Chicken Tetrazzini

Whitney M.

May 30, 2010 - 9:45 PM

So, a couple of weeks ago, Collin showed me a Youtube clip from the television show Maury. It was a particularly juicy one.

 

The clip showed a young woman who was accusing her best friend and her boyfriend of cheating on her together.

 

One of her many accusations was that the best friend was winning Paul over with the cunning use of chicken tetrazzini.

 

"I don' know what she do wit that chicken tetrazzini, but Pauloveit!" she says.

 

Yes. Pauloveit is one word.

 

Anyway, I thought that if that was the case. If one girl could steal away another girl's guy by cooking up a batch of chicken tetrazzini, then I must see what all the fuss is about.

 

Acutally, I had never even heard of chicken tetrazzini until Collin showed me that video. So I had to Google it before I could even start conceiving the making of said dish.

 

It looked great. Mushrooms and chicken with a cheesy sauce, mmmmm...I couldn't wait to get my hands on a chopping knife and get started on the project. But unfortunately, I did have to wait. Collin and I didn't want to buy every single ingredient in order to start the process, so we waited to come home to start cooking it up.

 

His mom had more than enough of the ingredients, so all we needed were a few odds and ends.
The night went pretty smoothly; Anne, Collin's mom, and I cooked diligently for about two hours and by 8:20, dinner was served.

 

I can't tell you how disappointed I was. It was a flavorless casserole of fattening bore. It was a huge waste of calorie intake. But, as if we cared, at least we know now that the girl's boyfriend wasn't stolen by chicken tetrazzini; it must have been... something else.

 

 

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Weekend in Portland

Whitney M.

May 23, 2010 - 1:08 PM

We are three weeks away from graduating, and life is getting interesting.

 

Jessica and I, on a whim, decided to go up to Portland this weekend to see our friends and my family. Usually, when I go home, I immediately go to my dad's house, plop myself in front of our enormous TV with Collin, and relax all weekend.

 

But this weekend was different. My friends, whose families do not live in Portland, made plans for us and expected me to come along-all weekend.

 

So Friday and Saturday night were filled with cross-Portland bar-hopping and late-night clubbing.
During the daylight hours, we went out to Wilsonville, where Jessica's horse is stabled. We rode horses, and after that, we went to a chick-flick.

 

It wasn't until Saturday night, after bar-hopping, that I was able to tear myself away from my friends and their boyfriends to get home to see my daddy.

 

It was strange. And although I knew my dad would say that it was okay because I am getting older-I knew in my heart of hearts, that I would have been home with him just like always had my friends not made those plans for us. I still don't think that I have outgrown spending three days with my dad.

 

However, I did catch myself in a moment of maturity while looking out the window of Jake's Crawfish. We were finishing our happy hour dinners and trying to decide which move to make next. I looked at the cars parked outside-all very nice, new, vanity-plated models-and I realized the kind of town I come from, and that I would soon be moving on to a place I had never lived before. It struck me that I would no longer be living in the comfortable confines of the Willamette and Columbia rivers.

 

I realized all I had learned about living in today's day and age. I considered what I knew about the people who drive those cars, which may not be very much, but at least a few things I could determine: I could consider the types of schools their children attended, the kinds of weekend activities their families engaged in, and the lifestyle that they live as wealthy people living in Portland.

 

I related these bits of knowledge to the knowledge I had acquired about the world beyond the great northwest. I thought about the kinds of colleges rich kids go to, the kinds of activities that the more affluent populations participate in, and the kind of lifestyles most people dream of living-all the while considering the implications of money and power.

 

I realized that I was moving on in the world, maybe on to bigger, more monied things, or maybe on to harder times. Either way, I had been exposed to many facets of life both in and outside of Portland, and I felt prepared to go off to Stanford. To go off to seek a job outside of the northwest. To search the world for answers to the questions I have about the stereotypes and generalizations I was taught to believe.

 

It was a blip of time before I was drawn back in to the conversation about where we were headed next on our night's "barinerary," but I felt a warm feeling of readiness to tackle the exciting path that lies before me.

 

That night, I went back to my dad's house without my friends. They ended up in friends' houses around the city, but I was content to go home. I've found myself in a place where I am comfortable wherever I am. I love being home with my dad, but at the same time, I know I am ready to be elsewhere as well.

 

I guess I am right where I am supposed to be as a graduating senior.

 

 

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Transfer Student Orientation

Whitney M.

May 20, 2010 - 7:00 PM

Today, I served as a volunteer for the First-Year Programs' Transfer Seminar table at the Transfer Student Orientation.

