(no subject)

I had a dream last night, involving people who shall remain very much nameless for their (And more so, my!) protection. It was probably the most vivid and explicit dream I can remember having.

If I'm going to start remembering dreams, um, I wouldn't object to more of those.

(no subject)

Baconfest was so full of pork-belly goodness!

(See, I read up on bacon on Wikipedia prior to attending my first bacon-themed party, so I know that American bacon comes from fatty, belly cuts of pork, whereas what most of the world calls bacon comes from less fatty side and back cuts [that's what we here in the states call Canadian bacon is made from]. Now, when you hear about pork belly futures, just remember that that may be your next tasty meal of bacon they're talking about!)

So, danaeris' housemates have a yearly gathering to which those who are invited are requested to bring some kind of dish made with bacon. For myself, I found a recipe online to make bacon muffins. Fairly typical (I imagine, having never made muffins before) muffin batter, but with crumbed bacon added, along with the drippings from the cooking of said bacon. They were mediocre, but certainly edible.

But oh, the other things that were there! There was bacon chili and pasta with a bacony white sauce. There were bacon and cream-cheese rangoons with sweet and sour sauce. Bacon chocolate baklava. Dark (really dark!) chocolate bacon truffles. There was a Stilton cheesecake with bacon (Not what I was expecting but very yummy!) brought by a cute man with a wonderful accent and in a pretty skirt, as well as these little chocolaty bacon pastry-cup things. One of Danae's housemantes made excellent bacon ice cream, and Danae herself made bacon toffee. I've never seen so much bacon in one place. Attendees cast votes for the winners, who received prizes like a copy of "Bacon: a Love Story" or a game of Pass the Pigs.

And beyond that, I had interesting conversations with a number of people. One person I talked to was in the states temporarily from Italy, and we talked about difficulties in learning another language, and what Italy is like compared to the US. I've never known anyone else to describe Chicago as a quiet place! But in comparison to places like Milan or Rome, it sounds like, it's pretty sedate!

I talked about learning Japanese with a second attendee who'd taken classes for a couple years, and about anthropology with another who'd gotten her undergrad degree in it, and about why she didn't like being in academia. Lots of good stuff to talk about. There were a lot of people and I'm going to have a hard time remembering who was who exactly, but I had a really great time.

And of course, visiting with Danae for the weekend was pretty great too. We spent a good chunk of time on Sunday watching the TV version of The Dresden Files on DVD. I still haven't read any of the books (apart from paging through a novel and a graphic novel that my parents have had in their bathroom when I was up there) but several people have highly recommended them. My parents are playing in a Dresden Files tabletop RPG too, which sounds like fun, especially given that it's all set in Chicago. Anyway, the TV show was pretty good (as was being snuggled up under a warm blanket in good company on a windy winter day), and I think I need to read the books when I get around to it.

I rode the BNSF Metra line for the first time, out from Union City to Naperville, then back in on Monday morning from Aurora to Union Station. It was nice to have an excuse to visit Union Station again. The brutally cold wind on the walk from there to work was less so. It's interesting to me that the Metra cars on that line say BNSF on them. I wonder why that is. Are those cars owned by BNSF? What is Metra's relationship with BNSF as opposed to UP, on whose lines the cars do not have any UP markings? Inquiring dogs want to know!

I got back to the apartment on Monday evening after work, edited some photos from New Orleans, and got to bed early. It's nice being back home again, though not so nice having to go to work. Only a month and a day more of that though....

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Splashing Around in Jackson Square

© Stormdog 2010

A bird frolics in the fountain in Jackson Square in New Orleans' French Quarter. I like that the picture contains another woman taking pictures of the fountain.

The joys of bureaucracy

I just called UW-Parkside about my admission.

The person who took my readmission form is out of the office (as she was last week) through Thursday. There isn't a record of the readmission form I gave her. They also do not yet have a copy of my official transcript from New Horizons in Troy. The woman I talked to last week, who said she was going to contact New Horizons to explain what was needed and get them to send me one, is in a meeting 'till this afternoon. I will have to call back later on today and talk with her. Meanwhile, the person I talked to today is going to try to contact the person I gave my form to to see what's up with it and why it's not on record.

Wish me luck!

(no subject)

There's a section in my Japanese work book about visiting someone's house. There are some blanks to fill in with compliments about Takahashi-san's house. One of them, I don't quite understand.

The house is close to the subway station. The answer in the back of the book to express this is:

えき　から　ちかい　です　ね。
(Eki) (kara) (chikai) (desu ne)
(station) (?) (close) (isn't it)?

I'm confused about から (kara) in this context. As a particle, I understand two uses. 'From', as in , I worked from 8 to 5, or 'because' as in I go there because the food is tasty. I don't quite see how either of those uses fits here.

I found kara in use in the same way here with a little Google search: http://www.japanese-online.com/lessons/Mem_JLL13_romaji.htm

ちかてつ　の　えき　から　ちかい　です　か。
Chikatetsu no eki kara chikai desu ka.
Is it near the train station?

I'll ask Nakamura Sensei about it on Thursday, but I thought I'd write about it here too.