what means this “rocking?”
I was very, very lazy with the blog world this summer. I mean, I didn’t even read — I made you do it for me.
But that ends today. My last bit of catching-up is to thank the three awesome women who have nominated me as a “Rockin’ Girl Blogger.”
Knittymama, Jillian, and Crystal are super rockin’ themselves, so the virtual love is much appreciated. Thank you!!
Sadly, my summer of actual rocking has also ended. When I got home in August, I had a bit of post-tour malaise — it was strange to wake up in the same bed every day, with familiar and mundane tasks (dishes, for instance. god, I hate doing dishes.) stretched out before me, instead of the adventure and surprises of the road.**
And now it’s back to teaching classes and trying very hard to get work done on the dissertation. The last gasp of my rock star summer took place over Labor Day weekend, when we shot a super-low-tech-low-budget music video. And I got to knit in one scene!
See that? It’s the back of my tweed sweater, which by now is almost done — just one sleeve to go!
** Road Lust not helped on Saturday by the Food Network’s Feasting on Asphalt marathon. Man, oh man, do I love Alton Brown.
But I was also irritated to see, yet again, Minnesota food and culture being only and always thought of as Scandinavian. Dude, they were in the Twin Cities, home to the largest Somali and Hmong communities in the U.S., along with a heap ton of Latinos and Native folks. And they chose, again, to feature effing ludefisk and smorgasbord?
And then, when that smorgasbord included a great big dish of native wild rice, they dismissed it as simply “Minnesotan,” instead of focusing on it as a food with a long and complex history, politics and culture (including current legislation! I mean, when was the last time a law got passed about ludefisk?). Maybe the Food Network should send a nutritional anthropologist along next season.
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September 10th, 2007 at 3:33 am
that still is awesome. i got sucked into said marathon early in the day, just in time for a trip from louisana to mississippi. he was really buggin’ out about some spaghetti. I used to think AB was cool guy. oh well.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:38 am
You know what rocks? Your posture! Holy crap, girl, your posture is beautiful in that photo! I am saying this because since having been called out for sucky posture on my blog (coughMintyFreshcough), I have been a little um, sensitized to it. Compliments!
PS — I love me the Minty. And she was right, my posture does suck.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:42 am
Do you ever listen to Eat Feed (podcast)? They have had a series on the Midwest recently, and actually did mention other food communities also. I only listened to the 4th section, but when talking about diners, they did talk a bit about the Latino community in the area also.
September 10th, 2007 at 3:48 am
I am so with you on the Lutefisk thing, come on!! My grandma’s cabin was on a lake where a lot of wild rice grew and it was so fascinating to watch it be harvested. And I don’t know if it’s still there, but ‘Cambodian Family restaurant’ on Lake Street used to be amazing…
September 10th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Your blog SO does ROCK! :o) Glad I discovered you thru our swap!
LOVE the new pic from the video. The green dress is awesome! AND very cool you got to knit in the video!! Will it be up on your myspace site to see?? Let us know!
September 10th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
sounds like we did the same thing Saturday - another HUGE Alton fan here! He has the anthropologist on Good Eats, maybe she doesn’t like motorcycles…
September 10th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Liz is right. You have good posture
Interesting assessment. You should write to them. They definitely need to realize that Scandanavians are not the only ones living there…
September 10th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Um, Ann Coulter advert alert in the haloscan comments.
Great dress!
September 10th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
I love love love Feasting on Asphalt. Although some of what they ate scares me … I love Alton and it totally gives me travel lust, too.
September 10th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
God, I know, what is with the “Minnesota is full of nothing but Swedes” thing? When I lived there my old friends (from Portland, no less) all assumed it’s the whitest place ever. Which is like the pot calling the not-very-black kettle black.
September 10th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
I’m proud to be a Scandinavian-American from Minnesota, and I’m quite pleased to hear that Alton Brown featured Scandinavian cuisine on his show. On a nationwide-scale Scandinavian food and culture go largely unrecognized, aside from IKEA and the fictional Lake Wobegon.
September 10th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
I totally agree, Jodi! But I also find it frustrating that Minnesota is always stereotyped as completely white and Euro-American, when really it’s *much* more diverse than that (see all my crazy linkage). And you know, whenever anyone talks specifically about Minnesotan food or culture, they *only* think Scandinavian, when (as I’m sure you’ve seen as a Minnesotan) it’s home to lots of other vibrant cultures and practices too.
And, as a proud midwesterner, I see it as my duty to combat such stereotypes.
September 10th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
My posture is terrible compared to yours (which appears to be perfect). In re: Food Network, sometimes I find their discussion on foodways and culinary practices limiting. Sometimes they just stick to surfact reporting. I would have loved to know more about the Hmong foods that I know are being cooked in Minnesota…I met a librarian at a conference who talked a little bit about it. Yeah, they could have covered a little more…
September 10th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Hi there! Longtime lurker, first time commenter. I’m a Detroit-area knitter & blogger, loved the photo of you and just have to say, if I looked that elegant knitting, I would want to be in a video, too! Too often my knitting takes place in pajamas in front of the damned TV. Way to represent the hot knitters of America!
September 11th, 2007 at 2:20 am
Aw, shucks:-) I totally forgot I never let you know I put you up for that. I’m impressed you found it!
September 11th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Wowee! Knitting in a music video! You do all of us proud! I love the Drops jacket and the colour of yours is really good.
September 11th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I was irritated by that last episode of Feasting on Asphalt, too (even though I have much, much love for Alton Brown!). Granted, there are a lot of Scandinavians in Minnesota, but there are so many other cultures who have made their home there, too (German, Polish, French, Hmong, Somali, Latino, Native, etc etc), and I was so disappointed to only see the Scandinavians get any credit on the show (in my MN hometown, there are hardly any Scandinavians at all…it’s all Polish, German, and Hmong). I was also really annoyed that he completely skipped over several places near my hometown that are interesting from a culinary perspective, but I know they can’t go everywhere. But still, seeing the beautiful bluffs and the Cities skyline did wonders for my homesick self!
Definitely with you on the nutritional anthropologist suggestion!
September 11th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Need I say anything more but BADASS?? I think not. And I’m talking about you, not Alton. Though he is a badass (in lower cases, mind you) unto himself.
September 11th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
You do rock.
Oh, and I haven’t said this yet, but I totally *heart* that picture. It makes me happy. Vintage clothes are really amazing, I wish I could find some patterns. To E-bay I go!
September 12th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Alton Brown is fun to watch, but I agree that there is much more to Minnesotan food than Scandinavian. I went to Mac in the mid-80s when Prince was big, so your post made me wonder if Prince ever ate ludefisk? I’m thinking not.
September 19th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
I love that pic of you knitting!