My brother and his lovely girlfriend got me these Toms for Christmas, and they proved remarkably comfortable for two days of walking (and, incidentally, I got compliments from four people at church, which is remarkable because, well, I don’t know anyone at church).  Thank you, A&A!

AC & I made our way to the Italian Market on Saturday, a quaint little area in South Philly filled with cheese shops, spice bazaars, and bakeries.  If you’re looking for that specialty mozzarella, soppressata, pasta in every shape/size/color, or any kind of olive oil known to man, this is the place, friends.

Did it make me long for a full kitchen?  Yes, yes it did.  We also had brunch at this amazing little cafe, Sabrina’s.  For this breakfast-is-my-favorite-meal girl, it was just wonderful.  Cream cheese and banana stuffed challah French Toast?  Yes please.

And then, my wish for a full kitchen came true.  AC’s roommate was house sitting, so we made our way to this lovely woman’s home (and kitchen).  This last week, when I was taking a break from my research, I came across this recipe for buffalo chicken wings.  I had been salivating since Wednesday, so AC and roommate agreed to feast with me on wings and sweet potato fries for dinner.

We celebrated the day-before-the-Super-Bowl in style, pairing our meal with The Devil Wears Prada.  Got to include the Prada with wings, you know.

The picture above represents one of the greatest gifts to me here — a great church.  I went with AC my first weekend in Philly and went back this morning. There is something about it that feels so real, welcoming, life-giving, and encouraging.  I have been blessed by this body of Christ in a city far away.  People who love Jesus and want to make much of Him in their lives.  It’s the place I’ve felt most at home.

So I’m thankful — thankful for truth spoken from the Word, for well-equipped kitchens, for dear friends, for a beautiful day and run, and for a sovereign God who is faithfully ordaining my steps, day by day.

Writing is an outlet for me, kind of like painting with words.  After reading and researching and, yes, writing during my “job” here, I suppose I find my boots, electric skillet, wrapping-paper-covered-walls, and West Wing all the more interesting.  Or, put simply, a break.

But as the days roll on (nineteen today, can you believe it?), I’m finding great joy in my new routine and am ever-so-grateful for this opportunity.

I have a “corner” all to myself in the department building, a corner that is actually almost twice the size of my room.  The sun drenches my desk in the afternoon, a welcome change because this building is terribly cold and everyone walks around in sweaters and scarves.  Today I gave up, ran across the street, and bought a pair of fingerless gloves on clearance.  Oh, what a difference.

My time has been pretty much divided between my own research and work for my advisor/other scholar.  After almost a year of work, today I submitted my first piece to an academic journal to be considered for publication!  It’s on Liberia, and if you don’t know anything about Leymah Gbowee, go get this book from the library (I’ve already told you about this documentary).  She’s a remarkable woman.  And she won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.

I’m taking a seminar while I’m here on transparency and society.  It’s been really interesting thus far — we’ve covered the Founding Fathers’ views on transparency in government, the Freedom of Information Act, and Truth in Packaging / Truth in Lending debates.  For the next two weeks, we’re doing reports on how transparency has changed our understanding of politics, social issues, health, etc.  I’m reading The Double Helix (story of the discovery of DNA) this week and The Making of a President: 1960 (JFK’s presidential campaign) next week.  I’ll let you know what I think.

As for the other half of my job, I’ve been spending a lot of time on this site: The American Presidency Project sponsored by the University of California at Santa Barbara.  The site houses all (yes, ALL) of the public utterances of U.S. presidents 1789-present.  You can even search through campaign rhetoric.  It’s amazing.  Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of keyword searches for terms/concepts/ideas through U.S.  history.  I’m fascinated by how ideas develop over time — what Ulysses S. Grant thought of an idea and then how FDR picked it up and used it years later.  I feel like I’m getting a crash course in the presidency (albeit, small windows into certain ideas in certain times during certain presidencies).  But I love it.

Maybe that helps explain why I really, truly relish going home and watching West Wing.  For Christmas, my parents gave me the complete set of all seven seasons.  I’ve loved this show for years — watched it in high school with my mom, tuned in to it on Wednesday nights when I was interning in D.C., went through the entire thing with JPJD when he was in law school.  And now, in this “semester on the presidency,” I’m back at it again.

So that’s what I’m really doing here.  Learning more every day and growing to love it.

And, in the spirit of the presidency and working in a really, really cold place, I present your weekly West Wing dose.

The library stacks.

First package: paper art for the walls!

Thank you, SB!!!

Homemade guacamole, survival style: avocado + scoop of salsa

Filed under: Philly Vignettes Tagged: Food, Semester Away ]]> http://rhetoricalexpressions.com/2012/02/01/12-everyday-art/feed/ 0 rhetoricalexpressioner 18682282346 18699026392 18699052529 http://rhetoricalexpressions.com/2012/01/31/11-states-apart/ http://rhetoricalexpressions.com/2012/01/31/11-states-apart/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:23:22 +0000 rhetoricalexpressioner http://rhetoricalexpressions.com/?p=1904 Continue reading →]]> It’s difficult to go from this . . .

. . . to this.

But despite the distance, we still manage to watch primary results, critique campaign speeches, and even have dinner together.  I think we may just be the biggest Skype fans around.

Our weekend together was really, really wonderful.  I married my best friend, the love of my life, and the person who knows me better than I know myself.  I miss him for so many reasons, even in the smallest ways.  Coffee in the morning.  A hand to hold.  How he makes me laugh (at myself, no less).  Sweet tenderness.  Cravings for chips and cheese at the exact same time.  Feeling short.  I could go on and on.

