Carnivalesque XVIII

Carnivalesque XVIII

Welcome to this version of ! It's a bit abbreviated, as this particular Mistress of Folly has been fighting a migraine for the past few days. It's also a little light on the medieval ... it seems as though the medievalist bloggers have been blogging their academic lives, rather than their academics, lately. So this particular carnivalesque also includes a few words of encouragement to myself and my colleagues to blog a bit more!!

I thought we might take things in chronological order, more or less, so we'll begin our tour with archaeology. First, because I like pictures and all, take a visit to Memorabilia Antonina and look at Tony's picture of Hadrian's Wall. No particular reason, except that it's a really nice picture! Primed with that, you might want to move on to Towards an Archaeology of Iconoclasm to see the Top Ten Archaeological Sites on the Mediterranean. Then, if you're feeling a bit behind on recent finds, check out this post at Another Boring Academic Has a Blog, where Lisa Carnell has gathered together a very nice collection of links to recent finds. There's also a Classics Carnival up at Rogue Classicism.

If you're the type of person who prefers their archaelogical sources mixed up with a bit of inscription and literature, there's also a nice pair of posts at Classical Archaeologist on Health in the Ancient World (well, the Ancient Western World) here and here. Just to remind you that there are other places one might call ancient, go check out this primary source at Frog in a Well: China. It's so good, I may have to use it in my World Civ midterm!
And for those of you who despair every time you teach Early Christianity, there's a very useful post at Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean on on that very subject

But wait! Early Christianity! that's Late Antique, isn't it? Not really Ancient, not yet Medieval ... Good thing this is the Ancient/Medieval version, folks !

I'm starting off the Medieval section with two PSAs. Scott Nokes reports the Impending Death of Medieval Forum. And at Wormtalk and Slugspeak, Michael Drout reports the online arrival of Oral Tradition. Tiruncula also points us to a new source of things digital and medieval: Podcasts on your favourite heresies!

Over at In the Middle, Karl the Grouchy Medievalist talks about Christians, heresy, and the eating of meat -- not necessarily in that order. And speaking of heresy ... well, not really, it's more like offending Ramon Lull's sensibilities, Steve Muhlberger has an interesting piece about a woman jouster. Talking of offended sensibilities, the last week or so has been pretty interesting for medievalists. Benedict XVI's use of the words of Manuel II Paleologus in a recent speech once again resurrected the imagery of the Crusades in service of popular ideology. Both Steve Muhlberger and Jeffrey Jerome Cohen offer some sensible clarification on Saladin and the capture of Jerusalem.

It may have come to your notice that this has been a very historical carnival ... I'm sorry! I couldn't find a lot of lit, per se. And what there is, is Late Medieval. Over at Got Medieval, Carl Pyrdum offers commentary on a medieval cookbook, which ites back to a very curious post on medieval cheese. For the truly literary tastes, though, if it's Late Mediaeval Lit on the interwebs, it's all about (or by) Geoffrey Chaucer. A serious Heo Cwaeth posits a different interpretation of Chaucer's Knight, while on a lighter note, History Geek makes some connections between Lanval, her other course readings, and how they connect to the present at And gladly wolde (s)he lerne. Chaucer's own contribution to this edition should not be missed: Serpents on a Shippe! (avec spoylerez)

On a final note, there's just no way to have an Ancient/Mediaeval Carnivalesque without Alun. This time, he takes us back to the beginning of our tour, timewise, and close to the end in terms of theme with America really really isn't the new Rome and America really really REALLY isn't the new Rome.

That's it for this time, folks! Don't forget, we're always looking for volunteers to host future editions!

History Carnival XXXIX

History Carnival XXXIX

Ralph Luker has posted History Carnival XXXIX at Cliopatria. It's full of really great stuff, and I'm dying because he's posted some of the stuff I had in mind for Carnivalesque!

Call for Posts

Carnivalesque Call for Posts

The next will take place here on or about 25 September. It's an Ancient/Medieval version this time, folks!

We're also looking for future hosts! (hint, hint)

Carnivalesque is certainly not just for historians (or for academic scholars). We welcome perspectives from related disciplines, especially literary studies, archaeology, art history, philosophy - in fact, from anyone who enjoys writing about anything to do with the not-so-recent past. You can nominate your own writing and/or that of other bloggers, but please try not to nominate more than one or two posts by any author, and limit nominations to fairly recent posts, preferably since the last edition (on the relevant period) and certainly within the last three months.

To submit nominations you can either send an email to another Underscore damned Underscore Medievalist At-sign hotmail DOT com or the carnivalesque e-mail address: carnivalesque At-sign earlymodernweb DOT org ANOTHER DOT uk or you can use the handy submission form at Blog Carnival.

Potential hosts should be regular bloggers with some knowledge of
and interest in pre-modern history (though, again, not necessarily academics). If you are interested in hosting an edition of Carnivalesque, please send an email noting whether you are particularly interested in early modern or ancient/medieval, and telling us a little about your background and historical interests.

AN open Letter

An Open Letter

Dear General Mills, Kellogg's, et.al.,

I am confused. You make breakfast cereals like Special K, Total, and Cheerios without tons of added sugar and no sugar coating. They taste just fine to many of us, but are a little boring, and kind of a pain, because to make them not-so-boring, we have to add our own fruit. Then, you come out with the idea of adding freeze-dried berries (one of the joys of my childhood) to your cereal. Woo and hoo! Problem solved! Except that, for some reason, you also decided to add a sugar coating to the cereal. You couldn't just dump in the fruit? What makes you think that the people who choose cereal without sugar will either: a) not want the fruit, or; b) all of a sudden want a bunch of added sugar? What kind of dumbasses are you?


Sincerely,

ADM

Dogpaddling

Dogpaddling

Hello, everyone. Still here. Haven't finished my K'zoo proposal. Struggling with my upper-division class in the one field I really don't know. Dealing with the fact that my students at SLAC are no better than my students at CCs 1, 2, and 3 -- except they whine more. Thrilled that there are some serious liberals on campus to counteract the students who can't stop talking about some odd fundamentalist evangelical view of history and other cultures. Busy as hell. Hope your terms have all started out well.

Because I need to Grade

Because I need to Grade

I'm going to ask about new templates. Because I've realized that this template is over 4 years old. I modified it myself. I like the color scheme (really), and would like to keep some of the same colors. But I think it's time for a change. Opinions and suggestions welcome.

World Keeps Turnin'

World Keeps Turnin'

Since so many of y'all held my hand through summer before last, I thought I should let you know the latest. X is engaged to be married. He kindly waited to tell me till he knew I was getting into the swing of things and felt emotionally sound. Or so I'm telling myself. I wish him all the best. I wonder what took me so long.

Educational Toys

Educational Toys

Via What Now by way of meg at xoom:




Target offers the
Franklin Roosevelt action figure!!! Make sure you read the customer reviews. I'm guessing they don't get comments like that at Wal-Mart!

Update: Apparently, Target has removed the product from its list!

Obesity Pandemic?

Obesity Pandemic?

This just in. Yes, it's bad. Yes, it's a real problem. Yes, there are lots of changes to our way of life that might help -- not adding corn syrup to everything, not commuting and working ridiculous hours so we rely too much on fatty, salty, sugary fast foods and exercise more. Not making those foods so cheap ...
But pandemic? Surely it's not contagious.

Here be Dinosaurs

Here be Dragons Dinosaurs

I know that there are people out there who are quite responsible about the home-schooling of their children in terms of providing instruction and curriculum that is similar or more rigorous than that provided in the public schools. I do not care. Here is why: schools are about more than education. They are about socialization and citizenship. They are about being members of the greater society. Personally, I think everybody should go to public school, but I can accept that accredited parochial and other private schools serve a purpose that public schools don't. And to some extent, I think that private schools still provide that sense of communal belonging and responsibility. But if you care about education at all, and you home school your children, shame on you for opting out. Because while you might be doing a very good job, the eloquent arguments of people like you allow people who
teach stuff like Beowulf, Killer of Dinosaurs! to 'teach' their children at home.

I'm not even going to go into how offensive I find it that home-schoolers frequently demand that their children be allowed to participate in music and sports programs provided in the public schools. You opt out? You're out. I just don't think people should be able to opt out. Education isn't something that should be provided by the non-educated. Parental rights shouldn't trump the rights of children, and the rights of the general public to insist that all our children -- the people who will grow op to live and work with us -- be well educated with us. If you don't like the public schools in terms of facilities, safety, and rigor, get off your ass and do something about it. With the time you are supposed to be spending home-schooling your kid, you could be effecting real change for lots of kids.

(Please note also the blatant plagiarism. That's a good, Christian lesson. Not.)

