Update

Hi, folks! Long time, no blog!

I'll try to get back to blogging regularly soon. I'm finally getting my schedule under control. I've finished my application for the full-time teaching gig. I think it went really well--now I just have to wait and see!

This week, I've been learning a lot at my bakery-cafe. I have a big ol' slice on my thumb from a rogue bread slicer (yooowww!), but I've also learned how to slice bagels and bread safely by hand using a giant bread knife. I've learned how to make every sandwich in the shop and a few of the salads. I've baked cookies, scones, and baguettes in the industrial ovens. I'm starting to know the ingredients of most of the food that we sell. Come on in and ask me about the smoothies or the soups or the turkey sandwich--I dare ya!

The treacherous bread slicer looks something like this.

 

But this, for some reason, I can handle!

For my class, I've been reading up on literary criticism and literary theories. These theories are incredibly influential in contemporary literary scholarship, but I somehow made it through grad school without reading up on any of them (hmmmm, maybe I should have taken that Intro. to Critical Theory course everyone kept talking about . . . ).

 

Wearing glasses to class will make me look smarter, right? Right?!?

There's nothing like teaching something you've never studied before to set your heart racing and your palms sweating! It puts you in the same position as your students, but the difference is that you have to explain it to them, answer their questions, and sound like you know what the heck you're doing! Ack!

But now that I've gotten through the readings and given them a little thought, I feel well-prepared for tonight's class. There's nothing like learning on the fly to burn something into your memory for life. Well, except maybe scarring yourself on a bread slicer--I think that makes you learn even faster!

For both of my jobs, I've been on a very steep learning curve. It's been overwhelming sometimes, but I love it: my brain feels extra juicy and absorbent and active all the time. I love how busy I am these days. My hours are always filled (which leaves little time for blogging, writing poetry, and looking for other jobs), but it's a great change from the last six months--I got so sick of moping around like an unemployed lump on a log!

In conclusion, folks, things are going well. And one of these days, I'm going to have the time to bake and blog about this: Whoopie Pies, an old east coast favorite! I hope that they turn out just like the ones from the Amish farmers' markets in Pennsylvania!

Like all good things in the world, Whoopie Pies combine cake with frosting with more cake.