love and contempt

Have you ever really liked/loved someone for whom, within a short span of time, you feel intense dislike and revulsion for? And those feelings ping-pong back and forth regularly? It's not so hard to imagine academically but in reality, I can't seem to get my head wrapped around the dichotomy.

On another note, I am in the middle of Reading Lolita in Tehran. It's hard to see the rise of religious zealotry in this country and not feel a shiver of deja vu when you read about the Iranian Islamic Revolution. Couldn't happen here, you think? You should read this woman's utter disbelief that this could happen in her country. And watch her slowly accept the morality squads' erosion of civil liberties. Especially for women. Accepted is the wrong word. Resigned is more like it. Because she understands that rebellion could mean death.

With that little pick-me-up, I'm going back to baking a cake for my coworkers...

isolation & thanksgiving pi

Despite the post title, we had a good Thanksgiving weekend. Good food, friends and some quiet time together. I can't fully explain the feeling of isolation. Some of it is self-imposed, some feels imposed externally. I'm sure it's a combination of factors most of which I'll tease out in the post-chaotic funk. Today I question the strength of my alliances with people. The political motives behind weakening connections or the ulterior reasons spurring new connections.

Ah, shit. Maybe it's not enough leftover turkey or too much pie.

Speaking of pies, I made five pies. Two apple, two pecan and my first sweet potato pie. My first vodka-in-the-crust pies. Tasty, flaky and easy to roll out. Those pies put the P in presentation. I even did some math to figure out how many pecan halves I'd have to save out for the pie top arrangement so I wouldn't chop too many. Seriously. I figured out the area of a 9" pie (that's right, dear mathletes, I used pi r ² for pie. Hakuna matata, people–circle of life), the area of a typical pecan and approximately how many of the latter would fit into the former. I'm not saying this was an exact calculation...but it was pretty close and sharpened the point on my head.

Okay, I'm putting my slide rule away and going to bed now. Thanks for playing.