... and all is right with the world

... and all is right with the world

Today was the first day of classes. I didn't sleep at all well last night. I was too nervous, had a migraine yesterday afternoon, and consequently didn't really get myself as organized for the dread upper division course as I'd planned. All of my classes are on the same days -- which gives me writing days, if I use my time well and carefully. I was a little worried about this, but now? Well, I walked into my first class, and everything just slid into place.

I know I talked a little last week about how this is New Year's for academics. I've noticed elsewhere that other people are writing their Academic Year Resolutions. I'll get to those soon. Really. But it's funny. With all the craziness of the summer, and not getting enough done to feel like I deserved my new job, and panicking about doing the job, I kind of forgot something. I know this job.

So when I walked into my first class -- and boy, were they a tough room: it took most of the hour to get any of them to crack a smile -- I was a little worried. But I thought, it's syllabus day. It's ice-breaker day. You can do this. And I knew I could. What was surprising was that the actual doing of it seemed to lead to a kind of revelation. Nothing particularly stunning, really. In fact, to most of you, it's probably a little lame. But there it was, this complete kind of remembering, of knowing that I not only knew what I was doing in the classroom, but that I knew how to do my job. The whole job. For so long, I've felt like a teacher and make-believe scholar. I mean, I've been calling myself a lion cub, but I've been waiting to be found out and demoted (or maybe just moved) to monkey status. Because They Will Find Out. Every time I've talked about writing a paper, or publishing something, there's been a part of me that felt I was pretending, as though, if I acted like one of the big cats, maybe people wouldn't notice and would let me keep hanging out with them.

Today was different. Yes, I was still a bit panicked about the upper division class (somehow, people kept coming in while I was trying to finish prepping it). After meeting the students (two of whom were there when I gave my job talk, and whom I really liked and want to both impress and not let down), I was a bit more worried, but they all seemed ok with the, "the class is still in development stages, because the schedule to some extent depends on how many students we end up with and how much time we consequently allot to presentations" explanation. Possibly because it's true :-) But somehow, all the second-guessing was gone. I taught. I went over what I needed to get done after classes. I took care of administrative stuff, answered panicky student e-mails, tweaked the Blackboard sites ... and then went to pick up ILL books, e-mailed a panel organizer, thought about ways I might write the abstract that could fit the panel without substantially changing the nature of what I want to look at ... and then I talked to my department chair for a while about course offerings, my responsibilities, program assessment and how the department planned on working together to do well ... And I realized that I'd made this tiny mental shift. Yes, I was checking things off a list ... "I need to do x for class, I need to write this abstract and I have a review due this weekend (Oh crap!), and I have to start checking out editors for the project" But it was a different kind of list. I guess it was a shift from "Here are all the things I have to do to have this kind of job" to "This is what I do, and here are the things I need to get done." It's something akin to a fleeting moment last year when I realised that, as an historian, I am a writer, rather than someone who writes papers.

It's late, and has been a long day, so I know I'm not being as articulate as most of my blogfriends -- or even as articulate as I can be. And frankly, I'm a little out of practice. As New Kid, one of my oldest blogfriends, recently pointed out blogging is a kind of writing exercise, and I'm out of shape! But the New Year has started, and I think I have a better idea of who I am this year. I am someone who might actually know how to do the job I trained for and was (finally) hired for (although apparently, I am not able to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition). For the first time*, I feel like everything fits. It's a weird feeling, but I think I like it.



*professionally, at least.

Carnivalesque 18

Carnivalesque 18

The wonderful Sharon Howard, chief mistress of misrule, has returned to us to put together the latest Early Modern Carnivalesque. I'd tell you more about it, but I have a migraine and have to lie down now ...

I hate Blogger Beta

i hate Blogger Beta

I so hate it. Because since I signed up for blogger, I have changed my name and got a G-mail account under my new name. But now, every time I try to log into my blogger account, my g-mail cookie tries to override my Blogger login. It's seriously annoying.

I missed my Bloggiversary!

I missed my Bloggiversary!

I even blogged on that day! But anyway, apparently Blogenspiel turned 4 on July 30. Wow.

So, a retrospective --

Year one:
Well -- Finally got the template set up the way I think I might like it...although I can't figure out how to put in a place for comments. Just in case you're wondering, I am another blogging medievalist. I teach at several colleges, including this one, this one, and sometimes here as well. There are lots of blogging medievalists, so why not one more?

Year two:

I somehow stopped blogging from 9 July till 17 September, 2003, so here's the September entry ... Ok, Cranky Professor ... I'm blogging. Well, since last I blogged, I typically missed the deadline to try to write for the
Chronicle of Higher Education"first person" series for money. But that's because I was getting a Full-time Faculty Position!! Woohoo! But seriously folks ... it's a one year visiting position. Maybe two. No more than that, because then I get dangerously close to mandatory tenure-track. So what have I been doing? New faculty stuff.

Gotta say, this may be the best thing to happen -- I get to do all the new faculty stuff, but in a weird, still not really faculty kind of way. So I went to a New Faculty workshop, where we listened to a bunch of really awful people who talked in Edu-jargon (ugh!) and one guy tried to convince us that good teachers and good researchers were in some way mutually exclusive -- and that we Community College professors were in some what morally superior ... The breakaway sessions were pretty good, though, once we got past talk about assessment and outcomes. The crap we don't learn about in grad school ...

CHeck back later for the motivational speaker who drove many of us to question our self-worth and sent us into a lithium-needing downward spiral!

Year Three:

The death of a good friend meant I didn't blog the last couple of weeks in July, but here's my first August post, where I talk about being a good academic/wife.

Year Four:

Doods! Can you believe it? This blog was born three years ago today. It's also my roommate,
Professor Kinsey's birthday. She just started blogging, so there isn't much up there yet. I've never actually celebrated the date before, but Ralph Luker at Cliopatria pointed out a while back that I've been blogging for some time, so I looked it up. Damn.

But those of you who are familiar with the 'spiel will know that Sundays are days I tend to try to play catch-up. I have much grading to do and a quiz to post. I'm feeling very full after a wonderful birthday brunch in a revolving restaurant, and am suffering the aftereffects of yesterday's really exciting allergic reaction to one of the most useful prescription drugs on the market. Not wanting to post a quiz (lots of cutting and pasting, because stupid McGraw-Hill sucks -- no test cartridge for Web CT. Last time I use their friggin' book. Of course, Web CT is no joy for me to work with, either. If your school is trying to avoid paying the costs of Blackboard (which at least works and is really intuitive), I suggest trying Angel out. Or try Web CT. Some people like it, I hear.

Update: D'oh. Yesterday was the day. I was unable to blog, as I spent all day with my adoptive (in the affectionate sense) nieces, two of whom were in summer camp plays -- Three plays in one day. Noon till 8:30. I am a good auntie.

And now I'm almost a month into year five. Sheesh! But think about it -- This blog has chronicled 4+ years of job searches -- all of which resulted in some kind of employment, a divorce, a couple of moves, a death ... and begun many friendships, resurrected many old friendships, and really -- I believe this -- helped to resurrect my academic career and get me to where I am now. Thanks, everybody!

A New Year

A New Year

Well, the academic year is starting soon for most of us. Some of us have already started classes, some of us are in prep week, trying to get work done between seemingly interminable year-opening welcomes and meetings, and some of us still have a month or so to go! It's also a time when many of us do an accounting of what we've got done -- or not got done -- over the summer, in order to make our new year's resolutions and plans. Lots of depressing self-reflection goes on this time of year, sometimes deserved, sometimes not. Did we use our time well? What should we have done more of, or done better? What will we do next year to avoid feeling this way at the end of the summer?

Well, I'm having a hard time feeling like I've accomplished anything. Objectively, I suppose I have. I've moved across the country and settled in reasonably well in New Town. I'm mostly over the worst of the depression that hit right after I got here. Considering my last year and a half, the stress/depression shouldn't have been a surprise. I've survived my first week of being an official member of the SLAC community. I've got a grip on my classes, although I haven't quite got the syllabi together. Just a couple of days ago, I came up with an idea I want to explore for a paper to give at Kzoo next year, although I can't remember if there was a session in the CFP that looked appropriate for a paper on women and landholding/owning in the eastern part of Francia. (if you have ideas on secondary sources, though, please shoot them my way. This is new territory for me.) Still, I should be able to hammer out an abstract by the 15th, even if it has to go into the general hopper. And I believe (according to e-mail conversations with the RT organizer) that I'm set for a pedagogical panel, which I've been able to use to coordinate a new teaching experiment and will also be using to put in a bid for extra conference money and will with luck result in a write-up for a pedagogical journal of some kind. I hope.

