Thank you for all your articles, essays, and reviews. I always enjoyed your back page in Dance Magazine.
You'll be missed.
19 November 2008
18 November 2008
Yeah, CR smells, but what else do you expect?
So some travel writer, Peter Greenberg, has a new travel book out that names Cedar Rapids one of the five smelliest cities for travellers to avoid. Oh, and he takes potshots at the city for the flood debris.
Yeah, Cedar Rapids smells. It's a blue collar, processing plant city. Most of the city's industry was built on meat-packing so just be happy that Quaker Oats moved in so that occasionally you can smell cooking oatmeal instead of offal. If you don't like it then you can go somewhere else.
However, don't even think about going after the city or anyone else for the flood debris, Peter Greenberg. That's pretty despicable, just about on the same level as people who tried a little fraud during the flood recovery. Do you have a better idea about where that's all going to go? Millions of dollars in sludge, bacteria, mold, mildew, and destroyed homes and businesses don't just disappear with a snap of the fingers. You can't just wish it away.
Call CR smelly, everyone knows it. Get over it - but leave the flood out of it.
Yeah, Cedar Rapids smells. It's a blue collar, processing plant city. Most of the city's industry was built on meat-packing so just be happy that Quaker Oats moved in so that occasionally you can smell cooking oatmeal instead of offal. If you don't like it then you can go somewhere else.
However, don't even think about going after the city or anyone else for the flood debris, Peter Greenberg. That's pretty despicable, just about on the same level as people who tried a little fraud during the flood recovery. Do you have a better idea about where that's all going to go? Millions of dollars in sludge, bacteria, mold, mildew, and destroyed homes and businesses don't just disappear with a snap of the fingers. You can't just wish it away.
Call CR smelly, everyone knows it. Get over it - but leave the flood out of it.
The Castle of Otranto
I decided that I should read The Castle of Otranto before I embarked on any major readings for The Mysteries of Udolpho. Otranto came first in the Gothic timeline so the reading is useful when looking at Radcliffe's inspirations.
Walpole's piece is quite short (only about 110 pages, more if you include his lengthy prefaces) but it remains hard to read because of the lack of convention in punctuation usage. A particularly difficult passage comes near the end of the book; the evil Manfred tries to charm information out of the household domestic Bianca (who, in the tradition of rustics, is comically dense) and the back-and-forth conversation is nearly impossible to follow, filled with hyphens, commas, and absolutely NO quotations marks. You can't skim those three pages. On the whole, though, the novel is enjoyable and you can appreciate the Gothic elements. Ghosts, oversize pieces of armor, lascivious noblemen (non-Englishmen all), fainting ladies, long-lost sons who turn out to be aristocratic even though disguised as a peasant. What fun.
It is also worth a chuckle to look at this from a Protestant Englishman's point-of-view. All these Catholic Europeans, tsk, tsk, tsk, running about, praying to saints, preying on their dead son's ex-fiance, commanding a wife's confessor to tell her to consent to a divorce. It's cast in such a lurid light that no self-respecting Briton would ever behave in such a rash, Popish manner, even though the whole thing smacks of the Henry VIII Bizzaro-world circus that was his first marriage (desperate for male issue and the like).
Current book-in-progress: Like, whoa, too many again, but now I can start Udolpho in earnest!
Current knitted item: Red variegated scarf; I'm almost through the second skein so I'm thinking I'm going to switch from the moss stitch to seed stitch just for fun.
Current movie obsession: I put the new Ballet Shoes starring Emma Watson in; haven't watched any of it, yet, but I'm sure it's cute (one of my favorite books as a child)
Current iTunes loop: Enya ...And Winter Came
Walpole's piece is quite short (only about 110 pages, more if you include his lengthy prefaces) but it remains hard to read because of the lack of convention in punctuation usage. A particularly difficult passage comes near the end of the book; the evil Manfred tries to charm information out of the household domestic Bianca (who, in the tradition of rustics, is comically dense) and the back-and-forth conversation is nearly impossible to follow, filled with hyphens, commas, and absolutely NO quotations marks. You can't skim those three pages. On the whole, though, the novel is enjoyable and you can appreciate the Gothic elements. Ghosts, oversize pieces of armor, lascivious noblemen (non-Englishmen all), fainting ladies, long-lost sons who turn out to be aristocratic even though disguised as a peasant. What fun.
