Author Archives: Jenna

Dance of the lemons

Occupation: writer
Performance Date: April 23rd, 2011

“In Milwaukee, the so-called “dance of the lemons” occurs, where bad teachers are passed along from school to school in the hopes of minimizing their damage.”

The dance of the lemons is an analogy for passing off a bitter partner.  However, only lemons are dancing, so one is guaranteed to end up with another bitter partner.  Although Milwaukee is not known for producing lemons, it is a common fruit known for its bitter taste.  Perhaps this phrase implies that Milwaukee may have more than a few bad teachers.  Although many states have some poor teachers, it is bad sign that so bad teachers needed to be traded that people started naming the practice.

This quote is published on the following website and the article was written by Blake Neff

http://dartreview.com/dartlog/2011/4/23/the-superman-cometh.html

Names

Occupation: student at USC
Performance Date: April 3rd, 2011

“Students flooded Hospitality with emails to protest the reduced hours at TroGro, and Hospitality responded favorably within a week.

Kris Klinger, director of USC Hospitality, promised to hold discussions with students and administrators to determine whether or not TroGro will continue its 24/7 operations next year.”

By Rebecca Gao through the Daily Trojan

Student input is a healthy ingredient

Although the official name is for the 24 hour snack stop at USC is called Trojan Grounds, everyone at USC refers to the place affectionately as “TroGro.”  Like many things on college campuses, this name got abbreviated.  Students commonly abbreviate because our life styles are so fast paced and they are ready for things to happen immediately.  Being the internet generation, students instant message and text message their friends in short hand.  For example, people will type “brb” instead of be right back.  This slang is so common that it is expected for people to understand.  Thus, shortening names of popular locations is a natural next step.

Slovenian Chalk

Nationality: Mexican-Slovian-American
Age: 20
Occupation: student at usc
Residence: Arlington, Virginia
Performance Date: April 20th, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: some french

“My mother told me if I have an upset stomach I should eat writing chalk.”

The informant thought that her mother thought calcium is like the drug “tums” so same it is the same idea.  Her mother is Slovenian.  She though the chalk would be impure and gross so she never tried the chalk.

Slovenia is known to have many natural chalk streams in the country.  All the natural chalk must be in abundance so the people must utilize it as common resource.  Because of its availability, some people might have used the chalk as a calcium supplement.  I am not sure however, how calcium is supposed to make someone’s stomach feel better.

Thai remedy

Nationality: Mexican-Slovian-American
Age: 20
Occupation: student at usc
Residence: Arlington, Virginia
Performance Date: April 20th, 2011
Primary Language: English
Language: some french

“Drinking warm water every day is healthy.”

The informant heard this from her elementary school friend’s mother from Thailand.  She does not believe in this remedy and does not understand it.

Perhaps the Thai culture wants people to stay hydrated by drinking water since Thailand is such a warm place.  However, in Holland it is often cold so drinking cold water may not be as appealing, so perhaps the mother changed the remedy to warm water to adjust to her new climate.  Thai people are also known for their tea so perhaps drinks that remind them of tea, like warm water, express their culture so the drink is encouraged.

Mudd Pies

Nationality: German-American
Age: 19
Occupation: student at USC
Residence: Irvine, CA
Performance Date: April 20th, 2011
Primary Language: Hebrew
Language: Spanish

“In elementary school we used to make food out of mud and dirt to make mud pies.  Used to pretend I was a witch and they would mean things if you eat them. Over recess we would leave the pies them out to bake.”

The informant thinks this is about children starting to explore their cooking abilities and their wish to have supernatural powers.  The informant watched lots of tv so she was exposed to the idea of magic from a young age and assumed it was not impossible to harness.

Shows that the kids in Irvine believe in magic and that they watch lots of tv and believe what they see.  There may be stronger belief in witch-craft and people may be more tolerant of supernatural ideas.  I also believe this act was children imitating their parents and trying to cook like them.  Perhaps children are baking to copy the people they admire, such as their parents.