Ravings of a Textual Deviant

I’ve never liked my name (sorry, Mom) but it could be worse.

I’ve given away a lot of clothes that didn’t fit lately, but kept others in the hopes that they could be altered. Most of the items in question are elastic-waisted, ankle-length, cotton gauze skirts, perfect for summer. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that the elastic in most of them is shot. It isn’t a big deal to replace it, but I wish I’d been paying more attention when I got dressed this morning. I’ve got a good seven inches of waistband doubled up and held together with a binder clip.

The 2004 Bulwer-Lytton Contest results are up! According to an article on MSN news, Scott Rice said that this year’s entries are especially witty, and “Sometimes the entrants are more clever than the judges. Those people generally lose.” The best example of this, I think, is the Dishonorable Mention in Children’s Literature.

Jack Weatherford’s Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World is more about the making of the modern world that Genghis Khan, but I won’t quibble with the title. The material is de-academicized for popular consumption, but I found far fewer things to contend with that most other books I’ve read about the Mongol empire. The prose is concise and eminently readable; the people and siutations are sufficiently interesting that the history doesn’t need added glamour. In addition, Weatherford’s research is as on the ground as you can get; he traveled all over Central Asia and Mongolia, some of it on horseback. It’s obvious that the author is extremely familiar with at least one translation of the Secret History of the Mongols, an account of the life of Genghis Khan written after his death by the Mongols themselves. (The document is known as the Secret History because it was either lost or suppressed right up through Soviet times.)

The first part of the book is not entirely unlike the Mongol Conquest I and II classes I took in graduate school at Indiana University. (Weatherford teaches a course on the Mongol conquest at Macalester University, in fact.) The Mongol Empire as we think of it didn’t really come into being until after the death of Genghis Khan, nor was it as unified as it may have appeared from the outside. There’s an excellent treatment of the family politics of Genghis Khan’s successors, including giving credit where it’s due to the women of the imperial family who ran the empire while the men were off campaigning. He also emphasizes that Genghis Khan introduced significant changes into steppe nomad society, an important point that is often overlooked. There is a good discussion, primarily by using the example of Khubilai Khan (who ruled most of modern China and parts of Tibet, Southeast Asia, and Xinjiang), of how Mongols rulers balanced assimilation into the culture of their subject populations while maintaining their Mongolian heritage. Throughout the book, Weatherford also emphasizes the policy of religious tolerance of the Mongols. The only problem I have with highlighting this particular aspect of policy is that it tends to encourage readers to apply current standards to 900-year-old. Religious tolerance was not instituted because “it’s-the-right-thing-to-do”; it was a way to reduce conflict between diverse groups and conveniently avoided dissing any gods that might take offense at the conquest of their believers.

As for the making of the modern world…Weatherford describes how Mongol military tactics directly influenced the German blitzkrieg and Russian tank warfare; how the Mongols were the first to develop a sense of nationalism; an acceleration of globalization (did you really think that’s a twentieth-century trend?); free trade policies; the standardization of the monetary system and the use of paper money; and the first international postal service. He even throws in a cookie for the linguists–the word mogul, which is derived from a northern Indian word for Mongol.

One of the things I liked best about the book is the anthropologist’s perspective that Weatherford brings. Most of the works on the subject that I’ve read have been by philologists and historians, and until fairly recently, researchers were reliant upon writings from the conquered, sedentary societies rather than the Mongols themselves. This book gives a non-academic audience the best presentation of the Mongol perspective than anything else I’ve read in English, except for the translation of the Secret History itself. Very much the antidote to the History Channel’s offering on the subject.

I had my second round of acupuncture yesterday afternoon, and it was both better and worse than the last time. I’d gone an entire week without migraines, despite the fact that the barometer has been all over the place, which is one of my main triggers. Again, we started off by checking my meridians, and apparently, eleven of twelve are now healthy and in balance. (The off-balance one probably has more to do with the fact that my work space is an ergonomic nightmare than anything else.)

Needle time–this time, I had absolutely no nausea or vertigo. A few needles stung a little more going in, but not too badly, and they were a bit deeper this time. Nor did I have the intense buzzing nerve sensations and heat; just a bit of warmth like increased blood flow or coming in from the cold, combined with a light tingly, prickling feeling. I opted not to have the bottom-of-the-foot needles in; it just did not sound like a good idea. Oddly enough, without the nausea to focus on, it was harder to really relax with the needles in, and I was shifting around more. Still, the fifteen minutes went by quickly enough. There’s something to be said for sitting quietly for fifteen minutes, assured that you will not be interrupted, with or without needles.