It is also worth a chuckle to look at this from a Protestant Englishman's point-of-view. All these Catholic Europeans, tsk, tsk, tsk, running about, praying to saints, preying on their dead son's ex-fiance, commanding a wife's confessor to tell her to consent to a divorce. It's cast in such a lurid light that no self-respecting Briton would ever behave in such a rash, Popish manner, even though the whole thing smacks of the Henry VIII Bizzaro-world circus that was his first marriage (desperate for male issue and the like).
Current book-in-progress: Like, whoa, too many again, but now I can start Udolpho in earnest!
Current knitted item: Red variegated scarf; I'm almost through the second skein so I'm thinking I'm going to switch from the moss stitch to seed stitch just for fun.
Current movie obsession: I put the new Ballet Shoes starring Emma Watson in; haven't watched any of it, yet, but I'm sure it's cute (one of my favorite books as a child)
Current iTunes loop: Enya ...And Winter Came
So much for timely information
I'm a news junkie - I really love how the Internet is able to keep me informed as events happen rather than just reading the paper once a day. Because of this, I knew that a rash of car burglaries was occurring in the Iowa City area; thieves are smashing car windows and taking anything from loose change to stereos. What was not reported until today was that cars in the UIHC parking ramps were also broken into over the past two weekends or so. Not only that but there weren't any staff bulletins sent out. Hello!!!! I work at UIHC, I may not drive into campus but I work here, and staff should have been informed immediately those weeks following the sprees.
But, no. No email. Grrrrr.
But, no. No email. Grrrrr.
17 November 2008
More Than Words
I just found this site - which not only seems to be dedicated to the Oxford World's Classics series but has some really pretty animation. The site is easy to navigate and there's a fun "What Character Are You?" quiz - all the characters come from an OWC title.
First try through the quiz I'm Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest - yipes!
Second try, I get to be Emma from Emma. Much better!
Third time round, I wind up as Moll Flanders. Oh dear.
The fourth time, I get Alice from Alice in Wonderland. This is kind of fun (the questions are a little lame and there's only five).
First try through the quiz I'm Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest - yipes!
Second try, I get to be Emma from Emma. Much better!
Third time round, I wind up as Moll Flanders. Oh dear.
The fourth time, I get Alice from Alice in Wonderland. This is kind of fun (the questions are a little lame and there's only five).
Emulating Garfield
Sorry for the lack of post yesterday; the new laptop and I were disagreeing as to whether or not to sync my PDA. I won but then had to dash off to work.
I don't really hate Mondays; it's just that Monday signifies the resumption of tedium that is the work week.
I'm writing letters today and if my mother ever reads this she would laugh herself silly. I'm a terrible correspondent so I'm hoping that if I at least start a letter when I'm thinking about it then I'm more likely to finish it. Besides, I have really nice notecards, envelopes, and pens that are going to waste.
I've been reading The Castle of Otranto and it goes by pretty fast. A number of plot elements seem a bit recycled - a long-lost baby of noble birth, a ghost set on revenge, a scheming father, damsels in distress, etc. It also makes for a slightly confusing read because the eighteenth-century writing style doesn't include quotation marks or the convention of starting a new paragraph when a different character speaks. Everything can jumble together if you're not careful. I also kept thinking of Mozart's Don Giovanni while I was reading; the plots aren't directly similar but seem to follow the same elemental guidelines. Giovanni is just cooler though; it's hard to beat walking-talking-statues-from-hell.
I don't really hate Mondays; it's just that Monday signifies the resumption of tedium that is the work week.
I'm writing letters today and if my mother ever reads this she would laugh herself silly. I'm a terrible correspondent so I'm hoping that if I at least start a letter when I'm thinking about it then I'm more likely to finish it. Besides, I have really nice notecards, envelopes, and pens that are going to waste.
I've been reading The Castle of Otranto and it goes by pretty fast. A number of plot elements seem a bit recycled - a long-lost baby of noble birth, a ghost set on revenge, a scheming father, damsels in distress, etc. It also makes for a slightly confusing read because the eighteenth-century writing style doesn't include quotation marks or the convention of starting a new paragraph when a different character speaks. Everything can jumble together if you're not careful. I also kept thinking of Mozart's Don Giovanni while I was reading; the plots aren't directly similar but seem to follow the same elemental guidelines. Giovanni is just cooler though; it's hard to beat walking-talking-statues-from-hell.
