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Showing posts from October, 2008

Commonplace

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Does anyone believe that Kenneth Grahame made an arbitrary choice when he gave his principle character the form of a toad, or that a tag, a pigeon, a lion, would have done as well? The choice is based on the fact that the real toad's face has a grotesque resemblance to a certain kind of human face--- a rather apoplectic face with a fatuous grin on it. This is, no doubt, an accident in the sense that all the lines which suggest the resemblance are really there for quite different biological reasons. The ludicrous quasi-human expression is therefore changeless: the toad cannot stop grinning because its 'grin' is not really a grin at all. Looking at the creature we thus see, isolated and fixed, an aspect of human vanity in its funniest and most pardonable form; following that hint Grahame creates Mr. Toad--an ultra-Jonsonian 'humour'. And we bring back the wealth of the Indies; we have henceforward more amusement in, and kindness toward, a certain kind of vanity in rea

It hasn't all been school . . .

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Hats for the Fall Jolly Fabulous bread dough, the richest I've ever made, thanks to the Best Recipe I gave away the cinnamon rolls unbaked. But they sure turned out lovely, thanks to the precision of dental floss. The peaches were starting to turn to vinegar, so I baked them in bread dough The cake turned out too dry (The recipe was for tres leches cake, but of course I don't have any rum) But it's pretty and made fairly decent french toast. Zucchini, tomates, basil and keilbasa on pizza dough I overloaded the dough, so the middle turned out a bit soggy. But otherwise it was fabulous. I did long for some parmesan though. I'll make it again. The beauty that is Idaho

Pensees

Man is not worthy of God but he is not incapable of being made worthy. It is unworthy of God to unite Himself to wretched man, but it is not unworthy of God to raise him out of his wretchedness. ~ Blaise Pascal