When the needles came out, I did have a tiny bit of bleeding in a couple of spots–common, I’m told. I’ve had worse needle sticks, and I’m not really bothered by blood anyway. (I was mostly concerned about keeping it off my pants.) I did feel simultaneously relaxed and energized, sort of like waking up without an alarm after a really good night’s sleep…or a really good trip to the gym.

After the needles were out, the acupuncturist asked me about the yoga breathing technique I’d been doing (ujjayi breath, for those to whom it means something). That led into a discussion about medications, and how so much medication is overmarketed–and that half the time, the side effects are the same as the symptoms that the meds are supposed to treat. I bring this up because when I was listening to the TV (reading while Ed was watching) later that evening, I heard an ad for an OTC medication for fatigue. Specifically, for fatigue caused by stress and not sleeping enough. Maybe I’m going out on a limb here, but when you’ve got fatigue caused by stress and not sleeping enough, isn’t it better to find a way to reduce your stress and sleep more? Fatigue is a sign that you are doing too much, and covering it up with a pill that “gives you energy” is only going to make it worse in the long run.

I’ve managed to track down another one of Charles de Lint’s out-of-print books, at a reasonable price! Some of his earlier novels are being reprinted, but most of them are ones I’ve already got. I’ve been looking for an affordable (key word) copy of The Fair at Emain Macha for over ten years at this point. No more! I will be staking out the mailbox starting on Saturday.

From Ed at the help desk…

I just spent 50 min on the phone with someone on [site] and a guy at HP. The guy they bought the printer from came out to install it, a piece fell out, and since the “tech” didn’t know where it went… he LEFT IT OUT! 50 min on the phone to find out that a part was completely missing!

What can I say but…*facepalm*

This toy is good for a quick break. I don’t know how accurate it is, but that’s not really the point, is it?

“You can go add value somewhere else.” (Coworker M to Coworker F, in a meeting)

Last summer, I got handed a load of blueberries. Now, Dorothea finds herself with a raspberry surplus. You can do a lot of the same things with both berries; the main difference is that blueberries are slightly alkaline, so you won’t need to add as much acid when substituting raspberries.

Jam is dead easy; equal weights of fruit and sugar, simmer until fruit loses structural integrity. (You could add in a little bit of lemon juice or balsamic vinegar if you’re feeling ambitious.) Handle with extreme care; pastry chefs call hot sugar “napalm” for a good reason. Make sure your pot, utensils, and containers are sterile; I use the dishwasher for this. The process is similar to raspberry sauce, which is lovely on Alisa’s cheesecake torte. (Warning–old links may be broken as a result of the change to WordPress.)

If it’s too hot or you’re too lazy to to cook, a simple salad is as follows: romaine lettuce, mandarin orange segments (drained, reserve liquid), toasted almonds or hazelnuts, thinly sliced green onion, and raspberries (or blueberries, or strawberries, or blackberries, or all of the above for that matter.) Dress with a combination of reserved liquid from the orange segments, hazelnut oil or olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.

An even simpler salad would be mixed field greens, raspberries, and goat cheese with balsamic vinaigrette.

Also, homemade ice cream/sorbet isn’t difficult, and you don’t need an ice-cream freezer, just a blender or food processor. (Instead of churning the ice cream base, you partially freeze it in a shallow plastic Tupperware-type container, whiz it around in the countertop appliance of choice for a few seconds, and freeze it again for a couple of hours. Repeat 2-3 times, or until you’re satisfied with the texture. Granita is even easier; freeze the mixture solid, and scrape with a fork. ) It’s definitely worth the time and effort!

If you’re in the mood to experiment, raspberries go very nicely with peaches, white and/or dark chocolate, hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, apricots, pears, lemons, oranges, kiwi fruit, brie, vanilla, coffee, balsamic vinegar, rhubarb, figs, mascarpone, chevre, and other berries. Though not all at once. (Baked brie with mixed berries is quite the nifty party dish; looks spectacular, very posh, and easy.) If you just can’t get enough, epicurious.com popped up over 400 recipes when I searched “raspberry,” most of them desserts.

Update: Almost forgot–raspberry lemonade.