15 November 2008
A dying art
I went grocery shopping today (half done, I got all the NewPi stuff just have to get basics still from Hy-Vee). I have a love-hate relationship with the grocery store. I work a lot so I have a hard time getting to the store in the first place; I also hate to go when it's busy because all the people just get in my way. On the other hand, I love picking out yummy apples, different cheeses and pastas, and having food in my house is definitely a bonus over having to pick up something for every meal.
I have a bone to pick with the grocery sackers, though. My father worked his way through college as a bag boy for the local greengrocer so I know exactly how to pack a load of groceries. No one lets you sack your own groceries - even when I shoo the sacker off they always hang around. I don't know why. Every single one is really terrible; they can't get the refrigerated/frozen things together, they never notice that I bring my own canvas bags, they put glass jars in with the bananas and eggs, and generally make a jumble out of everything.
Grocery sacking must be a dying art.
I have a bone to pick with the grocery sackers, though. My father worked his way through college as a bag boy for the local greengrocer so I know exactly how to pack a load of groceries. No one lets you sack your own groceries - even when I shoo the sacker off they always hang around. I don't know why. Every single one is really terrible; they can't get the refrigerated/frozen things together, they never notice that I bring my own canvas bags, they put glass jars in with the bananas and eggs, and generally make a jumble out of everything.
Grocery sacking must be a dying art.
14 November 2008
Fun words
One of the things that keeps my research job interesting is the vocabulary. Being in the medical field I see all sorts of interesting words that you just don't use everyday.
Such as phlegmon - an acute suppurative inflammation affecting the subcutaneous connective tissue. Translation: a really nasty, smelly, draining infection of the tissue lying between the skin and muscle.
Such as phlegmon - an acute suppurative inflammation affecting the subcutaneous connective tissue. Translation: a really nasty, smelly, draining infection of the tissue lying between the skin and muscle.
13 November 2008
Proust Questionnaire
I've been hearing a lot about the "Proust Questionnaire" lately - apparently the Olsen twins did a version in their new book so Proust it getting some play. I've never seen the questions in this questionnaire because a) I hadn't heard of it before (my experience reading Proust is limited) and b) I am not hip enough to read Vanity Fair (which has a "Proust Questionnaire" on their back page in ever issue). So I looked up the Vanity Fair version.
Pfft. Olsen twins. I am way more interesting than the Olsen twins.
1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A good dinner, good conversation, a good book, and a good snuggle before bed.
2. What is your greatest fear?
That one day I will wake up and I'll be the crazy, lonely old lady who wears athletic socks with sandals and owns too many cats (considering that I consider the sock/sandal combination one of the seminal fashion faux pas, that would be bad).
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impatience
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Ignorance
5. Which living person do you most admire?
Perri Klass
6. What is your greatest extravagance?
I buy tons of books - I read fast, but not that fast, so they are starting to pile up. You know that Erasmus quote? Yeah, that's me.
7. What is your current state of mind?
Jumbled
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Piety
9. On what occasion do you lie?
If you think your outfit/hairstyle/fill-in-the-blank rocks, I will probably not dissuade you of this notion, even if I think you look like a barrel with appendages.
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I will always be zaftig, even when I'm skinny.
11. Which living person do you most despise?
Hmmm, well, I would have to say an ex-boyfriend who thought that being a stalker was an attractive quality.
12. What is the quality you most like in a man?
Intelligence
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Intelligence
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"Dude" and the F-bomb in all its incarnations.
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
I don't think I've experienced that yet - I'm still waiting.
16. When and where were you happiest?
Walking through the stile to meet my friend Kate at the train station in Cardiff - I travelled by myself, internationally, and got through immigration at Heathrow and onto a train at Paddington Station without losing anything, including myself. I was really proud - and I got to visit Kate!
17. Which talent would you most like to have?
To play the piano beautifully - you know, at the level requiring a nine-foot concert grand. I can play but, to quote Elizabeth Bennet "very ill."
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I need more calm - I'm such a frazzle most days.
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I have an advanced degree, that I never planned on getting, but I am very respected for what I do with that degree.
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A well-loved housecat (that's what my Grandmother Margaret wanted to come back as, too).
21. Where would you most like to live?
Well, I kind of like where I live now....but I wouldn't be opposed to living in the British Isles.
22. What is your most treasured possession?
A tie between my copy of Winnie-the-Pooh (given to my by my Grandmother Margaret), my honeybee quilt (made for me by my Great Aunt Lillie), or my two cats, Chaucer and Dante (who I'm sure think they own me).
