Self-portrait as a South Park character, courtesy of the South Park Studio (linked to by so many people at this point that I forget where I saw it first).
I’m back from my holiday travels via a couple of miraculously on-time trains from Baltimore. There will be New Year’s bloggage about 2004 in review, the ’04 MLA (which I was at), et cetera. Later, because I need a shower. But first, a (belated) public service announcement: If you’re looking for information on how to […]
(continued from the previous post) My mother and I moved to Baltimore when I was four. We lived in Hampden, which had not yet been become artsy-bohemian and was still very blue-collar. I learned my new terrain street by street: first, our block with its steep slope and the tree that blew down in a […]
This is a kind of riff on a conversation going on in various places, most recently this post of Dr. B’s. Also, I’m still thinking about citizenship and what it means. This post is going to wander about and spill over into the next post. I like being alone. (Those of you who read this […]
This is what my November 2nd looked like: 6:45 a.m. Alarm goes off for the second time, conclusively waking me up. I stagger out of bed to the sounds of NPR hosts saying "It’s ELECTION DAY!" 8:00 a.m. Breakfasted, caffeinated, groomed, and dressed, I head out the door, pausing to grab a warm jacket that […]
It’s that time of year again, and even we postacademics are dreaming about school. Dorothea’s account of her grad-school dream suggests that such dreams never quite go away. Sure enough, a couple of nights ago, my unconscious dredged up a vague but anxiety-ridden scene in which a nameless, faceless professor and I were looking at […]
So, this seminar that my fellow postdocs and I have been attending has been just swell in all kinds of ways. Here are a few of the things I’ve learned: 1. Librarians are the salt of the earth. (I knew this already, but it’s always helpful to have existing knowledge illustrated with splendid particular examples.) […]
The drawback to the quasi-blogging-break I’ve been on this past month (which is almost over — for real this time!) is that I’m still thinking about things to post about, even when I’m not actually posting about them. So some of the topics I’ve been mulling are probably going to sound a tad stale when […]
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Liv Tyler for proving, though it didn’t really need to be proved, that girls who wear glasses are way sexy. Rrrowr. That is all. (Or, you could also read Laura’s Oscar recap. "Johnny Depp. Babe." Hee! Except I thought the spiky in-his-face hair wasn’t working for […]
I’m coming off of a grading marathon and it’s almost spring break. I need new shoes (specifically, something dressed-up to wear to the Cecilia Bartoli concert, and a nice pair of boots wouldn’t hurt, either). It’s time for a little retail therapy. I’ve just ordered Jacqueline Fee’s The Sweater Workshop, and I suspect that this […]