A quiet day

Dear Friends and Family,

After Mimi's class today, I stayed in the whole time, mainly writing Shakespeare stuff, especially the 2-page abstract of my recent essay that I need to submit to the Columbia U Seminar Office for their records. Writing always brings new thoughts, new problems to be solved. The whole paper will get better because of this abstract. Tomorrow, I will read it to my Writing Group and when I read it aloud I will learn more about how to improve it.

Merwin and I organized the bedroom that had been partially painted, deciding where to put pictures. I was surprised that a painting by Irving Lieber, which he had given us, was not one that Merwin liked, so we relegated it to the bathroom. Amazing that he never said anything all these years.

I have had a chance to think a bit more about The Blind Side, the Sandra Bullock movie we saw yesterday. She was nominated for an academy award as best actress, and in a way it's hard to see why—though she played the role every well, in every way: accent, stance, walk, talk.

But what grabs me more in the movie is Michael, a big big kid who does not fit in anywhere until a rich white family adopts him. His teachers think he is stupid when he is just uneducated. Given a chance to express his thoughts without having to deal with graphics, he writes well enough. Reminds me of many of my remedial students at NCC in that respect. If I listened to them read their papers, I shaped a much clearer picture of what they actually could do with the language than when I read the papers with pen in hand. Someone who had been so deprived of the help of a loving family and sympathetic teachers could nevertheless begin to flourish nurtured by the love of his adoptive family, parents and children. I thought that there was a little too much stereotyping of the black community. The little kids in the Memphis slums played on their swings, innocent yet. But the druggies, dealers and users, hung out and were generally vicious.

If a good movie is one that encourages thoughts of the need for change, then this is one. There are a lot of Michaels; very few rich families who will shelter them and love them. This one included a teen-aged daughter who was just the right age to resent this addition to her family, but she was just as loving with him as was her mother.

Merwin and I spoke on the phone to Dr. Raza at St. Vincent's CCC about the Incyte trial; she sounded so happy to hear my voice. Because my platelets have gone up significantly, she is ready to see me as early as Monday, but she must talk to my hem, Dr. Kurzyna, about the meds I am taking. I hope it works out, but by the end of the day she hadn't phoned back. I suppose it will take time for them to be able to talk.

I had a chance to try a new recipe, trying to copy, more or less, the version at the Algonquin that we had liked so much. As per Barbara's suggestion, I used a mild fish, whose name I cannot now remember, instead of salmon, which had been my first thought: too strong, said Barbara. I pretty much followed exactly a recipe for macaroni and cheese on the Internet, "Chuck's favorite Mac and Cheese”: my additions/comments are in bold.

• 1 (8 ounce) package elbow macaroni
• 1 (8 ounce) package shredded sharp Cheddar cheese: next time I would shred really good sharp Cheddar: the packaged pre-shredded type is not good enough.
  
• 1 (12 ounce) container small curd cottage cheese: be sure this is 4%
  
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste: salt is not necessary
  
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs: I use challah crumbs
  
• 1/4 cup butter, melted in microwave
  
• cut a sweet mild fillet of fish, about a half pound, into small pieces, about 1/2 " sq or less and saute very lightly in butter
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, add pasta, and cook until almost done; drain.
2. In 9x13 inch baking dish, stir together macaroni, shredded Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Fold in the fish pieces. In a small bowl, mix together bread crumbs and melted butter. Sprinkle topping over macaroni mixture.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until top is golden.

We enjoyed this dish very much.

I am probably not going to have time to write tomorrow because I am going to NCC for my writing group and then straight to NYC without Merwin for the first time in a long time. I'll tell you all about it when I return.

Love and peace to all,
Bernice