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
The third rejection letter from the University of Iowa College of Medicine; I cried for days and it still hurts, seven years later.
24. What is your favorite occupation?
Reading. Or dancing. Or knitting. Or reading....
25. What is your most marked characteristic?
I am extremely direct; beating-around-the-bush is not really in my make-up.
26. What do you most value in your friends?
Their humor.
27. Who are your favorite writers?
Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, AA Milne, Judy Blume, Jasper Fforde, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, AS Byatt, Willa Cather, Sandra Gilbert, Susan Gubar, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton
28. Who is your hero of fiction?
Thursday Next - she does it all!
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
30. Who are your heroes in real life?
My Great-Aunt Lillie, a brilliant woman who was never allowed to go to college (boo on that great-grandpa but she kept learning - for proof ask my father, who was amazed that she could help him with his college calculus and physics homework even though she never learned more than trigonometry in school; she could also do the crossword puzzle in ink - no mistakes).
31. What are your favorite names?
Margaret, Ann, Lillie, Christopher Robin
32. What is it that you most dislike?
People who can't seem to behave themselves in public.
33. What is your greatest regret?
Sometimes I feel like I missed out on my dreams, the ones I had when I was graduating high school, even though I'm successful and grateful for my achievements now that I'm thirty.
34. How would you like to die?
In my sleep, in my own bed, after a good long life filled with family and friends.
35. What is your motto?
A combination of “Dance as though no one is watching, Love as though you've never been hurt, Sing as though no one can hear you, Live as though heaven is on earth” (Souza) and "I read banned books - got a problem with that?"
In knitting news, I finished my slouchy beret. It's really cute! Now I have to finish my red variegated scarf.
Pfft. Olsen twins. I am way more interesting than the Olsen twins.
1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A good dinner, good conversation, a good book, and a good snuggle before bed.
2. What is your greatest fear?
That one day I will wake up and I'll be the crazy, lonely old lady who wears athletic socks with sandals and owns too many cats (considering that I consider the sock/sandal combination one of the seminal fashion faux pas, that would be bad).
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impatience
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Ignorance
5. Which living person do you most admire?
Perri Klass
6. What is your greatest extravagance?
I buy tons of books - I read fast, but not that fast, so they are starting to pile up. You know that Erasmus quote? Yeah, that's me.
7. What is your current state of mind?
Jumbled
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Piety
9. On what occasion do you lie?
If you think your outfit/hairstyle/fill-in-the-blank rocks, I will probably not dissuade you of this notion, even if I think you look like a barrel with appendages.
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I will always be zaftig, even when I'm skinny.
11. Which living person do you most despise?
Hmmm, well, I would have to say an ex-boyfriend who thought that being a stalker was an attractive quality.
12. What is the quality you most like in a man?
Intelligence
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Intelligence
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"Dude" and the F-bomb in all its incarnations.
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
I don't think I've experienced that yet - I'm still waiting.
16. When and where were you happiest?
Walking through the stile to meet my friend Kate at the train station in Cardiff - I travelled by myself, internationally, and got through immigration at Heathrow and onto a train at Paddington Station without losing anything, including myself. I was really proud - and I got to visit Kate!
17. Which talent would you most like to have?
To play the piano beautifully - you know, at the level requiring a nine-foot concert grand. I can play but, to quote Elizabeth Bennet "very ill."
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I need more calm - I'm such a frazzle most days.
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I have an advanced degree, that I never planned on getting, but I am very respected for what I do with that degree.
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A well-loved housecat (that's what my Grandmother Margaret wanted to come back as, too).
21. Where would you most like to live?
Well, I kind of like where I live now....but I wouldn't be opposed to living in the British Isles.
22. What is your most treasured possession?
A tie between my copy of Winnie-the-Pooh (given to my by my Grandmother Margaret), my honeybee quilt (made for me by my Great Aunt Lillie), or my two cats, Chaucer and Dante (who I'm sure think they own me).
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
The third rejection letter from the University of Iowa College of Medicine; I cried for days and it still hurts, seven years later.
24. What is your favorite occupation?
Reading. Or dancing. Or knitting. Or reading....
25. What is your most marked characteristic?
I am extremely direct; beating-around-the-bush is not really in my make-up.
26. What do you most value in your friends?
Their humor.
