I’ve arrived at the hotel where I’ll be staying for tomorrow’s job interview at Further School (as opposed to Nearer School, where I interview next week). I don’t want to say more about where I currently am, since the details of job searches are sensitive information, but I will say that the weather’s absolutely beautiful, […]
I have two job interviews in two states a couple of time zones apart, both coming up in the next two weeks. It’s amazing how news of this kind arrives in multiples. I’d be wondering why my (metaphorical) stock mysteriously went up overnight, except I know that the logical explanation is that I’ve been sending […]
I’m back from ACRL, which was great all around, though next time I’ll stay for three nights instead of two. (And the next one will be in my native Baltimore, so I’ll be able to stay with family.) My compatriots from the fellowship program and I kept drawing up comparisons with the MLA conference: more […]
Paging Cleis: My first Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab order arrived yesterday. Whoo! I ordered six perfume samples and they threw in an extra one for free. I had to restrain myself from trying all of them at once. Right now I’m wafting orange blossoms and medicinal herbs around my apartment. Tomorrow I’m going to try […]
Spring is here. Spring has been here for weeks, complete with snowdrops and daffodils. There’s a giant magnolia tree in front of the Rotunda that’s completely covered with potently aromatic white flowers. Today it got up into the 60s and half the student body was outside in flip-flops and shorts. A week or so ago […]
Very quick summary of today: Phone interview: not quite sure how it went. Think it was all right, but won’t hear until next week. Library discussion group this afternoon (topic: folksonomies and social tagging): neato. News received later this afternoon re: other job applied for: encouraging. Very encouraging. After-work pool game at Orbit: fun despite […]
Tomorrow’s going to be a big day. In the evening I’m going to hear Katarina Karnéus give a recital at Old Cabell Hall. I’ve never heard her sing, but the program looks marvelous (Mahler, Strauss, Grieg, a few bits from my favorite Baroque guys here, a dash of Weill there). And for once I lucked […]
Overheard in a used bookstore near the University of Virginia this weekend: Family friend [addressing six-year-old child]: "So! Do you like books?"Father [to child, prompting]: "Remember what Thomas Jefferson said?"Six-year-old child [a bit hesitantly, as if reciting]: "I can’t live without a book."* Only in Charlottesville… * The child was paraphrasing a bit, but got […]
I’m sure that if I really lived there I would be kvetching about having to shovel and climb over snowdrifts, but still: I wish I lived in New York. I love Virginia’s mild and sunny climate, I really do, but — all we got here was a measly inch or two of snow. I feel […]
Seen on a wall in a stairwell in the Alderman Library today: a heart containing the words "I love Beatrice." Next to it, in a different hand: "You go, Dante." Underneath, in a third hand: "Meanwhile, Virgil feels dumped." Then, from another contributor: "Petrarch only loved himself!" And finally, in yet another hand: "Hmm. Let’s […]