So, not so bad. I've also written the first 500 words of a review. It took about an hour and a half, once I started, and then I just kind of stopped. It wasn't till I read this post at New Kid's that I realised I've really not been writing much at all this summer. One of the parts of adjusting was a very odd kind of withdrawal from my friends and family. I've been reading blogs, but haven't felt much like putting myself out enough to blog about much of interest or importance. New Kid's post made me realise that I really do write more scholarly stuff when I'm blogging about my work. It helps me to settle and to get into writing mode, because I really do compose in my head. I know it doesn't always seem that way, but my blog writing, as informal as it is, is public writing. So as part of my plan for a productive new year, I think you can expect more serious blogging, too. I think I will also try to take at least one vacation where I do not try to work. I need to remember how to have real down time, so I stop feeling guilty and unproductive all of the time.

You know on second thought, I'm not entirely a schlub. I got some stuff done. Not as much as I'd like, but still. Not as much as a Senior Colleague who at last count had written about 75,000 words, but ... hmph. Next time, maybe I'll tell you what I planned to have done by now! It includes having read Heather and Smith on the fall of Rome ... soon, really.

Hope your summers were more productive and that you all have a great new year!

Last of the Photo Meme

Last of the Photo Meme

This is my favorite coffee/tea cup. It isn't the biggest one I use most often, but it is my fave. 


This is a view from my window. Not sayin' which window, though! 


This is one of my favourite things about New Town. I didn't take the picture -- it's from the Wikipedia. I haven't been able to get a picture yet. But I see these guys all over, and I don't have a lawn, so they're just big, slow, cute critters to me! I also like the wild rabbits. And there are foxes, too, but I've only seen them dead. No 'possums, though, which is just plain weird. I don't think I've ever gone this long without seeing 'possum roadkill. Roadkill here is way different than I'm used to.  

Quotes Meme

Quotes Meme

Tagged by Medieval Woman ...
Go here and look through random quotes until you find 5 that you think reflect who you are or what you believe. Repost in your journal and tag 5 friends.

• He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it. Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001), "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
  
  
• That cannot be safe which is not honourable. Cornelius Tacitus (55 AD - 117 AD)
  
  
• God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of his own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, "Good Omens"
  
  
• Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things. Dan Quayle (1947 - ), 11/30/88
  
  
• I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. James Madison (1751 - 1836)

And, of course, my freebie --- I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.


consider yourselves tagged!

HIstory Carnival 37

History Carnival XXXVII

There's a new History Carnival up at Mode for Caleb. I know I always tell you all to go and read, but I think this may be one of the best carnivals I've seen in quite a while. There's a great post by Tim Burke, something on the sinking of the Vasa, Romanian pyramids ... in short, something for just about everybody. And you should go there anyway, because I always think of Caleb at the beginning of term, when I assign his post on skimming to my students!

First Official Day at SLAC

First Official Day at SLAC

Was a success? I will blog more later, and will really finish the Photo Meme -- as soon as I find my favouorite thing for P/H. But what with people disappearing from my blogworld lately, I've been going through a little bit of Tribble fear. Weird, since I actually have the T-T job, and I think a couple of people at SLAC know I blog. But mostly, I'm just trying to process all the new information and new experiences, and am feeling torn away from the people I love and isolated (even though I'm meeting lots of nice new people, they aren't my people yet, if that makes sense) and it's weird to be starting a new year without the peeps I know and love and miss, especially the Mathemetician, the Vulcanologist, Professor Kinsey, Purposeful Woman, Computer Goddess, the Geographer, Gastropoda Regina and Chemistry Biker. Of course, the fact that Gastropoda Regina is off to super-exotic locale to teach for a couple of years means I'd have missed her anyway ...

Anyhoo ... I'll update soon.

Carnivalesque XVIII Host Sought

Carnivalesque XVIII Host Sought

It's getting to be that time, and we are still looking for volunteers to host August's Carnivalesque -- an Early Modern edition.

Carnivalesque is certainly not just for historians (or for academic scholars). We welcome perspectives from related disciplines, especially literary studies, archaeology, art history, philosophy - in fact, from anyone who enjoys writing about anything to do with the not-so-recent past. You can nominate your own writing and/or that of other bloggers, but please try not to nominate more than one or two posts by any author, and limit nominations to fairly recent posts, preferably since the last edition (on the relevant period) and certainly within the last three months.

Potential hosts should be regular bloggers with some knowledge of and interest in pre-modern history (though, again, not necessarily academics). If you are interested in hosting an edition of Carnivalesque, please comment below or send an e-mail to Another_damned_medievalist AT-SIGN hotmail DOT com, noting whether you are particularly interested in early modern or ancient/medieval, and telling us a little about your background and historical interests.

We Interrupt this hiatus

We Interrupt This Hiatus

To say, I had a blogger meet-up today!!!! Tiruncula and I met up, after much travel, in Her Mom's City. She took me all over, showed me all the cool stuff, let me make lots of "ooh" and "aaah" sounds while noting all the cool things, and we got to know each other a bit better. Sooo much fun. Can't wait till we can arrange another meeting.

History Carnival XXXVI

History Carnival XXXVI


Aaargh!!! I am just not good with dates when not teaching! History Carnival XXXVI is up at Clews and, despite a glitch in the submission mechanism, it's pretty darned good. Go and read something worthwhile!

But I'm thinking, having looked at the comment traffic there and elsewhere for the July and August carnival(esque)s, that we should perhaps behave like civilized people and take a hiatus in July and August?

August 15th's Carnival will be hoted by Caleb McDaniel at Mode for Celeb. You can submit suggestions to the form or gmail him at calebmcd.

Also, still looking for hosts for the next couple of issues of . interested parties can e-mail me or Sharon Howard or just drop a comment here.

Reading for Pleasure Wednesday Meme

Reading for Pleasure Wednesday Meme

Even though no one tagged me, this meme is going around. I know NK didn't tag me because she doesn't like to enable my procrastinatory habits...

1. One book that changed your life?
   
   Tough call. But maybe John Christopher's Tripods series, because it was the first time I think I identified something I was reading as sf, and then started picking up books that said "sf". I'd read sf before, I think mostly Andre Norton, but to me they were just good stories in the way that Zilpha Keatley Snyder and Mary Renault and Joan Aiken were good stories. So, voracious reader that I was, I read all the sf on the family bookshelves. Still not sure reading Stranger in a Strange Land and The Left Hand of Darkness at 12 was something my mother intended -- but I don't think it was her book! The other was at about the same time ... maybe a little earlier. Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising books. I'd like to say that they turned me into a medieval historian, but no. They just opened up fantasy and Arthurian/Celtic legends to me. From there to the Mabinogion, which just helps when I'm reading other stuff.
   
   
2. One book you have read more than once?
   
   Persuasion (it's one ... I've read all of Austen more than once ... most things I love I re-read). But Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen, I think because I identify with Ann Elliott more than her other heroines.
   
   
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
   
   Maybe War and Peace, because I'm never read it, and it's long and it's the Napoleonic Wars that I don't know reasonably well (i.e., not naval or Iberia)
   
   
4. One book that made you laugh?
   
   Tons. Pretty much anything by Terry Pratchett. And, sadly, Robert Aspirin. But I think the last real guffaws were when I read High Fidelity. NO, wait --- Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
   
   
5. One book that made you cry?
   
   Again, too many to count. The first? probably Charlotte's Web.
   
   
   
6. One book you wish had been written?
   Patrologia Latinae for Dummies or maybe The Idiot's guide to Sources for Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Of course, if such a book existed, I'd be out of a job, so maybe scratch that.
   
   
   
   
7. One book you wish had never been written?
   
   Atlas Shrugged
   
   
8. One book you are currently reading?
   
   Dürrenmatt, Der Richter und sein Henker
   
   
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
   
   Iain Pears, An Instance of the Fingerpost and a metric ton of sf. (good thing this is about pleasure reading)
   
   
10. Now tag five people: Seeking five volunteers, please ...

More photos coming. I'm just looking for the right shots!

Photomeme request #3

Photomeme request #3

Out of order, but Wegie's request was easier, since I'd just taken some kitty snaps ... Several pics below the cut!





Two kitties on the porch 



Girlie on the porch 


Soppy on the porch 




Mr Soppy likes the pillows 


The girl in the hall ... otherwise, she sleeps where you can't find her 

Photomeme Request #1

Photomeme request #1

Here are some pictures of my (home) office for meg ... I still need to take some boxes of stuff to campus, but it's workable. And I do most of my reading on the balcony or away from the computer. My work office? I don't think I'll be posting pics till it's in order, and then maybe here is not the best place to share, since I'd rather not out myself too much! 

That Photo meme

That Photo Meme

Well, since it's the winding-down of summer, and I need an excuse to explore, I'm offering myself up to the photoblog meme.

Why am I not as thrilled as I should be?

Why am I not as thrilled as I should be?

I just found out that I have a lower teaching load than I was told. 9 hours a week. I've never ever ever contemplated that I'd be in a job where I taught so little. Two preps (four for the year). There is time for scholarly activity!!! And they are paying me!!! and now I have to do it!!!!

Because, yeah. That's the other part. Expectations of scholarly activity have been raised by a somewhat nebulous amount. If we aren't doing "enough", they will give us more courses.