27. Who are your favorite writers?
Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, AA Milne, Judy Blume, Jasper Fforde, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, AS Byatt, Willa Cather, Sandra Gilbert, Susan Gubar, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton
28. Who is your hero of fiction?
Thursday Next - she does it all!
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
30. Who are your heroes in real life?
My Great-Aunt Lillie, a brilliant woman who was never allowed to go to college (boo on that great-grandpa but she kept learning - for proof ask my father, who was amazed that she could help him with his college calculus and physics homework even though she never learned more than trigonometry in school; she could also do the crossword puzzle in ink - no mistakes).
31. What are your favorite names?
Margaret, Ann, Lillie, Christopher Robin
32. What is it that you most dislike?
People who can't seem to behave themselves in public.
33. What is your greatest regret?
Sometimes I feel like I missed out on my dreams, the ones I had when I was graduating high school, even though I'm successful and grateful for my achievements now that I'm thirty.
34. How would you like to die?
In my sleep, in my own bed, after a good long life filled with family and friends.
35. What is your motto?
A combination of “Dance as though no one is watching, Love as though you've never been hurt, Sing as though no one can hear you, Live as though heaven is on earth” (Souza) and "I read banned books - got a problem with that?"
In knitting news, I finished my slouchy beret. It's really cute! Now I have to finish my red variegated scarf.
Is there a curse around this place?
So Thursday's headline: UI Prof Accused of Harrassment Found Dead
What the hell? Is it in the water? Harrass your female students, get turned in, cause a lot of problems, then commit suicide?
This is the second one in less than six months. Arthur Miller was in August, Mark Weiger this week.
What the hell? Is it in the water? Harrass your female students, get turned in, cause a lot of problems, then commit suicide?
This is the second one in less than six months. Arthur Miller was in August, Mark Weiger this week.
12 November 2008
Something different
Tonight while waiting for the bus an elderly gentleman was singing to himself in Arabic. It was very nice.
Much better than the crazy person the other day who kept muttering about aliens.
Much better than the crazy person the other day who kept muttering about aliens.
Existential Wednesday
Chaucer decided to have an existential crisis this morning.
First, he got stuck under the futon which wasn't so bad until he didn't want to be there anymore and cried to have me come and get him out (which makes me wonder why it is that cats don't like to back up - he would have been able to get out OK but he didn't want to back up). Then he ran around the apartment like kitty-cat-on-meth. Then he crawled up on top of the kitchen cabinets, yowled until he got my attention, and then pretended that he was going to jump from the cabinets to the floor - that freaked me out because it's a good ten feet to the floor - but decided not to and proceeded to have a bath up there. Then he got down and picked a fight with Dante, who was napping and didn't appreciate being pounced. Then he bit my ankle (which is a no-no) and when I scolded him he rolled over on his back to get his tunny rubbed. Then he ran around, crawled into my lap (I was watching the news), and passed out in a purry, furry heap.
I'm now at work having my own existential crisis - I'm not here so please don't come bother me.
It occurs to me I used "then" a little too much in this post. Oh, well.
Current book-in-progress: Reading Matters: Five Centuries of Discovering Books by Margaret Willes
Current knitted item: Slouchy beret - it's really pretty (and about half done)!
Current movie obsession: I haven't watched anything lately.
Current iTunes loop: Sarah Brightman Winter Symphony
First, he got stuck under the futon which wasn't so bad until he didn't want to be there anymore and cried to have me come and get him out (which makes me wonder why it is that cats don't like to back up - he would have been able to get out OK but he didn't want to back up). Then he ran around the apartment like kitty-cat-on-meth. Then he crawled up on top of the kitchen cabinets, yowled until he got my attention, and then pretended that he was going to jump from the cabinets to the floor - that freaked me out because it's a good ten feet to the floor - but decided not to and proceeded to have a bath up there. Then he got down and picked a fight with Dante, who was napping and didn't appreciate being pounced. Then he bit my ankle (which is a no-no) and when I scolded him he rolled over on his back to get his tunny rubbed. Then he ran around, crawled into my lap (I was watching the news), and passed out in a purry, furry heap.
I'm now at work having my own existential crisis - I'm not here so please don't come bother me.
It occurs to me I used "then" a little too much in this post. Oh, well.
Current book-in-progress: Reading Matters: Five Centuries of Discovering Books by Margaret Willes
Current knitted item: Slouchy beret - it's really pretty (and about half done)!
Current movie obsession: I haven't watched anything lately.
Current iTunes loop: Sarah Brightman Winter Symphony
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