Sara had the brilliant idea yesterday to make mochi with red bean paste inside. It was a lot of fun and pretty easy, so I figured I'd share. The only ingredient that is at all hard to get is the rice flour, but I think it might even be available (and overpriced) at big grocery stores, and you'll definitely find it for not too much money at Asian grocery stores.

For the bean paste:
1. cook (or rinse overnight then cook) 2/3 c adzuki beans
2. process beans in a blender or food processor until smooth
3. stir in 1/2 c sugar, then fry on med-low heat while stirring in 1/4 c oil until it thickens into a paste
4. put mixture into fridge

For mochi:
1. combine 2 c glutinous rice flour (mochiko) with 1 c sugar and 1.75 c water in a microwave-safe bowl
2. mix thoroughly until there are no lumps
3. cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 4 minutes or more, till set (it's okay to stir if it's setting unevenly)
4. the minute it's cool enough to touch, cover with a damp towel, get out the bean paste, and start the process below

To put the things together:
1. cover hands and serving surface with corn or potato starch
2. grab a golf-ball sized piece of mochi, roll into a ball, and flatten into a 3 inch circle, trying not to use too much starch (but also trying to keep it from sticking to your hands!)
3. put about a teaspoon of bean paste in the middle
4. pinch the edges of the mochi together around the bean paste to make a ball
5. set on starched surface, seam side down
6. repeat till it's all gone

The last set of instructions, just so you're warned, is ridiculously messy. Craig was kind enough to take pictures:



And lest you come away without some idea of exactly how sticky this strange substance is:



Here's the end product:



And the same plate with one or two less-than-perfect ones replaced for greater impressiveness:

Since IU takes Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off, Sara and I decided to take a nice weekend trip to Indianapolis to hear the symphony and to spend some time with my grandparents. Sara hadn't met the Kerns yet, so we headed over there after the symphony and were talked into staying two nights instead of our intended one and a meal at Uncle Chris and Aunt Lisa's. It was really nice to spend a lot of time with my relatives and Sara, even if Grandpa and Chris and Adam were mostly into the football games.

The most interesting part of the trip for me was the symphony. They started with Beethoven's 6th. We were surprised when an award winning actor came out and read a monologue as Beethoven. It was maybe a bit long, but certainly different. However, the intro to the second half, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, was really great. It's a piece famous for its initial reception. To quote Wikipedia:

"The complex music and violent dance steps depicting fertility rites first drew catcalls and whistles from the crowd. At the start with the opening bassoon solo, the audience began to boo loudly due to the slight dischord in the background notes behind the bassoon's opening melody. There were loud arguments in the audience between supporters and opponents of the work. These were soon followed by shouts and fistfights in the aisles. The unrest in the audience eventually degenerated into a riot. The Paris police arrived by intermission, but they restored only limited order. Chaos reigned for the remainder of the performance, and Stravinsky himself was so upset on account of its reception that he fled the theater in mid-scene, reportedly crying... Stravinsky ran backstage, where Diaghilev was turning the lights on and off in an attempt to try to calm the audience. Nijinsky stood on a chair, leaned out (far enough that Stravinsky had to grab his coat-tail), and shouted counts to the dancers, who were unable to hear the orchestra (this was challenging because Russian numbers are polysyllabic above ten, such as eighteen: vosemnadsat)."

Before their performance, the ISO simulated this initial performance. It was really cool. First the actor, as Stravinsky, talked about the piece's conception and his collaboration with Nijinsky, and then, while the orchestra played about 10 minutes' worth of highlights from the piece, a dance troupe came out and danced what Sara told me was a recreation of some of the original choreography. Meanwhile, people stationed throughout the audience started yelling and booing. Soon a fistfight erupted backstage and a police whistle started blowing. They even had a character playing Nijinsky leaning out on the stage and yelling numbers.

The whole thing was really fun, but it was also really interesting. Sara and I discussed it afterwards; we'd both been able to imagine the scene somewhat on our own, but to actually be in the midst of it, with people shouting, being unable to hear much besides wild, exciting rhythms over the crowd, to feel the annoyance at hecklers, was really a new experience and made the riot much more real to us.

Two links:

First, here's a really nice write-up on the IU theory department. The PDF version is even nicer. And as impressive as the list of books/articles/presentations/awards is, it honestly misses a lot of impressive awards and lectures by current students.

Second, I found this post really interesting and funny. Gerschwin's welcome message to Schoenberg upon his arrival in the US would certainly raise many eyebrows today, as would the newspaper's take:

"Himself an exponent of the use of the modern, native idiom in composition, Gershwin was delighted to come to the aid of the man who has been one of the most daring musical experimenters of our time."

Fascinating!

I'm jealous of Nate for his amazing trip, Claire since she gets to go to Turkey, and Sara for her amazing schedule that actually gives her time to clean her apartment (ah! what a luxury!). However, I have something that those people don't have: this video of Maple.

The class I teach, MUS-T132 Musical Skills 1, requires textbooks from three sources. Virtually every semester one of them has been a problem, but this semester, unbelievably, all three have failed. I really, really wish I were in charge of getting my own textbooks for this reason, but I only have any control at all over the last one. Anyway, the gory details:

1. The students need to buy sight-singing and rhythm books from the bookstore. However, when I went to the bookstore the other day, neither of these books were on the shelf, and neither was even listed on the little tag for T132! I sent an email to the head of the aural skills curriculum and the head of the department. It turns out that the former was supposed to order these books, but since this was the first time he would have had to do so, he wasn't aware. Okay, I can excuse him, but anyway, my students won't get these textbooks until probably late this week (maybe even later).