Yeah, I'm a bit nervous.

And I'm kinda thrilled, and kinda excited. But I don't adjust well to my expectations changing quite this rapidly. Give me a couple weeks, and I'll be reminding myself that I've fallen into a very nice situation.

Just another step in the transition from thinking of myself as a teacher to thinking of myself as an actual, full-fledged academic person, I expect. Self perception's a bitch.

Kewl

Kewl

Two very cool things. For the first time in recent memory, I opened my newly-arrived Speculum* to find An article that actually has something to do with my research. If you were an early medieval historian, you'd know how rare this is. Not only that, but there was a review of Althoff's Friends, Family ...(and whatever. I can't remember off the top of my head) by Chris Wickham that rawked. Seriously. Such a good reviews and now I must buy the damned book -- which is not all that pricey, thank goodness.

Other cool thing: I just read this over at The Little Professor. It's really, really good.

Now I'm going to shower and move stuff into my new office!






*(Oi! you just shut yer gobs, you non-medievalist lot. I didn't name it!)

Carnivalesque XVII

Carnivalesque XVII

Hi Everybody! Carnivalesque XVI is up at xoom!. It's an Ancient/Medieval version, and there's lots of fun stuff to read.

Never been to a Carnival??

Carnivalesque is certainly not just for historians (or for academic scholars). We welcome perspectives from related disciplines, especially literary studies, archaeology, art history, philosophy - in fact, from anyone who enjoys writing about anything to do with the not-so-recent past. You can nominate your own writing and/or that of other bloggers, but please try not to nominate more than one or two posts by any author, and limit nominations to fairly recent posts, preferably since the last edition (on the relevant period) and certainly within the last three months.

To submit nominations you can either send an email to the upcoming host (once a name has been announced), to the carnival email address (carnivalesque AT-SIGN earlymodernweb DOT org DOT uk), or you can use the handy submission form at Blog Carnival.

Potential hosts should be regular bloggers with some knowledge of and interest in pre-modern history (though, again, not necessarily academics). If you are interested in hosting an edition of Carnivalesque, please send us an email (see further down page for details), noting whether you are particularly interested in early modern or ancient/medieval, and telling us a little about your background and historical interests.

New SLAC Fears

New SLAC Fears

So I'm starting the new job in less than a month. Things I hadn't considered #1 -- my wardrobe. There are events. I don't have clothes to wear to country clubs. I have nice teaching clothes (and not nearly as many of those as I probably should have) and interview clothes and jeans. And lots of skirts and cheap t-shirts and sleveless t-shirt-y shells from Target that, when paired with skirts, made me look far more dressed up than most of my colleagues at old CC. And there are times when one wears regalia. AAARGH!

Things I hadn't considered #2. This post at New Kid's reminds me that, while I don't normally swear in class, my classroom speech has become frighteningly colloquial. I think part of that was the part of the country I was living in, and part of it was that many of my colleagues tended to do the same. Part of it was perhaps the student population, and I think part of it was that there was a kind of relaxed attitude where students expected to call faculty by their first names. I think that kind of familiarity tends to blur behavioral lines. I really missed the formality of a SLAC ... but now I'm afraid I won't remember how to behave. Hell and damnation.

By the by, this is not a criticism of either of my old CCs. Campus culture is what it is. Anecdotally, I would say that my colleagues at most recent CC who remained engaged in the wider academic community tended to have more defined academic personae. Hmmm. A question for Dean Dad?

Not Protected by Academic Freedom: Bad Teaching

Not Protected by Academic Freedom: Bad Teaching

It probably comes as no surprise to anybody who comes by here, especially those of you who have read the past couple of posts and their comcomitant discussions, that I suspect Kevin Barrett of being a bad teacher. Admittedly, this is based solely on what I've read, and that may be a little sensationalist. But the Barrett discussion raises the question of academic freedom, as well. And you know? I don't think academic freedom is meant to cover bad teaching, intellectual dishonesty, or any of a myriad of other things.
Stanley Fish has his take on it in yesterday's NY Times. (sorry if you have to log in). I pretty much agree with what he says, except that I also think that academic freedom guarantees our rights to participate in off-campus activities that are protected by the Constitution without those activities affecting the security of our positions.


Hat tip to Gill Polack

When is it not history?

When is it not history?

Short answer: when you think that, by studying an aspect of the past, you can change the present.


ETA: For "history", read "doing history in the sense of studying and/or professing history" not "at what point does history, the study of the past, stop being history." After reading meg and NK's comments below, I realized I wasn't perhaps as clear as I should have been. This is not about history being a valid field of study ... it's more about what I see as the duties of the historian when actually doing history. I'm not saying that who we are and what our own interests are doesn't or shouldn't in some way influence our choices of subject -- if that were true, we wouldn't have social, intellectual, political, economic, institutional, whatever history. I'm saying that when we let our interests in those things in the now drive and guide how we read and interpret and publicise the past, we are in danger of privileging the cause over the subject or the approach.

Apropos of this post and the comment threads here and at AIR, I've done some thinking. Part of it comes back to a question that most of us deal with on a regular basis, especially if we are in the classroom or lecture hall -- how is this relevant? My answer is, increasingly, "I don't know. Why should it be? Shouldn't you decide how it is relevant to you?"
Not history. Social engineering that uses history. That's a different thing.

I can explain the relevance of History as a discipline. For me, at least, it accentuates many of my natural thought processes and encourages my inclinations towards skepticism and picking things apart till you think they can't be picked anymore -- then putting them back together a different way and looking for holes. The knowledge that my subjects are not like us means that I have to try to imagine what it would be like to be like them: it will always be an approximation, but I have to play by their social rules, which means I have to develop some empathy and understanding. Those skills are things I do use on a daily basis in the present when confronted with trying to understand current political situations, my fellow citizens, visiting other countries -- or even other parts of this country.

As far as why Eastern Francia or Stuart England or Lombard Italy are relevant? I can't help you, except to say that the stuff these people did happened within a greater time-stream that seems to have got us here and now (this is one of those places where the Histroy of Science wonks have it made -- there, you really do seems to be able to relate one event to the next in an idea of 'progress'). Some of this is conscious, some not. Some is based on reiterations of "what happened" that are more or less correct, some of those interpretations have now been corrected -- but we have to deal with the fact that the misinterpretations have had influence. All of this is meaningful, all of this adds to to a greater understanding of the world, but as far as personal relevance goes? That's up to you.

I think that, by learning to understand the past -- and that means knowing that it's the quest that's important, and that, even though we defend our conclusions with every shred of evidence available, those conclusions can be overturned with a single new document, or argued into a new interpretation, and that's a good thing -- we can learn to understand the present better. But understanding the past to change the present? Or to undo wrongs of the past in the present? I think that's where you cross the line and stop doing history.

Part of me thinks that this is particularly a danger for the modernist, or at least some modernists. Perhaps because some perfectly acceptable approaches for modern historians still allow for thinking of history as progess? But the minute one thinks of history as progress, one is almost forced to use the present as the standard of measurement, and that's not going to result in good history.

Perhaps more importantly, the recent past is accessible in a way that cannot help but to be personal. My own views of the Depression, World War II, and post-War Britain are colored by having heard the personal recollections of my grandparents, in-laws, and ex-husband. But I also know that those experiences, even though they've often been presented as normative, might not be. My favorite example is the story of my ex-husband's birth -- he was born in his grandmother's bed, as were his brothers. I asked if that were normal, because he was born in 1951, after all, and was told it was. And you know, it was normal for the people in their neighborhood, which was poor. But another friend was born in a different part of England, four years earlier, and to a different class. For him, the idea of being born at home was abnormal -- even his much older siblings were born in hospital. Intellectually, I of course always knew that these stories in part show -- that people of different social groups probably had different ideas of normality. But there is an unconscious temptation to give more weight to the person, to the eyewitness account, that one knows, and that makes for bad history.

I think that "identity X" history can combine the worst of the dangers I've mentioned. There is an idea of history with a goal, and there is trust of the personal account -- except in this case, the personal account is often the personal experience of the historian and the people closest to him or her. For what it's worth, I think that Americans who are historians of American history have to face many of the same challenges (as do Germans who do post war Germany, etc.). And the more I think about it, if you've chosen to do the history of something because you have a personal identification (in real time) with it and an interest in using it to make your own personal identifications explicable and meaningful, you really aren't doing history -- you're doing sociology or journalism or poli sci or genealogy, but whatever it is, you've crossed the line and compromised your objectivity. Because, if it's all about you, it isn't history, I don't think.

Update: Alun Salt offers his typically cogent views at Archaeoastronomy and Revise and Dissent.

