What I’m drinking

Last month, I was invigorated
by an 11 a.m. restorative Vieux Carre
at the Courosel Bar
in New Orleans.
Fill a shaker with ice and add
a dash each of Benedictine,
Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters
and a shot each of rye whiskey,
cognac and Punt e Mes. Shake,
then strain into a glass
filled with fresh ice and garnish
with an Amarena cherry —
then let the late-morning voodoo
do its work.

From an interview with Mario Batali in The New York Times Magazine, 1 December 2013. By J. R. Solonche.

Curriculum

Traumatic images,
queer looks,
dangerous texts.

African slave trade: introduction to proof.

Environmental disasters,
face of the land:
terrorism, intelligence and war–

Games and simulations,
advanced taxation,
cyberinfrastructure (the language of medicine)

Shakespeare the dramatist
(art of dying)
Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler.

discrete mathematics: prostitution and vice
major issues in criminal justice.

American deaf history,
human centered requirements,
special populations — thinking about making

power and influence,
options and futures,
boundary
value
problems.

sounds of protest,
vibrations and waves:

introduction to intelligent systems.

Course titles from the course catalog of Rochester Institute of Technology. By Rebecca Charry Roje.

The Rules

Trust no one.
Keep something back
Not everyone is subject to rules
Don’t walk away
Don’t let go of the cliff
There are clues everywhere
All rumours are true
Trust no one, least of all yourself
Don’t look back
There is no such thing as truth.

Taken from Meg Rosoff’s What I Was, 2007. By Angi Holden.

Of the farm

The shrubbery
in the terrace gardens
has so many
great contrasting colors.
The yellow barberry
has turned a russet shade,
the boxwood is browning a bit,
and the teucrium remains dusty green.
Most trees have dropped their leaves,
but there are still some holding on.
The orange trees in the distance are gum,
whose leaves stay on quite late.
All of the boxwood will soon be
covered over
with burlap
for the winter
to protect them
from damaging winds
and heavy snow.

Photo captions from More Stunning Shots Of The Farm by Martha Stewart. By Kelly Jones.

Making a mental pro-con list about winter

You can get a cold drink of water from the top,
without waiting for it to run cold.
Hats.
When it snows you can pretend it’s Narnia.
Putting the heating on,
feeling like you’re defeating winter!
Soup, hotpot, stew, all those slow cooker meals
you don’t make when it’s warm.

Dark nights, running in the rain,
moonlit walks up Shining Tor
(best with frost or ideally snow on ground),
sitting in the warm playing music
watchin the ‘weather’ outside,
wrapping up warm to go out,
drying out again when you’ve taken the dog out,
cold winter days up in the hills
with views across Cheshire.

It is acceptable, nay encouraged, to eat meals
that consist entirely of carbs and cheese.
Boots + woolly tights.
CRUMBLE.

Snuggling by the fire under a duvet
with a baileys hot chocolate
Sledges.
Your winter festival of choice.
Scarves and gloves. Snow.
Snowball fights with people who are too nice to play evilly.
Building snow creatures.
The snow silence. The icing look of it.

Hot chocolate. Marshmallows optional.
Haw frost on spiders’ webs.
And on the edges of leaves. And coating long grasses.
Oh, and the return of geese from warmer climates.

Moaning about the weather.

From a Facebook discussion about the onset of winter. By Angi Holden.