Text 26105, 109 rader
Skriven 2009-07-18 17:42:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av HAP NEWSOM
Ärende: families 851
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 HN> Pop was well liked by all, and even all my 
 HN> cousins considered him their favorite uncle.

With my father, his general goodness varied inversely
with the proximity to himself, so the household
lived in fear of him, the extended family a mixture
of amusement and distate and fondness (mostly
depending on the age of the perceiver), his immediate
colleagues a mixture of respect and shrugs at his
foibles, and the scientific community near awe.

I think a lot of had to do with a core of self-loathing
that paradoxically combined with intellecual arrogance,
so the immediate family suffered from his assessments
of both "how can anyone I spawned be any good" and "how
can anyone I spawned be so stupid." It was not an
atmosphere to encourage learning for the sake of
learning but rather for the sake of avoiding ridicule.
These are threads that run through my psyche, as well,
as they were inculcated at a very young age.

 HN> I couldn't see it until I was old enough to
 HN> see the different standards that he set
 HN> for us kids than for the rest of the world.

In our case, it was obvious enough for young children
to take note of, in part because of the caricaturic
intensity of it all.

 HN> And how someone so patient with everyone
 HN> else could have absolute zero with his own .

My father had little patience with those he considered
peers or heirs but quite good patience with those he
deemed well below him especially in the intellectual
sphere.

His thing was "if you can't do it perfectly, don't
bother to do it at all." So he had no problem with
those who he considered to do it perfectly or with
those who didn't do it at all but had no patience
with those like me whose efforts could have benefited
from a little process such as revision or even a
mere intellectual revisitation as he was not very
good at these processes. It had to spring full
formed from the shoulder of Zeus or nothing. This
is not good for those who are attempting to learn
anything - I was expected to perform at finished
adult standard from an incredibly young age, and
that's left its scars.

=

 HN> As we age, I fear the immune system becomes 
 HN> less and less "decent".

As I age, my immune system is stronger than ever, but
it keeps getting fooled. It's not like Ruth's issue,
but it's noticeable. I guess the tradeoff is either
have the thing get weaker, so you get sick more, or
else have it start attacking stuff at random. It seems
that I'm allergic to the world now (but oddly with this
constant exposure, I'm better with cats than I used to
be - so maybe it's getting weaker as it's getting stronger).

 -> Dolly Parton's Corn Pone
 -> Makes about 1 1/2 dozen, depending on size.
 HN> Ours is about the same...but we
 HN> tended to add just a smidge of baking
 HN> powder as well. 

Dolly Parton don't need no steenkin' inflation.

--mm
Steamed Buns
cat: Hakka, sweet bread, dessert
yield: 1 batch

2 c long-grain rice flour
1/2 c sweet rice flour
1/2 c cake flour
1 t dry yeast
1/2 c warm water
1 1/2 c light brown sugar
1 c water

Mix rice flours in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

Put cake flour into a bowl. Mix yeast with warm water and
drizzle mixture over flour. Combine and form into a ball.

Dissolve brown sugar in water.

Put flour ball into rice flour bowl and add sugar water.
Knead to make a dough. Cover with damp towel and let
rise until doubled, about 2 hr. Reknead dough. Take
small pieces of dough, about 1 oz, and roll into balls.
Flatten slightly.

Line steamer with damp cloth. Set buns on top. Steam
on high heat for 8 min. Serve hot.

Hakka Cuisine (Taipei: Culture and Life, 1996)

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