IBARW and History

IBARW and History

I'm not committing to daily posts against racism, despite it being Blog Against Racism Week, but this post from the current History Carnival is one I find interesting, and not necessarily in a good way. Andrew Ross asks:

Do members of oppressed groups today have special access on the past of those groups? In other words, do gay people or Black people, have a special claim to an understanding of the gay or Black past?

And answers:

yeah, I'm afraid so.

This is one of those times I'm glad I study what I do. There was a time when most of the secondary material in my field was written in a way that both claimed and helped to reinforce this idea of special insight (thank you, Ranke, et al.). I'm honestly not sure if it's as true in the historiography of England or Western Francia/France, but pretty much everything I've read on Eastern Francia written before 1950 (and a good bit of stuff written afterwards by people trained before WWII) relies on circular arguments that rely pretty much on a "but of course it was that way because we Germans are like that and they were like that too!" argument. For me, this often means that the secondary sources contain really good information wrapped in analysis that only a fool would accept at face value. (Still ... German MSS editing! = no paleography!)


But apart from crazed German nationalist historians, it's pretty easy to be a medievalist -- and I think it's easier the earlier one goes. OK, yeah, we've got to do the languages and the funny writing (sometimes) and we have to use a much broader range of relatively fewer sources ... but we really are in 'the past is a different country' land. We don't have to worry about identifying with the people we study in the way Ross discusses. We try to understand them and make them more understandable to others, but that's different. Because Ross is wrong about this. In fact, I would argue that what he sees as being better insight is just a faster way to bad history. We don't have to try to make what we do "meaningful for the 21st c.", because we know it's just meaningful, period.

History Carnival XXXV

History Carnival XXXV

History Carnival XXXV is up at Air Pollution! Andrew Ross has collected some great links. Go and read them and be entertained and enlightened!


The next History Carnival will be at CLEWS: The Historic True Crime Blog on August 1st. You can submit your entries here.

Apologies for not getting this up sooner ... I seem to have lost all track of dates.

Hot

Hot

It's currently 91 (feels like 96 w/humidity, and hasn't hit the day's high yet ... yesterday was 98). I am dreading the electric bill -- and I keep the thermostat set to 73.

In other news, the legislators and governor of the state of Florida are now officially dumber than a bag of rocks. The fact that many people in this country think they have a good idea just proves that there are some seriously badly educated people in this country. If you know me, you know where I lay the blame for that one ... let's just say it's not unrelated to the fact that there has been a push by certain factions to privilege holders of education degrees over discipline degrees and that well-qualified teachers of history have a hard time getting jobs unless they can coach ...

But anyway, via one of the list servs I'm on...

Quote: "American history shall be viewed as factual, not as
constructed, shall be viewed as knowable, teachable and testable, and
shall be defined as the creation of a new nation based largely on the
universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence."

More at History News Network at http://hnn.us/blogs/comments/26616.html
and

LA Times at http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-zimmerman7jun07,0,5940045.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

The Bill itself is at
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/laws/06laws/ch_2006-074.pdf

Thanks to Paul Halsall at The English Eclectic, who pointed this out on the list serv.

Possibly Unintended Imagery

Possibly Unintended Imagery

From a book I'm currently reading:

Those excluded from mainstream society were also distinguished by external symbols, such as the badge stitched on the clothes of Jews or the uncovered, unkempt hair of prostitutes. In short, someone's place in society could be known at a glance. In towns the identity of each social category was regularly displayed through grand processions: each group would parade in the appropriate attire with distinctive insignia, in an order of precedence that reflected its place in the social hierarchy.

First thought -- I get the uncovered heads of prostitutes, but unkempt hair? Was this a rule? "You, whore! Put that comb down! Can't have your hair look tidy!" I'm serious -- was it a rule? Time in question is say, 12th c. For no good reason (or probably too many historical novels?), I was under the impression that in the MA unmarried women often left their hair uncovered (I've heard unbound, as well, but that makes no sense to me at all -- I've had hair down past my waist, and it gets in the way -- for people who work for a living, unbound hair makes no sense), but it seems to me that, were I to make my living as a prostitute, I'd want my hair to do its job and help attract custom.

And that last part. Yes, I know it's true. And I love the processions. But when I read that sentence, I was struck by two images: one was all of the guild masters of Ankh-Morpork trying to haggle with Lord Vetinari over who got which place in the procession -- and I bet the Seamstresses weren't last in that procession; the other was of a very flamboyant gay wedding procession organizer, probably a monk, or maybe like the clerk in Life of Brian ("Crucifixion? Right, that way ..."), organizing the ranks for the procession just so.

I probably need to get out more.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation

I've been reading through my new World History text -- I'm using Bulliett. Mostly, I like it. The organization is not bad. It doesn't have too many stupid questions. Not so many primary sources, but that's ok. And it's better than most texts when it comes to the Voice of Authority, i.e., there are qualifying comments like, "many historians think," or , "Historian X has argued ...". And in general, I like that there are pronunciation hints. Except. The pronunciations are not mine in some cases. And I don't think it's that my pronunciations are wrong. It's that for some reason, the pronunciations have been simplified. Dipthongs are pretty much non-existent. Everything has been ... USAmericanized? Worse, the majority of vowel sounds seem to be translated to "uh". I know that not everyone pronounces the K in Knossos (and this book spells it Cnossos and says NOH-sus). I'll explain that my way is perfectly acceptable (it is, isn't it??). But Phaistos -- I would pronounce it Fah-EE-stos, or something like, that reflects that both the a and the i are spoken. THe book? FIE-stus.

I wouldn't worry about it, except that maybe I've been wrong all these years? But I think I'm not. I'm actually not bad with the languages -- and especially with pronunciations (although I have trouble with Pfirsich and Kirsch and occasionally French words that end in -in, until I've heard them pronounced properly). But really ... I think I'm more right than wrong here. How to deal with book disagreement in class?

Quiz Fun

Er ... do you think so?



Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

Carnival reminder

carnivalesque reminder

17, and Ancient/Medieval carnival, will be hosted by Meg at xoom on or about 25 July. You can forward submissions to meg AT rageaway DOT com or to the carnivalesque e-mail address: carnivalesque At-sign
earlymodernweb DOT org ANOTHER DOT uk or you can use the handy submission form at Blog Carnival.


Carnivalesque is certainly not just for historians (or for academic scholars). We welcome perspectives from related disciplines, especially literary studies, archaeology, art history, philosophy - in fact, from anyone who enjoys writing about anything to do with the not-so-recent past. You can nominate your own writing and/or that of other bloggers, but please try not to nominate more than one or two posts by any author, and limit nominations to fairly recent posts, preferably since the last edition (on the relevant period) and certainly within the last three months.

Potential hosts should be regular bloggers with some knowledge of
and interest in pre-modern history (though, again, not necessarily academics). If you are interested in hosting an edition of Carnivalesque, please send an email noting whether you are particularly interested in early modern or ancient/medieval, and telling us a little about your background and historical interests.





The next History Carnival will be hosted by Andrew Ross at Air Pollution on July 15. ESend your nominations of exemplary posts in history since 1 July to him at airpollutionblog*at*gmail*dot*com
Or you can use this handy form.

ADM Goes Exploring

ADM Goes Exploring

Still not adjusted. Still wanting more human contact. But, I got out today. Drove much further than I thought to go to the closest Trader Joe's, because so far, I haven't been able to find organic chicken in town. I bet there is, if I can find a butcher, and this part of the country should have butchers ... Also, TJ's has really good chocolate (70-90% -- good for the endorphins) and a good wine collection, including the famed 'Two-buck Chuck's', very drinkable plonk at $2 a bottle ($3 in old state, because alcohol taxes were so high). Plus, it's a bit cheaper for things like good cheese, basmati and arborio rice, etc.

On the way back, I was driving along a country highway, but not the serious country highway -- I realized that there is a very direct route to TJ Town, but much of the road has a 25-35 mph speed limit, and there are occasionally tractors. OTOH, that route is gorgeous and jam-packed with buildings that are easily a couple of hundred years old, in some places. Next time, I'll drive that way, and stop at a cute cafe and read and lollygag. This time, I took the interstate, and it was not as interesting, but a good test of the car. But anyway, as I was looking at the trees and bushes and realizing that almost every bit of greenery was alien to me, and that even the friggin' cows look wrong*, I glanced over, and there, as big as a real, life-sized deer, was a real, life-sized deer, grazing in the woods next to the road. A young doe, as bold as anything, in broad daylight. Also, I think I saw a female cardinal and some big bird of prey I didn't recognize (which means not a red-tailed hawk, turkey buzzard, or bald eagle). I should buy a bird book, or at least one of those laminated bird guides.

Picked up some plants, gifts from Purposeful Woman, Computer Genius, The Mathemetician, Professor Kinsey, The Vulcanologist, and The Economist. I will take pictures of them and post them soon! But I still have several to go, because the gift of plants was extraordinatily generous. OH! I did see familiar stuff at the plant place -- bougainvilla, hibiscus, lantana, and a big honking bird of paradise that cost some hundreds of dollars. Er ... won't be buying that. Apparently, most of those things are annuals here. hmph. The tomatoes are budding, though ...