 

Having been a transfer student in the seminar and the Teachers' Aide for the journalism transfer seminar for two years, I had a lot of positive experiences with the program, so it was my pleasure to support the program in attracting new students.

 

While preparing for graduation, I have filled out numerous surveys asking about my time on campus. Inevitably, I am asked to identify the most impactful part of my undergraduate experience, and my answer is always the same: the transfer seminars.

 

So I woke up on Friday and headed to the Erb Memorial Union, Starbucks in-hand. The day was fabulous. I got to talk with a ton of scared transfer students who had no idea what they were doing or where they were going. It was strange because people around campus generally know where they are going and aren't looking for help.

 

I started shaking hands and describing the seminars and my experience with them-trying not to sound too cheesy.

 

I felt like I connected with quite a few students who felt better talking to someone who is outgoing and friendly. And of course none of them could possibly know what a great resource the transfer seminars are, I sincerely hope that my enthusiasm for them came across as profoundly as I had hoped.

 

Being able to connect with other students, faculty and staff, and the resources on campus are invaluable parts of entering the University of Oregon. The school has SO much to offer every single student on campus, that it is a crying shame when the resources go untapped.

 

 

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Journalism in 2015

Whitney M.

May 16, 2010 - 4:00 PM

To consider the "media landscape" in five years is quite the challenge. Sometimes I fantasize about the new technologies that we will have available to us in the near future and I am always in awe of the likelihood of these technologies feeling the grip of the human hand.

 

It is probably fair to say that the future of journalism is dependent on the future of our technologies. Who would have thought that the news would be where it is today if they considered it ten years ago?
I fully expect for telephone conversations to become hand-held Skype conversations within the next five years, and of course the internet will become accessible through a blanket of WiFi that will cover the world. With everything at our fingertips at all times, news will become even less appealing than it is now.

 

I would say that, currently, news is unappealing because of the presence of online content producers. So many people are "reporting" or publishing content on the Web that it clogs the news sphere with content that lacks credibility. In addition, the generation that I grew up in is less interested in news than any generation that went before it. I might credit this to an increased tendency to immediate gratification. It takes longer to read an article than the average post-adolescent wants to spend on just about any activity-let alone one that for the most part, doesn't have anything to do with fashion, video games, sports, or social media. The combination of too much information and not enough interest leaves the future of journalism in a lackluster state.

 

As far as news companies go, I would bet that we will have fewer, but bigger news media. I would say that the New York Times will be perhaps the only national news source, and it will only be available online. Along with that, there may be a few regional papers and one large worldwide news source (probably the Associated Press), but overall, the number of news sources will be greatly lessened.
I suspect that people will pay for cheap yearly subscriptions to access the news sites, or the sites will become a public organization funded by taxes.

 

But then again, I do not claim to have ESP. I am not tuned-in to the progress of technologies, nor am I one of the creative minds that will be trimming the lawns on the "media landscape." I hope to be a hedge or a fountain placed in an integral setting, helping journalism to flow smoothly and provide information to its audience (which we should probably no longer refer to as readership) no matter what year it is or what technology is used.

 

This blog was inspired by a prompt given at a class discussion with Andrew Revkin, environmental reporter for the New York Times and recent hire at Pace University.

 

 

 

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Awards Ceremony

Whitney M.

May 15, 2010 - 8:23 PM

A few weeks ago, I was asked to submit an application for a university award. So I submitted a little bit of information about my involvement on campus over the last three years. I did a few volunteer activities, a lot of stuff in the journalism school, and I was somewhat impressed with the way my list of activities turned out.

 

Eventually, I got an e-mail saying that I was chosen for a university award and that I couldn't know what it was until the ceremony. A hard copy of the letter was sent to me, my dad, and my mom, and my parents were invited to attend the awards ceremony on May 15, 2010.

 

My parents were told about the award that I was getting, but were asked to keep it a secret until the day of the ceremony.

 

For my dad to come down to Eugene it's no big deal; he lives in Portland, and loves the drive down I-5. But my mom, who is mentally ill and lives about four hours away, has a harder time coming down to see me. In fact, she only does it on special occasions.

 

But this qualified as a special occasion, and we found a way to get her down to Eugene for the big ceremony.

 

So this weekend, my parents came down and spent two days with Collin and me. We ate at all of our favorite restaurants, walked around the campus, and went to the celebration.

 

To get ready for the celebration, I gave my mom a haircut, did her nails, and fixed her makeup while helping her dress for the event.

 

Once we got there, I was awarded the Dean's Award for Service to the university, and I was given a plaque that I can hang next to my diploma after I get it this June.

 

It was really wonderful to be recognized by the university and be able to make my parents proud like I did.

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