I didn’t see this New York Times op-ed ("Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right", 12/29/05, by UVa psychology professor Timothy Wilson) until I spotted a mention of it in one of our local papers. I’m not completely sold on the idea that thinking too much is a bad thing, though I have to say I’d […]
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Amanda
The Master, by Colm Tóibín: At times a little inert, at times a little obvious in its efforts to spin together Henry James’s biography into the structure of a novel; nonetheless, it got increasingly absorbing as it went on, and it’s quite moving at the end. Among the best parts are the moments where Tóibín […]
(Cue Ella Fitzgerald singing in the background.) I’m back from my travels just in time for New Year’s Eve; later today I’m heading downtown for First Night Virginia. Regular posting will resume forthwith. Sarah has tagged me with the most intriguing meme I’ve seen in a while, I’ve got a "capsule reviews of everything seen […]
Apologies for the lack of posts. I’ve been in the midst of the end-of-term, pre-holiday frenzy, with too many things to finish all at once: work projects, knitting projects, packing, finding presents for hard-to-shop-for uncles, et cetera. I’m about to go into offline winter-vacation mode for the next week or so; in the meantime, why […]
We’ve been having an ice storm all day. Very cool-looking in that cinematic way that ice storms are (I thought of Tobey Maguire wandering raptly through the icy landscape in The Ice Storm* as I cautiously navigated the driveway to my building, admiring the icicles surrounding each individual conifer needle), but murder on the power […]
Take from my palms, to soothe your heart,a little honey, a little sun,in obedience to Persephone’s bees. You can’t untie a boat that was never moored,nor hear a shadow in its furs,nor move through thick life without fear. For us, all that’s left is kissestattered as the little beesthat die when they leave the hive. […]
("BORC" would be "Bullets of Random Crap," a term that’s been floating around the academic blogosphere; I spotted it most recently at CultureCat.) Signs that exam period is upon us, 1: The library is packed this week. All available study spaces have been snapped up. I overheard a student saying that she’d spent twelve and […]
See that big blob of white on the weather map up above? That’s the first snow of winter, and it’s been sitting on top of us all day. And it shows no signs of stopping. When I left work (a little early, having been kindly offered a ride home), a couple of students were busy […]
Well, Thanksgiving weekend was blessedly slow-paced, and I spent most of it hanging out with my family and being completely unplugged. Now I’m catching up: The Classical Language Instruction Project (via languagehat, and don’t miss the comments on pronunciation). Features people reading bits of Homer, Vergil, Plato, et al. out loud in Greek and Latin. […]
I’m off to my native city for Thanksgiving dinner at my grandmother’s, followed by day-after-Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncle’s. There are half-formed plans to see either Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire or the new Pride and Prejudice adaptation or possibly both, and definite plans to eat a lot and play Scrabble. […]