Then, home to swim, because it's still in the high 80s here and something like 120% humidity. Haven't been to the gym this week -- good thing I haven't bought the membership. I really do want to check out some other places, but am tempted to just go ahead and buy the year's membership, because cool colleague works out there, and so does her cool friend, so I might actually be able to hang out. But it's a little too low key -- maybe. I have a feeling I might not like the co-ed gyms here. There's way too much random testosterone, mullets, and tobacco chewing, I'm thinking. Yes, I am a snob. I may have working-class roots, but I do have some standards -- decent dental care, absence of caps indoors, no overt macho bullshit ... these are things I expect in my immediate society.

Anyway, the pool closes at 6, as it happens, so no swim. My apartment is reasonably clean, I have groceries, I have done laundry, and my desk and dining table are both usable. No excuse not to work tomorrow. Shoot -- Thunderstorm breaking. should probably turn off the computer.




*Where I come from, cows are Hereford-y beef cows, with the occasional longhorn, or they are black and white milk cows (Holsteins, maybe?). Perhaps the occasional decorative Brahma bull or herd of Black Angus(es). These were not the cows I am used to. They were black or brown, but polled, so no telling what the horns would have looked like. All young, and I think steers, but they didn't look like 'beef' cattle that I'm used to seeing. Anyway, I've seen cows in England and Germany, and these didn't look like them, either -- although most of those (except the hairy Scottish cows up near Inverness and Cawdor Castle) looked like milk cows. But not like these. I know. They are just cows. I'm only trying to explain that even the flora and fauna seem odd to me.

Zizou!!!

Zizou!!!!

What on earth were you thinking?

Another Reason to love Stephen Fry

Yet another reason to love Stephen Fry -- History Matters

Stephen Fry on why History Matters. It's not everything, and I might not exactly agree with all of it, but it's a far better public articulation than I've seen in a long while. Here's a long excerpt, worthy of not being hidden behind a cut:

The biggest challenge facing the great teachers and communicators of history is not to teach history itself, nor even the lessons of history, but why history matters. How to ignite the first spark of the will o'the wisp, the Jack o'lantern, the ignis fatuus [foolish fire] beloved of poets, which lights up one source of history and then another, zigzagging across the marsh, connecting and linking and writing bright words across the dark face of the present. There's no phrase I can come up that will encapsulate in a winning sound-bite why history matters. We know that history matters, we know that it is thrilling, absorbing, fascinating, delightful and infuriating, that it is life. Yet I can't help wondering if it's a bit like being a Wagnerite; you just have to get used to the fact that some people are never going to listen.

No, it isn't exactly political correctness that dogs history; it's more a pernicious refusal to enter imaginatively the lives of our ancestors. Great and good men and women stirred sugar into their coffee knowing that it had been picked by slaves. Kind, good ancestors of all of us never questioned hangings, burnings, tortures, inequality, suffering and injustice that today revolt us. If we dare to presume to damn them with our fleeting ideas of morality, then we risk damnation from our descendants for whatever it is that we are doing that future history will judge as intolerable and wicked: eating meat, driving cars, appearing on TV, visiting zoos, who knows?

We haven't arrived at our own moral and ethical imperatives by each of us working them out from first principles; we have inherited them and they were born out of blood and suffering, as all human things and human beings are. This does not stop us from admiring and praising the progressive heroes who got there early and risked their lives to advance causes that we now take for granted.

Welcome to my first reading assignment of the year, class.

Wishing settling in were easier

Wishing settling in were easier

Well, except for hanging pictures and cleaning up my home office, I'm pretty much settled in. Physically, at least. I know my way around town, more or less, and have sussed out places I'd like to hang out, places I'd like to see, and places to shop. I may have found a gym, and have explored the park adjacent to campus. My English neighbors have agreed to show me the running trail that runs from near our apartment complex through some wetlands. The cats seem happy enough.

In practical terms, moving early was a good idea. In personal terms, not so much. I'd forgotten about the fact that I don't like to be isolated -- and I am a person prone to allowing isolation to build and fester. It takes me a while to make friends, and I'd forgotten how much I depend on them. When my friends are around, available, I don't have to be with them all the time. It's enough to know they're there. But now, everyone I love is very far away. Only as far as a phone call or e-mail, but still, very far. And although this seems to be a friendly town, it's the friendly of polite, and courteous, and superficial welcome. Or maybe I'm just bad at making friends. I'm definitely kind of picky. And it's a small town, so I'm trying not to make too many false steps. But at the moment, I feel pretty anonymous.

There are some great things about the town. Parts are really beautiful -- very old buildings in styles I love, built with materials that don't have to worry about earthquakes. I'll post pictures soon -- Really! I went out on the balcony this morning with my tea, and the cats and I watched wild rabbits on the lawns between the apartments and the houses that on the adjoining property. Every morning, despite having the windows shut to make the most of the A/C (although I think I should shut it off and open the windows on cool nights), I hear the songs of birds that I mostly don't recognize. I hear birds at night, too -- something I never did in Old City.

I stumbled across the mall the other day, where I found that $23 pedicures do exist (big yay!), and there is a bubble tea stand! There is in fact one Thai restaurant, supposedly pretty good, although I've not found it. And there are two Indian restaurants, one supposedly good, the other to be avoided, or so I hear.

It's funny, though. There seem to be several towns here, each with its own population, and I can't yet see where the intersections are. It's very alien. I think this is true for faculty, too, just from the little I've seen. The older faculty, as far as I can tell, all live in the town itself. They live in these amazingly beautiful houses built no earlier than 70 years ago, some much older. They are the old neighborhoods, green and lush and rich, like the old neighborhoods around my Grad U, full of charm and azaleas. They are the neighborhoods of the respected members of the community, of those with roots. New faculty will never be able to afford those homes. They must live a bit further afield. The housing boom that comes from people who work in local humongous city (an hour and a half away) looking for affordable homes means that anything near SLAC is aleady far out of a junior faculty member's price range.

SLAC is changing, too. I'm happy for the changes, because they mean I can continue to research. I must publish to be promoted -- that's a new thing, because SLAC prides itself on being a teaching school. As my departmental colleague said, though, SLAC can't grow the way it wants to, and draw the students it wants, unless it expects actual scholars as well as teachers. But in the couple of collegial conversations I've had so far, I get the feeling that there is far more tension between the old guard and the new over this than I'd thought. I want to do well here, and I'm scared there might be more landmines (aren't there always?) than I had anticipated.

But I don't really know. I've only seen two colleagues since I've been here, and I don't start for weeks. Perhaps, once I get moved into my campus office, and get into tthe swing of things, I'll feel better about this. Right now, I'm really frightened because my old CC library had a better collection, and I've just been told that, no, we don't have access to JSTOR. I have a feeling I've been hired to be the assertive person I was at my interview. I just hadn't realized that meant I might also end up being the person wearing a big freakin' target as I ask for library resources, research resources, and try to get the things I really need to do my job well.

Today, though, I need to get my office together. I want to go pick up the houseplants that my wonderful friends in Old City bought me. Thanks!!!!! I want to tidy up the place and maybe watch the Germany-Portugal match (Gooooo, Deutschland!). Maybe I'll even go to the gym, although that would be three days in a row -- a first for ages. What I'd rerally like to do is find a nice little breakfast place in the pedestian precinct, where I can sit outside and have a coffee and read. Maybe even read something like the Peter Heather book that just arrived. Maybe learn to like the isolation. Well, probably not on that last. Maybe I'd better get organized and put up a to-do list!

I'm just sayin ...

I'm Just Saying ...

There is a word I seldom use. Almost never. It's one of those taboo words, at least in the US. I used it today to refer to Wayne Rooney. While I do not condone violence, I would not be all that displeased to hear that someone had smacked that boy upside the head and banned him from ever playing football again. Ever. I like him even less than C. Ronaldo, who has always been a dirty, cheating, arrogant little [insert any of the several words I can think of here].

And no, I wasn't surprised. Put a thick-headed, doltish, thug like Rooney, a player whose brilliance at scoring goals is well-balanced by the amount of time his head is stuck so far up his arse that it's surprising that he isn't more brain-damaged from the lack of oxygen, on a team, and he will screw it up.

And Sven-Goren? Re Frank Lampard. Can be brilliant. Having a terrible game. That's when a substitution isn't a bad idea. I'm just sayin'.

Dear Construction People

Dear Construction People

Why can I only open my windows from the bottom? I live on the top floor. I have cats. The hottest air in the room is at the top! I can't open my windows all the way, because the screens aren't particularly safe, should a cat lean against them. Which they can, because the windows have lovely ledges and are set about a foot from the floor. Heck, I can't even open them 6 inches! When it's actually below 70 at night, I'd like to have fresh (if muggy) air in the place. I would like to not have to run the A/C all the time.


