Wednesday Potluck Menu!

CLASS WILL MEET AT 9AM WEDNESDAY!

Quesadillas

Beef enchiladas

Corn casserole

Spaghetti

Cookies

(vanilla) Cake

Apple crumb pie

Chicken wings

Fried rice

General  Tso’s chicken

Oatmeal raisin cookies

Brownies of doom

Flautas

Hummus

Fat man’s pie

Chicken Alfredo

Sausage and chicken gumbo

Mashed potatoes

Rice

BEVERAGES????

Omelas, Sleep Dealer, "Lullaby of a Hated Person," and "The Argument"

Dear Doomers:
By this time, we have watched Sleep Dealer in class.  The film can be played instantly on Netflix (and probably through other services).
Sleep Dealer

We have also read "Lullaby of a Hated Person" by Joseph Michael and "The Argument" by Ceschino.  You get extra credit for writing a review of/analysis of/journal response to the short stories and additional credit for incorporating one or both of them into your final essay.

As far as the prompts for your final paper (DUE MONDAY!!!), you should have written (and tried to incorporate into your final essay--even if a prompt is covered in just one sentence or paragraph) the following prompts:
1)  What would you do about the child in the cellar?
2)  Relate the story to something you have experienced or observed.
3)  Relate the story to another creative work (book, film, tv show, song, etc).
4)  Relate the story to a major event (current, recent history, signficant older history).
5)  Relate the story to a major issue (from a large to global scale).

You will get credit for incorporating your analysis of artwork at the MFAH, of the film Sleep Dealer, and of the two extra credit short stories into your final essay.

NO CLASS MONDAY 12/24/12! (RESEARCH DAY)

Dear Doomies,
This is a reminder that Monday, December 24th, 2012, is not an in-class day.  It is your research day for the third Omelas prompt.  You will have the morning off to research, watch, read (or sleep!) the creative work (short story, opera, ballet, film, tv show, song, poem, book, etc) that you feel relates to "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas."

By now, you should also have written about what you would do about the child in the cellar as a resident of or visitor to Omelas and what in your own observations or experiences reminds you of the story.

When we come back on December 26th, we will check our work and prepare for our Thursday field trip to MFAH.  Please start planning to arrive there instead of the classroom in the morning.

Should you have any comments, questions or concerns, feel free to comment here or email me at the address on your syllabus.

Enjoy your (extended) weekend!

Food for Thought

Saturday, January 23, 2010

A Meal With Haiti in Mind

Often people from less wealthy countries are in a situation where the only meal they get is based on beans and rice. Looking into the nutritional value of those economic meals, we find that they are very well balanced and, as I said before: Balance is everything!
Last night, while thinking about the famine that the people of Haiti must be going through, I cooked a meal that was super economical, easy to prepare and rendidor, a source of bounty. I cooked one bag of black beans, boiled 2 cups of long grain brown rice, fried 2 sweet potatoes cut in the shape of long french fries in an inexpensive blend of soy and olive oil, and fried two thin-sliced plantains. I topped the black beans and brown rice with queso fresco and wedges of avocado and had an island dinner for 4 while Mafusser read to us "Please, Malese", a Haitian trickster folk tale. The leftover beans were used for breakfast the next day.
It is unfortunate that, as I'm typing, thousands of Haitians do not have this economic meal in their stomachs, but we can manage our personal economy by preparing meals like this. Instead of splurging on a fancy dinner, we can help by sending financial support to Haitian relief funds and by praying for their spiritual and material rebuilding. Remain curious my friends!

Welcome to Doomsday!

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