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Can she bake a cherry pie?
Jun. 19th, 2005 10:27 pmTurns out she can, even though the filling was store-bought (shh!). I figured that since I was already making two other pies (steak & kidney, for my father) I might as well make a third. And happily, a whole package of shortening is just enough to make 6 pie-shells, so everything worked out perfectly. And for anyone wondering how to make a kick-ass pie crust, follow the recipe on the box: the Tenderflake people know what they're talking about.
Yesterday we went to a party at a student's house, which was lots of fun. It always amuses me how the students do double takes when they hear me speaking English, it's as though they'd caught me breaking the rules. :) It also led to a discussion with a student who was wondering if I had a preference for either language. "If you had to choose, which one would it be?"
That would be like asking me which lung I'd choose, if I could keep only one. French and English are both part of who I am, in different ways; I can't say one is more important than the other. I've always used both. Not necessarily for the same things, but I don't consider one to be better, or easier, or more useful than the other. Some things just don't translate, but I feel much richer having two fully-mastered modes of expression. I imagine I always had the unspoken certainty that I'd find a bilingual mate -- otherwise, how could I share everything? There are still many things G doesn't get in French, though au fur et à mesure they're fewer and farther between. And he catches on quickly.
Recently we started watching Les rois maudits and we've had to pause it quite a bit. First of all because G doesn't know much about medieval France or about French history in general, so explaining that clarifies things for him, and since the novels have been condensed into a 6-part series, each part being around 90 - 100 minutes, there's no beating around the bush. The fact that it looks like an almost theatrical production (minimal sets, no filming on location), albeit one with nice costumes and props, doesn't help, as there isn't much to clue viewers in regarding where the action is taking place, aside from the dialogue itself. Which is a bit fast for G, especially with the accents. Good series so far (we've watched the first two episodes) though we haven't had the pleasure of seeing Mahaut d'Artois much yet -- once she and Robert d'Artois are set loose on each other, that'll be a show! I've already warned G that they're all (and I do mean all the main characters) going to die, just not when and how. It's History, after all!
Yesterday we went to a party at a student's house, which was lots of fun. It always amuses me how the students do double takes when they hear me speaking English, it's as though they'd caught me breaking the rules. :) It also led to a discussion with a student who was wondering if I had a preference for either language. "If you had to choose, which one would it be?"
That would be like asking me which lung I'd choose, if I could keep only one. French and English are both part of who I am, in different ways; I can't say one is more important than the other. I've always used both. Not necessarily for the same things, but I don't consider one to be better, or easier, or more useful than the other. Some things just don't translate, but I feel much richer having two fully-mastered modes of expression. I imagine I always had the unspoken certainty that I'd find a bilingual mate -- otherwise, how could I share everything? There are still many things G doesn't get in French, though au fur et à mesure they're fewer and farther between. And he catches on quickly.
Recently we started watching Les rois maudits and we've had to pause it quite a bit. First of all because G doesn't know much about medieval France or about French history in general, so explaining that clarifies things for him, and since the novels have been condensed into a 6-part series, each part being around 90 - 100 minutes, there's no beating around the bush. The fact that it looks like an almost theatrical production (minimal sets, no filming on location), albeit one with nice costumes and props, doesn't help, as there isn't much to clue viewers in regarding where the action is taking place, aside from the dialogue itself. Which is a bit fast for G, especially with the accents. Good series so far (we've watched the first two episodes) though we haven't had the pleasure of seeing Mahaut d'Artois much yet -- once she and Robert d'Artois are set loose on each other, that'll be a show! I've already warned G that they're all (and I do mean all the main characters) going to die, just not when and how. It's History, after all!