2. My assistant instructors (AIs) need the same two textbooks; the company has sent the department desk copies, which they loan out to the AIs. This semester, however, when I checked, the department had none of one of the books and two of the other, and I have seven AIs. Part of the problem is that people don't always remember or get around to returning loaned out texts from previous semesters, but also last semester there was only one big course using these texts and we ran short then; this semester, there are two big courses using these texts. So if we ran short then, it's no wonder we're short now. I don't think the department has gotten around to ordering more--I think they're hoping a few more will come out of the cracks, as it were, if they send more emails.

3. Finally, I create a course packet that is published by a local company. I submitted the materials about one day before they say you have to have them in, which admittedly is not giving them a lot of leeway. (But I've turned things in later in past semesters and had no problems.) I'd heard nothing about getting desk copies by Thursday, and didn't see any for the students in the bookstore, so Friday morning I called the guy at the publisher's that I correspond with and left a message. He called back a few hours later to say he was out of his office but he'd call back later. When he didn't, I called him and left the message that I had a staff meeting scheduled the next day (today) at 2 and I'd like to be able to hand out course packets (something!) to my AIs. He called about 1:45 today and left a message, since I was already in my meeting. I checked it after the meeting: apparently the course packets haven't even been made yet, and he said he'd get them to me by Monday morning. Yes, the first day of class. My AIs all teach on Monday, and I won't see them all until Tuesday. So I guess they have to wait to see the syllabus, the exercises, the requirements, etc.

This mass failure has me really baffled.

One more post today. It was amazing to be in Iowa in the run up to the presidential caucuses. Virtually all of the candidates were crisscrossing the state; apparently many of them had already visited Grinnell. It's so different from the rest of the nation, where you only get a chance to see candidates on TV ads or the news. It's really great, because you realize it's not, for example, just a choice between Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama on the Democratic side (the media's portrayal notwithstanding). Iowans also take their role really seriously, and my family and I spent hours educating ourselves about candidates: going to campaign stops, watching videos on Youtube, reading the Des Moines Register, talking to friends, and looking up position sheets. I managed to see Hilary Clinton up very close in Pella (40 minutes away):



Claire and Dad saw Barack Obama (in Tama, I think). We all also managed to get to Joe Biden's second stop in Newton (20 minutes away), and were completely converted. He seems, to me, the only candidate that sees the world as it is, rather than as a list of issues to have campaign promises about (1. Iran, 2. China, etc. etc.). He impressed me with a strong stand on Sudan, a clear knowledge of world events and realities, and a spontaneous, inspiring speaking style. Too bad I can't vote for him--I'm already in Bloomington, and the caucuses are tonight.

Speaking of caucuses, I don't know how many of the people who read this know how they work, but they are insane. They are wonderful in that they allow for interaction and don't allow people to just walk in and brainlessly push a button for someone they decided on months ago. However, they're really bad in that you absolutely have to be there to vote (ie, many policepeople can't make it, and neither can deployed members of the armed services, people who are on vacation, or people who work evening shifts), they take hours sometimes, and the "arcane rules" lead to a lot of political maneuvering. Non-viable groups caucusing for a candidate might promise their delegate to members of another group in exchange for more people (and thus viability)--in so doing they don't actually gain any more votes, but the results of the caucus as they will be reported on TV (all that actually matters from the Iowa caucuses) look a little better.

It'll be crazy, and exciting, tonight. I kind of wish I were still in Iowa--in Indiana you hardly even see any signs up for candidates. It's a different world.

I can SEE!

How awesome is that? I had laser eye surgery exactly one week ago. I was kind of nervous as Mom and I drove to Des Moines, but not too bad. They gave me a Valium pill, and because I'm paranoid about drugs I immediately started questioning whether I was still in full control of myself, though honestly, I didn't really feel out of it that much even by the end of the surgery. The minute they called me in, my conscious mind realized I was about to have an operation that would decide how well I see for the rest of my life and could result in infection that would completely destroy my eye. I started to get nervous then.

It was terrifying to be under the laser. The Wolfe Clinic was very good about keeping me informed at all times about what was going on and asking if I had any questions, but even when you know it's going to happen, it's really scary to have a suction cup attached to your eye, have your vision go completely blank, and smell the sickening burning smell of zapped eye parts.

I took the doctors' suggestion seriously to keep my eyes closed the rest of the day. However, my eyes were (obviously) irritated, especially as the anesthetic wore off, and tears kept flowing. At one point near the end of the drive home I opened my eyes and more tear-water poured out of my eyes than I realized could even be stored there.

Nevertheless, already the day after surgery I was seeing 20/20 in my left eye. They had to take more off of the right, so it was still a bit swollen and not seeing as well. By now it's settled down most of the way, I think, and though it's definitely not 20/20, it's absolutely workable without glasses and (I hope) still improving. I stopped wearing eye shields (to keep me from rubbing them, loosening the flaps that had to be opened for surgery) last night, only to find myself rubbing my eyes this morning when I got up at 6:30 (5:30 Iowa time, after getting back to town last night at midnight. Ugh). That's bad, but I'm still seeing fine, and I hope this will stop as I (hopefully) wake up less tired tomorrow morning and in the future.

Here I am before surgery:



And here I am afterward, shorn of 2 inches or so of hair, miniscule parts of my eye, and my dignity: