling of paprika in the overflow dish. They were terrific. Chewy, cheesy, the weird sweet spot between egg noodle and dumpling that makes me want to put a meat gravy over them. Schreiber' puts nutmeg in the batter, which goes very well with the basic dairy profile. They were also filling to the point of causing me to question the life decision of ever eating again. And it's not that making spätzle is strictly a complicated process—there are five ingredients in the recipe and they cook in boiling water until they're done—but it is somehow a consuming process, so that earlier we joked about Cleaning All the Things and then we really had to. Without Schreiber's spätzle maker (Spätzlehobel), I'm not sure we'd have survived. I remember washing at least two bowls and two pots and an infinite number of spoons afterward anyway. I regret nothing. Except maybe thinking about food at all since.Autolycus is grooming on my lap as I type. The presence of a small warm cat is greatly appreciated in endothermic times like these.
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"Ayaya" is about what I'd expect for "butterfly" with toddler non-consonants, or rather, non-patience for hitting the phonemes accurately.
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You're welcome! I'm very glad you liked them.
"Ayaya" is about what I'd expect for "butterfly" with toddler non-consonants, or rather, non-patience for hitting the phonemes accurately.
Thank you! Having never raised a toddler, I have pretty much no idea how verbal development works. (Family history tells me I spoke in complete sentences by the time I was her age, so I know I am not a reasonable benchmark.)
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Thank you! I'm very glad you enjoyed them.
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That makes sense. I know my brother and I differed radically in different areas of development: I was a mostly stationary baby, apparently, so my mother was lured into a false sense of security when it came to putting my brother down in one corner of the living room and expecting him to stay there, instead of immediately scooting off underneath the furniture.
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What a joy to be with Charlotte discovering!
Mmm, spätzle.
Nine
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These butterflies are all so beautiful. I want to go to a butterfly garden now. I know there's one slightly north of here...
Pteranodons are more compelling than T-rexes. Plus, you have only to look at herons or pileated woodpeckers to know they're still among us...
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The Käsespätzle sounds delicious. Last night was clearly a time of blessed culinary experience. My folks are in town and we went to dinner, and while I picked a restaurant that was too fancy, too loud and too cold, they nonetheless managed to feed me both an entree and desert, which impressed our whole party. My father actually took a photo of me eating dessert, because it was such a rare occasion. Said photo has been posted to my twitter to much approbation by people who have tried to feed me.
I am so glad that Mathematica is still there, especially after the sudden disappearance of Life in the Ancient Seas. Many of my museums are alive just in my head, so I am glad that one of yours endures. I had a similar "wow, it's still here" about 10 years ago when I discovered that the dinosaur exhibits at the ROM were untouched from my childhood recollection (circa age 7). I believe they've been updated now, but I spent most of my last visit at the ROM discovering the glass exhibit and the tiny but fascinating Judaica gallery, which has the kinkiest yad I have ever seen.
I am so glad the shirt is coming in handy. It has been unseasonably cold and raining, and I am in favor of anything that keeps you warm and dry.
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Yeah, Spaetzle with coq au vin or similar is pretty much the Best hing Ever.
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The second down are the Atlas moths. I never saw the males of the species; they were elsewhere in the garden, sleeping out the day.
What a joy to be with Charlotte discovering!
I am looking forward to taking her back to the Museum of Science, and many other museums after that.
[edit] These were two of my other favorite photos from the afternoon. They're blurry with low light, but still.
Mmm, spätzle.
It was great! In retrospect, it was the second of three nights in a row I had some variant of noodles and cheese for dinner. Tonight I made a chicken. It was very satisfying to eat something that had once had muscle fibers.
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#6 and #7 were the one butterfly in the garden I could identify without a crib sheet, the Common Morpho, with their wings closed so that only the eyespots are visible. I kept trying, but the only shot I got of their characteristic iridescent blue was from a butterfly with a damaged wing.
The buckeye has also got terrific eyespots, though.
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She watched it very intently.
I want to go to a butterfly garden now. I know there's one slightly north of here...
You should! Bring back photos of different butterflies!
I still miss the Sun Lab with its fantastic solar pagan faces, but I do like the butterfly garden.
Pteranodons are more compelling than T-rexes.
Hear, hear. My childhood favorite ancient reptiles were pterodactyls, mosasaurs, and for some reason I believe Ankylosaurus. I remember having a small rubber model of one. I liked the tail club.
Plus, you have only to look at herons or pileated woodpeckers to know they're still among us...
That's a nice way of thinking of it!
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See above to
they nonetheless managed to feed me both an entree and desert, which impressed our whole party.
Oh, bravo! I am also impressed by this restaurant. What is it?
the tiny but fascinating Judaica gallery, which has the kinkiest yad I have ever seen.
Link, please.
I am so glad the shirt is coming in handy. It has been unseasonably cold and raining, and I am in favor of anything that keeps you warm and dry.
Thank you. We appear to have been held back and are now repeating April.
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If you have spare time around Readercon, I recommend it!
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I think so, too.
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It is a recipe you can replicate at home, if you are willing to wash all the things afterward!
(If you can't see
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I was thinking something like that semi-paprikás we made in May, only with chicken instead of sausage. Some time in the future when I can imagine eating pasta-like dishes again.
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Oh, bravo! I am also impressed by this restaurant. What is it?
It's a high end steakhouse/sushi restaurant with an indoor fountain, and other froo-frah, but it turned out to be worth it, since they were able to feed me. Last night's culinary experience at Franchia was not as successful, and I think I have soy poisoning. Which, as poisonings go is not as drastic as it could be, but is still unpleasant.
The yad is reasonably innocuous, until seen beside the chalitzah shoe which is also in the gallery. I will send pictures via e-mail, as I haven't worked out the technicalities of posting them to LJ comment.
Thank you. We appear to have been held back and are now repeating April.
Yes, let's hope we pass this time, so that we can graduate to July. We'd better study hard.
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Done!