And, by the way, don't say it's because people can't reach to lower a casement window -- not when you've built the kitchen cupboards so damned high I have to use a stool to reach the second shelf!


This is what we call a design flaw.

Still unpacking ... and it's the World Cup! and Blogger Meetup!

Still unpacking ... and it's the World Cup! and Blogger Meetup!

Well, I'd say the apartment is about 3/4 organized at this point. Usual running around to pick up bits and pieces -- had to jury-rig a way of hanging a rack on the back of the kitchen/laundry room door, because I think the owners might take it amiss if I were to use the screws that came with the rack. The one complaint I have about the place is a lack of storage space. I may have to get rid of some stuff. But really, it's just silly use of space -- I'm not all that short, and I have to use a stool to get into the second shelf of the upper kitchen cabinets, and the lower cabinets have those stupid half-shelves.

Oh well. I can now watch TV and DVDs, my good computer is hooked up (after going out and buying a serious surge protector that also connects the cable co-ax) and I can again listen to stuff via the Lyra, and my new Skype number rings over the stereo speakers so I can hear it...

And best of all, I had a blogger meet-up today! What Now was in town on business, and so we went out for a drink and snacks. Like all my other blogger meet-ups so far, it was really nice. WN was nothing like I expected in person -- far more bubbly and less ... serious? professional? Not in a bad way. Just that I always thought of her as looking as no-nonsense as she sounds/writes. She's still pretty no-nonsense, but much more outgoing and sparkly. The cats even deigned to (with a little encouragement) come out and say hi! Proof that i have great taste in blogfriends. We went down to the old town and walked through about a third of the pedestrian mall, where we found a decent little place (no outside seating, unfortunately, at least not if we wanted to sit within 30 minutes!). There was another place that looked pretty nice, but was very spendy. I was totally surprised at the prices where we ended up -- I guess it was happy hour -- my beers (2, thanks for asking) were only $2.50 each for draft microbrews!

Tomorrow and Sunday are the final push to get the place in shape (except, maybe lining the kitchen cupboards). But first ... Engerland, Engerland, Engerland ...! Yes, I did get exorbitantly-priced cable for a reason, and that reason is the World Cup. And on Monday? Back to work. I've got books and journals to read and courses to plan. Academic blogging to resume Real Soon Now.

Carnival Calls

Carnival Calls

Hey, did you know that is still going strong?? I've just been a mess about posting anything useful of late. But the latest Early Modern edition, Carnivalesque 16, is up here at Virtual Stoa!

Still looking for a host for the July version -- Ancient and Medieval. Interested in Hosting? It's fun and not all that difficult.

Carnivalesque is certainly not just for historians (or for academic scholars). We welcome perspectives from related disciplines, especially literary studies, archaeology, art history, philosophy - in fact, from anyone who enjoys writing about anything to do with the not-so-recent past. You can nominate your own writing and/or that of other bloggers, but please try not to nominate more than one or two posts by any author, and limit nominations to fairly recent posts, preferably since the last edition (on the relevant period) and certainly within the last three months.

To submit nominations you can either send an email to the upcoming host (once a name has been announced), to the carnivalesque e-mail address: carnivalesque At-sign
earlymodernweb DOT org ANOTHER DOT uk or you can use the handy submission form at Blog Carnival.

Potential hosts should be regular bloggers with some knowledge of
and interest in pre-modern history (though, again, not necessarily academics). If you are interested in hosting an edition of Carnivalesque, please send an email noting whether you are particularly interested in early modern or ancient/medieval, and telling us a little about your background and historical interests.


Update: Meg at xoom has graciously agreed to host the July Ancient/Medieval Carnivalesque on or about 25 July. You can forward submissions to the above addresses, or to meg AT rageaway DOT com.




The next History Carnival will be at Chapati Mystery on July 1. Email Sepoy at sepoyATchapatimysteryDOTcom with submittals. Or you can use this handy form.

Settling in, part three

Settling in, part three

Since my last post... my stuff finally showed up. On Sunday. The moving company had told me to book people to unload for 10, since the truck was supposed to show up between 8 and 12. Ha. Movers showed up at 10 -- problem. I had specifically asked for burly people. Apparently, the temp agency doesn't care, because I got a fairly overweight and out of shape woman and a wiry but tiny middle-aged guy. They were really nice and worked really hard. And let me tell you, if I'd realized how little they were being paid, I'd have hired someone else. Also, they helped to explain where the African-Americans are in this town, because I just haven't seen all that many, nor even many Latinos, who are the fastest growing minority. As it was, I had to pay them for 4 hours before the truck showed up. And then it took 5 hours to unload, because there were intermittent thunder showers with amazingly hard rain. I'd forgotten about that. It rains with a vengeance in this part of the country. But still, no earthquakes, no direct hurricane hits, no tornadoes (I think).

Moving was aided by a nice neighbor who helped with the heavy furniture (and then said I could pay him back by visiting his church. I told him nicely that, when I went to church, I went to church X, but thanked him. Then, one of the members of the local England contingent showed up -- I've got English workers in the buildings on either side of my building -- some kind of skilled labourers. He was, um ... rhymes with "kissed as a heart" since England had won that morning (I was able to see the game up to the goal, because by 11 I knew the truck would be late). But he staggered over and helped bring up the last of the stuff and then helped to put the couch together. We ended up having a glass of wine at his place and watching Deadwood and playing fussball. I owe him a meal, though. We'd never have got done when we did without him, and he saved me at least an hour of OT for the help.

Cats seem to be ok. I think the Girl has peed a could of places, but I'll get a black light and run over the carpets and treat them. Can't smell anything, except where a previous animal clearly left its scent. The boy is still sleeping under the covers on my bed every day ...

Kitchen is mostly unpacked. One more box of foodstuffs and some odds and ends. But I had a cup of tea this morning! I'm now sitting at my desk, but using my laptop. I want the office in total order before I open up my computer. Living room is useable -- couch is clear, rug on the floor (does anyone know what one uses under a flat-weave oriental rug to keep the color from rubbing off on the beige carpet?), TV and DVD player set up -- not the speakers, though, so no DVD's for another day. Boxes still everywhere. ButI lucked out. There is no recycling in this town, and I have no storage -- the one problem with this apartment. But the manager needs boxes so I can take them all to her and not just put them in the dumpster.

Today, I bought a car. Not the Civic. On my way to pick up the Civic, I got a call from the Hyundai people. 2003 Elantra GT with high, but acceptable, miles for $2500 less. I don't think it's as good a car, and of course it made a funny noise today when making a tight turn, but seems fine. And it's got a three month warranty, plus I bought a two-year, bumber-to-bumper warranty (I don't on new cars, but on a used one?). I almost think they gave me the deal on the Hyundai so I wouldn't take the Honda. The two lots are owned by the same dealer. The Honda guys made a big stink, but I could believe they found someone willing to pay a lot more for it, so did a deal with the other lot. Either way, the Civic was overpriced and the Elantra underpriced. And my payments will be really affordable, so I'm happy.


I totally forgot about going to my orientation yesterday, but the HR person called me and let me come late. So I'm in the payroll system, the Credit Union, which I joined last week, set up my direct deposit, I'm set up to start my health insurance two weeks after my start date, and just have to do my retirement stuff. Plus, the nice HR person said I could ask for a Mac laptop -- I might not get it, but I can ask! And I have my parking permit. And got a couple of hints about campus life. Apparently most of the faculty eat at the same time, and usually in the cafeteria. Guess I know what I'll be doing!

Now, I think I should maybe eat something?

Because, well, I can. I have food and dishes!

I think I will be pretty much settled in by Thursday night, so I can have a blogger meet-up on Friday!!!

Settling in, part two

Settling in, part two

Well, I've been here since Monday. My stuff is not here yet. The cats and I are not adjusting well to the lack of furniture. OOOH!! I just heard from the truck driver -- this was going to be a post about how much they sucked, but apparently the incompetent woman was replaced, and the new guy will have my stuff here today. He'll be late, and I will end up paying the Labor Ready people a bit more, but I will have my stuff. And I will be able to watch an hour of the England game!

Oh -- And I think I've bought (providing the financing works) a used Civic. Lots of miles, but not for its age.

More later -- England are playing, and the local chain restaurant opened early for the neighbors!

Settling in, part one

Settling in, part one

Ok ... so here's what's been happening

First, do not trust United when they say that someone will bring you the little tags from the pet carriers -- tags United puts on the carriers themselves, with information about what flight the owner is on, and what seat number -- they will not do this. You will have to hit the service button and threaten hysteria to get the flight attendant to check right as they are closing the plane doors. Fortunately, the flight attendants all seemed fine with the bitchiness. Oh -- and if you want to take a red-eye? The airbus 300 is not a plane designed for this. I can usually sleep in any plane (as my most recent travelling companion and reader of this LJ can affirm). I have never been so uncomfortable on a plane in my life. But the people were all nice and the children all fairly quiet.