We did the “touristy” things — Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Christ’s Church, Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia Museum of Art.  We ate amazing food, including Alma de Cuba for restaurant week and this fantastic recipe for Cavatappi with Broccoli, Red Onions, and Garlic from grad school friend/colleague/fellow-FDR-researcher “Betty”!

We also had some of the best beer and mussels at Monk’s.  Steamed mussels with bacon and blue cheese?  Yum.  You must go there if you are ever in the area.

We also strolled along the banks of the Delaware River, enjoying the sunshine.  A great day.

JPJD left a few hours ago, but not before we indulged in some gelato.  Since “ice cream” is my man’s favorite meal of the day (yes, meal), we simply had to.

This “LOVE” sign is a familiar sight around Philadelphia.  ”The City of Brotherly Love” will become “The City of Married Love” this weekend!  JPJD arrives this afternoon and I can hardly contain my excitement.  I think I’ve told everyone I know here (which is a small number of people, but still).

I’ve been working away at my first research memo this week, resulting in many good “conversations” with former presidents.  I’m in 2011 now (I started in 1630) and am working my way through President Obama and the 2012 Republican Primary Candidates.  After about a hundred more speeches, I’ll do some editing, formating, and provide some “interesting observations” before sending it off.  It’s a major accomplishment.

And then, let the weekend commence!  We have plans for Independence Hall (maybe stream National Treasure on Netflix, too, just to set the scene?), the “Betsy Ross” House, Philadelphia Museum of Art, cheesesteaks, ice skating at Penn’s Landing, beer & mussels with AC and significant other, a lecture on Nixon at the school, church, Philly Restaurant Week, and watching tonight’s Republican debate together on cable (this is a big deal, people).  Oh, and sleeping in my tiny twin bed.  But I don’t think that will be a problem.

I’m a little brain-dead because I’m in the midst of keyword searching 2,351 presidential addresses.  Fun facts I learned today:

• Common (and popular) words ending in “city”: sagacity, electricity, capacity, tenacity, simplicity, reciprocity, publicity, veracity, incapacity, atrocity, multiplicity, scarcity
• Common (and popular) words containing “hill”: chilly, Hillary, The Hill (as in Capitol), Churchill, uphill, hillside
• And, going with the U.S. National Parks theme, Theodore Roosevelt established many state parks and had an acting secretary of state named David J. Hill (who signed the orders).  Since national parks frequently consist of hills and the proclamations to designate said parks are “Done in the city of Washington, D.C.” (or at least they were in 1903), I got to know Acting Secretary Hill quite well.

I’ll conclude with, hands down, one of my favorite West Wing clips ever.  Ever.  Unfortunately somehow the embed function has been removed from this clip, so just click here for the beloved episode of C.J.’s root canal.

Dinner tonight is courtesy of friend/colleague/writing partner SB: Barefoot Contessa’s Greek Panzanella.  I substituted Trader Joe’s Balsamic Vinaigrette for the dressing, but otherwise everything else is the same.  Light, fresh, and flavorful, I’d highly recommend it!

The electric skillet came through!  Here’s the mixture for the Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa and Black Beans that I mentioned.  Instead of baking them, I put the peppers back in the skillet and added water to the bottom, steaming everything together.  They were delicious — great pre-West-Wing dinner!

I got on the train early Saturday afternoon and made my way out Wilmington, DE to visit my dear friend and college roommate (she’s going to be in this a lot the next few months, so I’ll call her AC).  We had planned to explore the Italian Market in south Philly, but Friday night/Saturday morning brought an ice storm to the city . . . and, as I quickly learned, the East Coast doesn’t  know how to deal with ice or snow.  So I slipped and slid my way to the train station and met said-friend in her neck of the woods.

We went to Terrain, the sister-store to Urban Outfitters and Anthroplogie, this beautiful home and garden store with a delightful cafe inside.  Seriously — it’s a good thing I’m living in less than 140 square feet, otherwise I would have been tempted to buy the place out.  Their baby trees were so cute.  So cute.  But $34?  And the good chance that I’ll kill it?  Nope.

The brunch was fabulous.  They bake their bread in flower pots!

We spent the afternoon drinking tea and knitting.  Here’s my yarn for the “Philly Cowl”:

I’m quite excited.  We feasted on a delectable array of cheese/crackers, salmon with red onion and fennel relish, spinach and portabella risotto, and roasted Brussel sprouts for dinner.  This morning, I want with AC to church, lunch, and the library before heading back home on the train.

Speaking of food, thank you, thank you, thank you for the wonderful recipe submissions!  I’m planning to make a few this week before JPJD arrives and it’s livened up my soup-in-a-hot-pot options.  I think all the change and stress stripped me of my creativity, and you’ve given it back.  So thanks.  You’ll be seeing them soon!

No, I do not have any suitors (except the one over Skype).  But I really want to knit a scarf.  I’ve started many a scarf and haven’t finished any of them, but I think that a specific goal and deadline will keep me on schedule.  So here’s my project:

What do you think?  It only requires two stitches (knit and purl) and not a lot of counting.  We’ll see how it goes

In other news, I now have a super-high-tech flat-screen TV with 65 cable channels.  I haven’t had cable since living at my parent’s house, so this is a new development for me.  And I’m not sure which JPJD is more excited to see next week: me or ESPN.  Tonight I’m hosting my advisor for dinner (Stuffed Peppers with Black Beans and Quinoa), and we’re going to try and hook up the laptop to the TV for a West Wing viewing party (thanks, Mom & Dad!).

Speaking of food — more entries welcome and needed!  I have two thus far, and that gets me to . . . Monday.

Thanks for reading, thanks for caring, and thanks for following!  Have a great weekend.