wordparts - What Would Baudrillard Do?

Saturday 22 May 2004

What Would Baudrillard Do?

I realized a while ago that things aren’t “worse” today than they were back in the “good old days”, at least not in most of the ways people claim they are. I’m skeptical of most claims of that type now.

Things also aren’t really so “normal” in one’s own culture and “weird” in that of others, but that’s a different topic.

It’s too easy to romanticize the past; you understood less the “evils” of the world when you were younger, which in pretty much all cases happens to have been… in the past. And often the new isn’t really bad, it’s just different.

The other day, I made Julie some macaroni and cheese (no table wine for her, though). As I sat down next to her, I asked her if it was good.

Her response was that yes, it was good, but not as good as “real macaroni”.

I wondered for a moment what was not real about what I’d just made and then realized that what constitutes “real macaroni” for Julie is Easy Mac, the kind that takes four minutes in the microwave. I had made her boxed macaroni, the kind that requires seven minutes and a stove.

I thought it odd that in her ontology, this is less “real” than Easy Mac. I had to suppress a “kids today with their new-fangled macaroni technology”-feeling due to my aforementioned philosophy.

The next day at the grocery store, I found myself trying to decide on which boxed adult macaroni to get: store-brand or “real.”

“Real,” for me, is Kraft brand.

I’ve never seen a store-brand macaroni’s orange cheese-like powder match the color, texture, and sheen of Kraft’s.

5 Comments (RSS)

I am in FULL agreement with you on the macaroni dilemma, though I hate to be a brand whore. Kraft seems to have mastered the macaronization process, though.

Comment by Mr. X | Sunday 23 May 2004, 8:45 pm
Sometimes it’s nice to grab a box of Albertson’s brand, though, you know? I like to find it when it’s on like a 39-cents-a-box sale then make it without any butter or milk. Even better if you make it without using any measuring cups. And then eat it right out of the pot. It’s like a survivalist fantasy for city folk.

I think the only thing that might be better would be if I could get a hold of some of those boxed cereals like you get at hotels where the box converts into a bowl for your milk. (That exists, right?)

I think those are the only things we’ll be able to eat when the nuclear holocaust comes — what are the chances of still having luxuries like bowls and measuring cups?

Comment by Grady Haynes | Sunday 23 May 2004, 9:25 pm
You ought to petition the FDA to get Mac and Cheese to be the illusive 6th food group!

“…Kraft Cheese and Macaroni. Part of a well balanced meal.”

Comment by Brian | Monday 24 May 2004, 9:44 pm
Hmmmm. That whole “without butter or milk” thing might be a little too exiguous for me. However, I do have a little recipe we used to make called Stoner Surprise for some reason (I have no idea why, so don’t ask). Anyway, you make the macaroni noodles like normal, only two minutes before they’re finished boiling, you throw in a pack of your favorite Ramen noodles and mix them around. After draining, continue to make macaroni as normal, but throw in the Ramen packet too. Yeah, we were some sick mothers.

Comment by Mr. X | Sunday 30 May 2004, 11:46 am
One of my roomates from college had a very iteresting (one time) recipie for Kraft Cheese and Macaroni. It seems that in his haste to begin prepare the mac and cheese, he failed to account for all required ingredients. The ingredient he was missing was milk. Now whether he was out of milk because he had conumed the last bit himself or he’d let it spoil in the refrigerator, I can’t recall. And neither scenario would surprise me. Anyway being the rational thoughful person that he was (and hungry without other food options), he reasoned since butter and milk were both dairy products, one could be a rough substitute for the other. I believe he doubled the required butter and offset it with a little water and called it done. It might be the greasiest Mac and Cheese ever made.

Comment by Brian | Sunday 30 May 2004, 10:46 pm

Saturday 22 May 2004

What Would Baudrillard Do?

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