Produksjon

Phew! For some unknown reason, I was able to crank out text for a new article book chapter (I need to start forcing myself to think of it like that) like nobody's business today. I chose to work from home, and promised myself that I wouldn't do any household tasks at all, but treat my just under five hours of having the house to myself as though I were in my office. It totally worked. I wrote eight pages in just under five hours, and then in about 45 minutes after dinner I spewed out two and a half pages more, in addition to the four pages I had from last week. It's still a very rough draft, but having fifteen pages to work with instead of four makes such a difference. I'm thinking the final product will be somewhere between 30 and 40 pages.

More importantly, I have a much clearer idea of what it is I'm trying to say and how to say it. Initially I set out to discuss four early "national dramas" by writers other than Ibsen. They all utilize variations on the same set of motifs, and were exceedingly influential in their day, but totally forgotten now. Then I had the vague notion of relating these obscure works to the more canonical foundational national texts. While walking to school to pick up E it suddenly dawned on me that the single most iconic national text in Norway, Peer Gynt, shares all of the major tropes that I am analyzing in these four plays. It became clear that I needed to clear away everything else and make this an analysis of the relationship between these older plays and Peer Gynt, and that I actually have a whole bunch of really exciting things to say about them all. I have one particularly good idea that is so cool I have to keep to myself, even on an infinitely obscure (but still public) blog like mine. I am so excited I'm practically vibrating.

Maybe my brain was cleared by our "traditional" family walk (and by the fact that KE and I are starting to clear the air and settle into new routines--oh and that we are having beautiful early fall weather). We headed out to our favorite secret spot in the woods mid morning on Sunday, at my initiative no less. E complained bitterly the entire way there and back, which was a real drag, but we just have to hope that eventually he will work things out and start to enjoy activities like that. I was regretting the whole endeavor, thinking that it would have been much easier to just avoid the whole complaining thing, but really, who am I to let this whiny little kid (whom I adore, of course, but sheesh, give me a break!) keep me from getting out into the woods?!

I have to admit that I was motivated primarily by the lure of blueberries. I had visions of groaning bushes laden with dusky berries, but alas they were few and far between. Only toward the end of E and KE's patience did I happen upon a densely packed patch. But even so, we came up with 2 1/2 cups of blueberries, which was enough to make some more jam. Here's the jam in use, on a waffle produced by KE in celebration of the jam:

Unfortunately, I used too much sugar (though it was still less than the recipe called for), and I find the jam too sweet to really nosh on it. I can only take a little bit at a time, though the blueberry taste is ever so delicious. I'm starting to really like making these miniature batches of jam, and I actually think it's one of the few cooking things that I have a natural talent for. I'm terrible at meals, but good at baking and apparently good at jams and jellies. I guess they call for different skills and temperaments.

In knitting news, I finished the second sleeve on the Fanakofte over the weekend. Here's a snap of them nestled together, unblocked, and with one hem still unsewn:

I'm really happy with how they are knitting up, especially since I'm using two totally different yarns (merino and shetland). I made a mistake on the checkerboard pattern. This version of the pattern calls for four by four squares rather than the usual three by three. These are three by three, but on the body I'm going to go with the four by four. I doubt anyone will ever notice the difference.

I had trouble starting the body, though, as a result of not reading the instructions! I started in the round right away, rather than knitting the hem part back and forth before casting on five extra stitches (for the steek) and then joining in the round. D'oh. I had to rip it all out, and am now finally back up to the beginning of the checkerboard. I just tell myself that I knit because I enjoy the process, so it doesn't matter if I have to do things over (and over) again...

ETA: I forgot to mention that we did watch Gatas Gynt the other night and really enjoyed it. It's an interesting blend of performance and documentary about the actors, who are homeless people struggling with substance abuse. I'm definitely going to use it in my class this term!