The Barruguet of Ibiza (via Traditions of Ibiza)
I work late Thursday nights, so thought I’d institute some fun and games with a “Thursday Night Trivia” series of posts … kinda akin to the Friday Fun Thread. Only on Thursday. Nights.
Ahem.
Back to our regularly scheduled programming.
When I was a kid, my mother used to read us a story about this mischievous creature called a barruguet that lived on the Spanish island of Ibiza in the Medeterranian. This insatiable little creature lived inside a special sort of glass bottle and, when the bottle was uncorked, would emerge shrieking “work or food! work or food!” In order to appease the creature, one had to their supply it with tasks (which it performed at lightening speed) or food (which it consumed with equal alacrity). The hapless person who had unleased the barruguet, then, was forced to spend all their time providing food or work until they were able to trick the barruguet back into its bottle again.
So the question for you dear readers is … what sort of work keeps you busy (and content) and what sort of food could most easily distract you from your favorite tasks?
I define work pretty broadly here as “occupation” rather than wage-work. And I’m going to say that for myself, personally, blogging is a delicious occupation. I also really enjoy the work of transcribing oral history interviews. I find it extremely satisfying because the act of listening and transcribing forces me to really pay attention to the way a conversation progresses, the rhythm of different human voices, and the patterns to the way each individual thinks and articulates themselves.
Food that could tear me away from all of that? Freshly baked cinnamon rolls can pretty much call me away from anything. And coffee brewed by Hanna from beans roasted at Mayorga Coffee, sent to us by our friend Lola currently of Washington D.C.
The floor is now open. Share away!
Work: data analysis. Just…making graphs, doing calculations…I find it really soothing and easy to do while listening to music.
Food: Data analysis is great to eat during! But, I’m going to say any sort of serious pastry — cupcakes, pie, etc. Can’t really eat pie and analyze data at the same time.
Quilting in my studio. It is solitary and creative time. I usual have some NPR on in the background.
A giant fresh fruit salad could pretty much pull me away from just about anything.
Work: Reading. I always have big stacks of books and magazines, and I read several newspapers on-line.
Food: CAKE. CHEESE.
I get into a Zen-like state when I paint or when I do synthetic chemistry.
Food: cheese, doughnuts or a good cup of coffee!!! om nom nom!
Tutoring. I’ve been doing it off and on for years, and it’s usually a bit akin to pulling teeth (“will this be on the test?” “so what if I just memorize these three?” “are you *sure* she won’t let us use notes?”), but every once in a while I see a great student. Like the girl last semester who just wanted to know more about absolutely everything (“you know that comparative renal anatomy won’t be on the test, right?” “Yeah, but it’s so *cool*!”) or the guy today who clearly had his ducks in a row and could fire back answers as fast as I could formulate questions. There’s something so satisfying about glancing at your watch and realizing *holy shit, we just covered DNA replication, basic Mendelian inheritance, and Darwinian theory in under 45 minutes!*
As for food, does it have sugar? In large quantities? Thought so. We’re good.
Work: in my studio, toiling away at the sculpture I’m completing right now.
Food: Trail mix and/or popcorn. I’m a fiend. A bloated fiend, I tell ya.
I love intervewing people – I just really like talking to people, with a purpose. I think it’s a privilege to be one of those people who others feel safe confiding in, and then using that information to improve services and as evidence when lobbying. (I’m a non-profit person!)
Food: Anything sweet – from cakes to peaches.
Work I enjoy – big sewing projects, molecular biology lab work (as long as I can listen to my music).
Food – cookies/biscuits and cheese on crackers
I can spend hours formatting word docs. Fonts, headings, custom colors…you name it. And I’ve just taken a class at work on Word to learn it formally, so I found out all kinds of cool new stuff I can do!
However, if chocolate in any form appears, I am forced to reset my priorities.
Ironing and sewing are my zen work. House painting is even better, but much rarer.
As for food, today’s friday. My mother will shortly be making tuna croquettes.
I love tuna croquettes so much I scribbled a little William Carlos Williams ripoff poem about them in my journal. I love them so much that if my mother gives me two portions, one for me and one for my husband, and he doesn’t know she gave them to me … he doesn’t get any.
ps poetry Saturday – don’t you excellent writers here have some poems you might be willing to share with your readers? Or is that too personal?
Work wise – reading and writing in my field (political economy, especially about finance).. and similar to Brennan, I absolutely love tutoring (though I’m not sure if Brennan meant 1 on 1, or the university tutorials with about 15-20 others).. I mean the university kind. I have found that I am able, for the most part, to connect with students, and find a way to ensure that they are able to understand the subject material, and get something out of the tutorial. The highest compliment ever paid was when a student wrote in an evaluation of me, “knowledge with a happy [sic]“.
food wise – oh my goodness, usually I eat whatever is put in front me.. but in order to drag me away from what I’m doing, good coffee.. cheese (great harvarti, goat soft cheeses, whatever is recommended by John at the local cremaria).. and the Italian ricotta cake from the local Italian pasticceria…
Those barraguets can cause the most unimaginable mischief too. I know.