Start off by putting 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast and 1 scant tablespoon of sugar in 1/2 a cup of warm water (aside: “scant” is my all-time favorite cooking adjective). While the yeast is proofing, combine between 3 1/2 and 3 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 tablespoon of salt in a mixing bowl. Pour in 3/4 cups of warm water and stir; add the yeast mixture and stir some more. This will be a fairly easy loaf to knead… taking maybe only 6 or so minutes to make nice and smooth. Put in a buttered bowl, cover, and (since the temperature has taken a little plunge over the past few days) put in the oven (door ajar, at its lowest setting) for the
First Rising (1 hour and 15 minutes)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ On Sunday a bunch of my friends and I all made the drive up to the Six Flags outside of
So, why do I like roller coasters? I think there are essentially two reasons. First, of course, they are just plain fun: travel at interstate-like speeds, get a burst of adrenalin, see scenery whizzing by, feel the rush of the air, all that stuff. But also, and perhaps equally important for me, I find them absolutely terrifying. But terrifying in a very controlled way: your gut might be telling you that you are about to die, but intellectually you know that the odds of anything actually happening to you are vanishingly small. One of the best moments on a roller coaster is when you’re being hauled up the first incline, and for a while all you are thinking about is how much fun you are about to have. And then, say, two-thirds of the way up you start looking around, and you notice that suddenly the ground is really far away. And you start wondering what on earth you are doing, strapped to some infernal contraption that (a) is surely about to plunge you to your doom and (b) won’t let you escape. Now, all this time you know and can try to actually convince yourself that everything will be fine once the coaster actually gets going, but it’s having all that time to think about the insanity of what you are doing that gets the heart pumping even before the first drop. All of this, combined with that rush during the ride, is what reduces me to quasi-idiotic, uncontrollable laughter during and for a few moments after the ride.
Favorite ride of the day: “Superman: Ultimate Flight” This is the one where you take your seat, and then the seats rotate 90 degrees to leave you facing straight down, hanging from some straps as you fly around the track. In part it might be that this was the one ride I actually waited to get a front-row seat on, but this ride was absolutely thrilling. Also, being forced to look down at the ground as you slowly ascend away from it makes everything I said above about the moments while the coaster is climbing to the top of the first drop even more crazily intense.
Most absolutely terrifying ride of the day: “The Giant Drop” A pretty aptly named ride that simply takes you to the top of a vertical tower, pauses for a few moments to catch you off guard, and then launches you straight at the ground at faster-than-free-fall speeds. The view from the top is totally unobstructed and so is very nice, and then in a heartbeat it is taken away from you. The fall maybe lasts a second or so, but it feels like an eternity. Or rather, an eternity where you are unable to form a single coherent thought. I think I was shaking for a minute after I got off that one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second Rising (50 minutes)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When I was younger I used to play this computer game called SimAnt, and I thought it was pretty fun. You got to control a colony of black ants (always battling against the red ants) and from a humble start in the back yard you had to work towards the ultimate goal of invading the kitchen.
Well, now real ants have invaded *my* kitchen, and it’s not fun anymore. I’ve been trying a whole host of things to try to get rid of them… First, I played nice and just ignored them. But then their population exploded exponentially, so I tried to go with a mechanical solution (by which I mean I tried to Dust Buster lines of ants away)…a comically ineffective method. Then, I tried to starve them out, practically emptying my kitchen of anything edible (admittedly, this “strategy” might have been more that I just kept putting off taking a trip to the grocery store). This did keep the ants to a vaguely manageable number, but, well, it was starting to have a negative effect on me, too. So, I couldn’t quite keep that up, and now, I’m sorry, but it’s time for Phase III…time to see what insect-destroying powers the miracles of modern chemistry can conjure up for me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Just before putting the bread in, brush with cold water. Bake for (35) minutes.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tasting verdict: Well, nothing too over-the-top, of course. Has a nice, simple flavor (I think this bread is what I have in mind when I call a food "honest"). A good counterbalance to the raw excitement of Six Flags, perhaps.
Currently reading: Philoctetes... Wouldn't my classical drama professor be so proud?
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