thanks for not being a zombie

It's time, once again, for the annual meeting of the Modern Language Association.

• "Blogging MLA," by Clancy Ratliff
• "MLA: The Random Example," by Scott Eric Kauffman
• "Nine Theses for the MLA Convention," by John Emerson
• "Three MLA Observations, one of them tangential," by The Little Professor
• "And I'm Off...," by Mel
• "And Finally, Done!," by Dr. Crazy
• "Incheckning," by Dr. Gaffel
• "Guilt Free," by KF
• "MLA! Hooray!," by Collin Brooke
• "MLA at Home," by Chuck Tryon
• "Off to MLA," at What Now?
• "Word Play at the MLA," at Inside Higher Ed
• "IHE on MLA," by Robert KC Johnson
• "Who's Afraid of the MLA," at TCS Daily

For now, my only observation will be (as I've said here in the past) that it is a shamefully shallow argument that is based solely on a familiarity with the titles of a few papers at the current or at previous meetings of the MLA.

UPDATE: As Henry and John Emerson point out in comments below, I should have been clearer in the last sentence above. Nick Gillespie writes

Despite its preeminence within academic literary and cultural studies, the MLA convention is the Rodney Dangerfield of such confabs, getting little or no respect not just from right-wingers who reliably scoff at the unmistakable left-wing bent to the proceedings but from liberal mainstream media who eye the jargon-choked pronouncements of the professoriate with equal helpings of disdain, derision, and dismissiveness.

Yet most of the "mainstream media" who bother to pay attention to the annual meeting of the MLA don't actually take a very in-depth look at what goes on there. Last year, I pointed to the annual offering on the MLA from the New York Times, "Eggheads' Naughty Word Games." As Gillespie notes, "somehow, the paper of record never seems to stop chuckling long enough to get around to actually reading the essays in question." Unfortunately, articles like this have successfully shaped the public's understanding of the annual meeting as a gathering of out-of-touch kooks, as the comments threads in various locations online demonstrate.

I would much rather read an article in which a writer attends the MLA and looks for (and actually attends) the panels that are most interesting to that writer, rather than the panels that appear most ridiculous. Although the MLA is not my favorite conference (too big, too chaotic) I've never had difficulty filling up my days with panels addressing topics that appeal to me: early modern literature, the digital humanities, and book history. Furthermore, the book exhibit (enormous!) and the cash bars are essential parts of the experience. And any account that fails to address the job interviews taking place at the annual meeting is really not worth reading. All of those elements are what make up the conference, not just the handful of silly titles one finds.

UPDATE 2: del.icio.us bookmarks for "mla2005" can be found here.

Posted by at 3:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBacks (1)

Here are the pix.

Posted by at 8:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Have a listen to Pete Green's lovely, melancholy Christmas song, "Everything's Dead Pretty When It Snows." You can download the mp3 from his website.

No snow here in New Town. The temperature is in the 50s by mid-day. I'm not feeling much of the holiday cheer this year. Christmas never lives up to the hype, and I cannot stand the commercial hijacking of our sentimental longing for togetherness and family. Store decorations appeared before Thanksgiving this year. Ugh.

I know, I know. Poor me. "I'm only happy when it rains." Et cetera, et cetera.

Instead of sitting around feeling sorry for myself, though, I'm going to make Dr. B's gingerbread cookies today. I'll also wrap some presents. Pix to come later.

Posted by at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here's the recipe (via Epicurious):

For the filling:

1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
two 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, cooked according to package directions and drained

For dill crêpe batter:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons minced fresh dill

For the sauce:

2/3 cup chicken broth
2 large eggs
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Make the filling:

In a saucepan cook the onion in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until it is softened, add the flour, and cook the mixture, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the milk in a stream, whisking, and cook the mixture over moderate heat, whisking, until it is thick. Stir in the nutmeg, the dill, the spinach, and salt and pepper to taste and let the filling cool.

Make 12 crêpes (procedure follows) with the dill crêpe batter. Spread 2 tablespoons of the filling on each crêpe and roll the crêpe up jelly-roll fashion. Arrange the crêpes, seam sides down, in a buttered shallow baking dish just large enough to hold them in one layer. The crêpes may be prepared up to this point 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Brush the crêpes lightly with melted butter and bake them in the middle of a preheated 400°F. oven for 20 minutes.

Make the sauce:

In a small saucepan bring the broth to a boil. In a bowl whisk together the eggs and the lemon juice. Add half the broth to the egg mixture in a stream, whisking, and whisk the mixture into the remaining broth. Heat the sauce, stirring, until it reaches 170°F. on a candy thermometer and is thickened slightly, but do not let it boil, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the crêpes among plate and drizzle the sauce over them.

Make the dill crêpe batter:

In a blender or food processor blend the flour, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water, the milk, the eggs, the butter, and the salt for 5 seconds. Turn off the motor, add the dill, and with a rubber spatula scrape down the sides of the container. Blend the batter for 20 seconds more, transfer it to a bowl, and let it stand, covered and chilled, for 1 hour. The batter may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled. Makes enough batter for about 13 crêpes.

Make the crêpes:

Heat a crêpe pan or non-stick skillet measuring 6 to 7 inches across the bottom over moderate heat until it is hot. Brush the pan lightly with the butter, heat it until it is hot but not smoking, and remove it from the heat. Stir the batter, half fill a 1/4-cup measure with it, and pour the batter into the pan. Tilt and rotate the pan quickly to cover the bottom with a layer of batter and return any excess batter to bowl. Return the pan to the heat, loosen the edge of the crêpe with a spatula, and cook the crêpe for 1 minute, or until the top appears almost dry. Turn the crêpe, cook the other side lightly, and transfer the crêpe to a plate. Make crêpe with the remaining batter in the same manner, brushing the pan lightly with butter as necessary. The crêpes may be made 3 days in advance, kept stacked, wrapped in plastic wrap, and chilled.

Makes 12 filled crêpes, serving 4 to 6.

Posted by at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)