Pork Shoulder

           

            On Friday at 12:30 I met my TA to discuss the mark she gave me on my first essay and to talk about my plans for the second essay. I told her that I’ve gotten at least an A minus for the last several essays and it seems to me that I’m a better writer of essays now than I was when I started getting A minuses. I said that I could only conclude one of two things from the B that she gave me: either I’ve sustained brain damage or she’s wrong. She tried to explain to me where I lost marks, but all I could see from that were the reasons why I didn’t get a solid A. I told her that I’m going to get Professor Baker to reassess my essay. I realize though that it could potentially result in a lower mark, but I’m willing to take the chance. I respect Baker’s opinion and have found that her explanations make more sense than Christina’s.

            I told Christina that I’d be writing my second essay on the use of talking animals as a literary technique. Putting talking animals into literary works as characters allows an author to communicate a sense of otherness which can serve as a vessel into which can be projected human qualities that would not be as believable if associated with a character in human form. Placing several species of talking animals in a story can be used effectively to either create tension or a sense of harmony around a given issue. I also want to explore how and why more than one level of anthropomorphism is sometimes used in talking animal stories, such as in “Frog and Toad Are Friends” where Frog and Toad wear clothing while the other animals in the story do not.

            I finally got the direct deposit for my last couple of weeks of work. I took out $200 and went to No Frills where I got a three kilo pork shoulder for $6.66. They already have some inflated Christmas decorations hanging from the ceiling there and I commented to the check-out girl, “That’s just wrong! Putting Christmas decorations up this early!” She said, “I know! I don’t even want to think about Christmas yet!”

            On my way down O’Hara, a grey and black striped cat crossed my path that was so fat its belly swung underneath it as it walked.

            I rubbed the pork shoulder in mesquite, salt and pepper, put it in a roasting pan with a cup of water, a sliced onion and some bay leaves, covered it and put it in the oven at 120 celsius for two and a half hours. I boiled some potatoes while yellow beans and snow peas were steaming on top, then I mashed them all together with salt, pepper and margarine. It was a good meal.

            I finished watching “Sid Caesar: the Magic of Live TV”. The funniest skit was the parody of “This Is Your Life”, called “This Is Your Story”. Sid is selected from the audience and he puts up a wicked fight. Then when they bring out people from his past there is so much hugging and kissing that he has to be constantly pulled apart. Then a beautiful woman is brought out and Sid immediately begins to passionately kiss her until Carl Reiner asks him to tell the audience who she is. Sid says, “I have no idea, but it’s alright with me!” and then he starts to kiss her again.