Next, the apartment. It's very nice. People who choose to visit me will have a decent place to stay. But. Because I have to complain about something ... When I spoke to the realtor, I did say that I would prefer to live closer to the part of town called Old Town. What clearly didn't occur to me is that, to most USAmericans, I am close. One can drive to OT in less than 10 minutes. But what I meant was that I wanted to be able to walk there with ease. That isn't going to happen. Instead, I am about equidistant to OT, the Uni, and most of the shopping. The apartment itself is very nice. High ceilings, central heat and air, nice-sized rooms, and new construction. But it's an apatment complex, with all the charm that entails. And frankly, I'd forgotten how much I don't like living in apartment complexes. Still, it's very nice. It's just ... well ... OT is, for the US, actually old. There are tons of really lovely and charming brick and stone buildings that are between 150-200 years old --some even older. There's a pedestrian precinct with not bad looking pubs and coffee shops. There are even nice little wooden victorian houses and brick terraced houses ... And I hate having to drive there. As far as I can tell, this is definitely not bicycle-safe country.

Yesterday was a wash. Very tired and jet lagged, and I wanted to spend some time with the kitties. But... I went to grab dinner at a place I knew had TVs in the bar, thinking to watch replays of the football. It's a chain restaurant, but not the one known for its flair. Cheap Coronas in the bar, but sadly, I'd forgotten I was on the right coast time zone, and had just missed the footie. I'd noticed the England flag on a couple of cars as I drove in, and I had just ordered my beer when I noticed that I had been noticed. Three English builders trying to chat me up at the same time. Very pleasant, none my type. Turns out they live in the buildings on either side of me. Joy. But still, neighbors. Sadly, the chain restaurant is the best they can do for a local. Not me. I will be seeking out a better pub. I also found a much better place to watch the football -- another chain, but one I'd never seen before. This one is a bona fide sports bar, so I was able to watch the Netherlands play the Dirty Cheating Bastards this afternoon.

I spent part of today looking for a car. I need to go and test drive a Hyundai I saw -- a couple of years old, and only about 23000 miles. Also under $10k. But neither a standard transmission nor anti-locking brakes, which I really want. I also test drove a new Scion xA. the one I drove was an automatic, but they have one standard transmission coming in later this week. It's about $14k, but I really liked it. Unfortunately, their financing is terrible -- I can't get anything lower than 6.25%, so I'll have to see about getting a loan from a bank if I want that one. that, and I really hate the idea of buying a new car. I don't think anyone in my family has ever done that. It's against the rules ... Oh well, off to a couple more car places this evening.
Car update: I may take my father's advice and try to get a beater for a couple of grand to last me a few months till I can estimate finances better. I hate to waste money, but it sounds like a decent idea not to get locked into a loan I really might not be able to afford, and I can always trade the car in ...


In other news, no one told me I had to make arrangements with the post office for a mailbox key, so I will have mail sitting and waiting for me in a day or two. I have unfortunately ascertained that I really should have had a pedicure before leaving old city. As it happens, there are no cheap Vietnamese nail shops here, and pedicures are half again as pricey as I am used to spending (by used to, read "about twice a year"). Coffee and grocery stores are OK -- although the drip I had this morning seemed to have been flavoured. At least the evil *$ doesn't have a shop here, as far as I can tell.

Finally, because I know that the kitties are the most important part of this ... They are fine. The boy is throwing his cat litter around like a crazy man. The girl has taken to the tops of the kitchen cupboards, by way of the counter-tops and refrigerator. Pictures to follow as soon as I have the other computer and peripherals set up. They aren't eating as they should, but the vet said they needed to lose weight, anyway. i think they will be happy when my bed is here. The boy kept waking me up crawling into my sleeping bag last night. The girl slept on the floor nearby. I am going to disturb them shortly by using the new vacuum cleaner .... But they seem to be adjusting much better than I expected. No sulking after yesterday afternoon, at least.

That's about it for now. I'll be trying to catch up over the next few days. I missed you all!

The kitty has landed

The Kitty Has Landed

We are in New City. We are all fine. Blogging to resume shortly.

Actual Panic Setting in

Actual Panic Setting In

Ok ... so I have finally found a second cat carrier that meets United's odd carrier restrictions -- apparently the carriers have to be secured by bolts rather than clips ... I may go and get metal bolts ...

I have checked the forecast. Apparently, the cut-off is outside temp of 87/29. I am flying from a cool (around 55 F forecast) place -- at 11:30 at night a place that is supposed to hit a high of 90F the day I arrive, but the low is supposed to be 70, and I get there at 7 a.m.

Please note that I am concerned about the cats. The reason I am trying to fly with the cats is that I love them very much, and after talking to the vet, I thought we would all be safer and less stressed out with the shorter trip, no time in scary hotels in a strange car, etc. But I am also scared to death that something will go wrong, and my stuff will be arriving at destination city on the day I'm to get there (that's the first day of the 5-day window) and I'll have to fly out there to meet the truck and find someone here to take care of the cats so I can spend a thousand dollars I really don't have to fly back and drive the cats home when we should all be settling into New City.

Moving Advice for the junior faculty

Moving advice for junior faculty

A whole bunch of us academic bloggers are involved in thousand mile-plus moves this summer. Most of us are moving with pets. I, for example, am checking my cats as very expensive luggage, and hoping that the information United Airlines gave me on appropriate cat carriers is correct. This means about 9-12 hours in the kitty torture chambers for the very talkative cats. And if they go in the cargo hold, you aren't allowed to give them tranquilizers ... except maybe the natural ones? It seemed that it would be less stressful for them than having to be in the carriers in a car for multiple days ...

Any advice for all of us moving newbies?

Update: I did actually consult with the vet before buying the air ticket ...

Still here, mostly

Still here, mostly

Really. Sensible blogging will begin again. I've got all kinds of posts in my mind, from another "How to do College" post to the further adventures of ADM as she moves thousands of miles into a different latitude (with more sunlight during the winter, I hope), adjusts to a new life in a place where she knows almost no one, madly scrambles to get two new preps together for Fall, Three new preps for Spring, and somehow turns out two more book reviews, scrapes the back of her tiny brain for a conference paper (or two, because finally the most coolest evah Late Antiquity conference has a theme that I might be able to write to -- suggestions are welcome via e-mail... please!), and tries to generally astound and amaze the good folks at SLAC with what a good hire I am.

But first ... Final grades in last night. Office almost entirely cleaned out. One more trip on Monday to take care of keys, paperwork, purging computer files, etc. Wedding reception for good friends tomorrow. Packing up my house (the vast majority of the packing is not done) for the truck that arrives on Thursday ...finishing up with last visits, final details and as many World Cup matches as possible after my stuff heads off without me. I am kinda swamped. In the meantime, feel free to offer suggestions for posts, questions for me to answer, and talk amongst yourselves.

Union? or Guild?

Union? or Guild?

You know, I'm pretty pro-union. Raised in a union family. Boycotted lettuce and grapes. Joined every union I was asked to join. I've been a member of the NEA and the AFT. But I was thinking today about the teaching-to-the test mentality, which I think makes it far easier to hire less-qualified K-12 faculty. And I was also thinking about the commodification of education, which most of the college faculty bloggers have mentioned at one time or another. I think the 'prove you deserve funding by raising test scores' syndrome is part of the commodification, if not as clearly. And then I thought, The NEA and the AFT are Labor Unions.

I am not labor, except in the strictest sense. I am a professional. I feel bound to do my best because I want the respect of my colleagues and because I have a very real and realistic worry that not doing my best will result in my not being promoted or even in my not keeping my position. Coincidentally (becaue we all know I'm all about the peer validation), I can't do a crap job because I feel guilty and it drives me into a downward spiral of self-loathing.

That's me and most of my colleagues at 4-year institutions, most of whom are not unionized. It's also a lot (but proportionately fewer) of my CC colleagues, all of whom are unionized/represented in collective bargaining agreements (not all in the whole country -- I'm talking about the ones I know). From what I can tell about K-12 faculty (and I tend to see this through the eyes of K-12 faculty friends, who are like-minded, so take it with a grain of salt), that attitude is rare after a faculty member is firmly entrenched -- with tenure based on seniority, etc.

So I'm asking -- how much has the transition of faculty from professionals to labor helped to create this system of commodification. If faculty are going to act like their jobs should have contracts similar to those of auto workers or longshoremen, is it any surprise that our fellow citizens should see us that way?

What if we scrapped the labor union model and instituted a guild model with all of the training, peer review, and accountability of the ideal guilds we teach about, as well as having the rights to collective bargaining and strike?

Just asking.