(Yeah, I have a few "embargoed" posts that will come up here while I"m on break. Mostly about back-to-school, since I won't be at the computer to talk about what is currently going on).
In August, we usually went to my grandmother's. (This was my maternal grandmother - my paternal grandmother died when I was 12, and also, we usually visited her at Thanksgiving in the earlier years). We'd all pile into the big Tradesman van that my dad used to haul field equipment (because luggage and even the cat was no problem to take along) and set off. It was something like a 14 hour trip; we'd try to start early in the morning. ("Tomorrow, we are leaving at 6. We need to pack the car tonight") but it was never that early. ("Off like a herd of turtles" my dad would say. I always think that whenever a project gets started later than the planned time)
And we'd drive. First along the boring, awful Ohio Turnpike (nothing to see, no interesting little towns, and if you needed gas, you stopped at one of the "oases" where you probably paid too much, but otherwise it would mean getting OFF the turnpike and having to pay for that). Maybe lunch in Toledo (the years we didn't take the cat, we'd stop at Bob Evans....it was a tradition. Years we took the cat, we didn't stop, because we couldn't leave the cat in a hot car).
Years we were traveling catless (when a neighbor watched the cat for us), we'd sometimes stop off briefly to see relatives on the way. I don't remember where we'd stop for dinner....Gaylord, maybe? I think that was on the route.
And we'd drive, and drive. (Again, years we didn't take Sam, we'd not always go straight through - some years we swung over to Traverse City and stayed with an aunt and uncle).
And then, crossing the Mackinac Bridge. I didn't like that; I was afraid of deep water and crossing bridges as a kid, so it was five miles of discomfort. (I wasn't happy, some years later, when I heard that a woman in a small car apparently got BLOWN OFF the bridge in high winds one day).
And then, US 2, and the familiar parade of towns -St. Ignace, and Epoufette, and Naubinway, and Nahma Corners, and Garden...I don't remember the order of the towns now, but I used to know them off, and know how much farther it was once we passed, say, Epoufette. And then, finally, the sign for Rapid River.
(The years we took Sam with us? After the first year, he'd actually get up and start sniffing the air as we approached Rapid River, like he knew we were nearly there. I think animals do have a better "homing" sense than we do....I don't know if it was a particular smell, or if cat's brains can pick up some kind of GPS from the magnetic field of the Earth....but he seemed to know when we were close. Perhaps he just picked up on the tones of our voices as we were talking about nearly being there)
And then we'd pull in her drive, and she'd be waiting for us - even if it were ten o'clock at night.
And it was a week or two of relaxed times - cooler weather than we had at home (some mornings she had to light the gas stove to heat the kitchen enough). Seeing lots of relatives. Eating pie for breakfast (forbidden at home, but okay at grandma's). Walking down to the little IGA store, or the little Red Owl store, to buy penny candy (Well, really, nickel or dime candy, but still....being able to pick out what we wanted and get at least a few things for a quarter). I would sew using my grandmother's scrap bag - I have a couple of doll quilts I made while I was up for visits as a kid. Reading the old novels that she kept on hand. (There was one by the author of Heidi, that I remember. It wasn't about Heidi, though, it was a different story).
And then we'd have to leave. My mother would cry as we pulled out. I never understood that until years later, when I was getting on a train to go "home" after visiting them, once I had moved here. (I sometimes cry those same tears now). And then back home, back to routine, back to school shortly after.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
Projects and books
I decided not to take the Basketweave pullover; too much stuff to haul, and the likelihood of my working on it when I could take some other fascinating small projects is low. So instead, I have the two shawls (Hop Vines and Ostrich Fern) from that new book I was talking about, the Fishtail wristwarmer pattern and some lovely autumnal-colored yarn (half merino, half silk, probably too nice for socks anyway). And the socks-currently-in-progress (Well, the Alpine Glow socks and the Goldengroves socks...). And the yarn for that unicorn amigurumi I was talking about, and also for an extremely cute panda amigurumi. And I wound off a ball of yarn from Dragonfly fibers called Winter Twilight.
And at first, I was going to do a cabled sock of it, but then I thought of Lydia Bennet's Secret Stockings. This yarn sort of calls out for a lace pattern, and also, the idea of a horseshoe pattern with a yarn that has Twilight (though not Sparkle) in its name sort of appealed to me. (Never mind that I found Lydia Bennet a somewhat annoying character; I vastly preferred Jane, or, of course, Lizzie) Though actually, in the "backstory" of the sock pattern, it was Kitty who made them. (I love that a pattern can have a made-up backstory, but one that actually seems plausible in the context of the novel that inspired it).
I wonder - are they going to do any more "Jane Austen Knits" special issues, or do they think people are out of ideas? I'd buy another issue if one came out. I AM buying the Harry Potter Knits special issue that is coming out very soon; even if I never knit anything from it it will be fun to read and fun to look at the patterns. And it makes me wonder what other kinds of fandom-knits there could be. I'd love to see a Golden Era Mysteries knit issue, with some of Campion's slipover sweaters (he wears a nifty one with narrow cables in a couple of the episodes, and I think he has a Fair Isle one that is not unlike the one the man who would have been Edward VIII (were it not for Mrs. Simpson) was shown wearing in a Punch cartoon of him)....And there could be one of the things Miss Marple knit, and perhaps a mustache-cover (!) for Hercule Poirot (he is described in one of the books, I think, as wearing something rather like a hairnet over his mustaches at night, to keep them in order). Of course, another fandom I consider myself a bit of a part of (not as much a joiner as some, but) could have things like Rarity's striped scarf (from Dragonshy), and maybe a headband that mimics the little coronet Rainbow Dash has as part of her Grand Galloping Gala costume, and maybe even a sleep-shade that either has Rarity's eyes embroidered on it, or looks like DJ PON-3's glasses....I know there are already Pony themed patterns out there (and for more than just amigurumi). (Why, I myself made a pair of socks that were inspired by a certain light-blue Pegasus....)
I did also select the books to take with me. I am taking Dancers in Mourning (another Campion, and one I realized I had not read. I admit I will be sad when I run through these; Campion is one of my favorite recurring characters). And I found an Inspector Alleyn that I don't think I've read yet. (I don't remember the title, but then again, often the US printings have different titles than the book originally had).
I also re-started "The Horse, the Wheel, and Language" - I read most of this last year, then I bogged down and got busy and it wound up getting chucked under the bed and forgotten about. I pulled it back out the other night (after realizing that a hugacious Barry Cunliffe book that I wanted to read was way too heavy to take). Once again, I'm enjoying the first part - about the first half of the book is about the attempted reconstructions of Proto-Indo-European (the hypothesized "common ancestor" of nearly all the European languages, and also some of the Eastern and Middle Eastern languages). Part of it is that I just like linguistics - I took several classes in it for my Social Sciences requirement as a college student (and then took a couple more, as electives). I actually thought of majoring in linguistics at one point but then realized a degree in that field would mainly equip me to teach linguistics at the dwindling number of universities with a department of such. (I guess the heyday of "philology" - which is what I really would have loved - was the 1930s.). Also, it's more politicized (Chomsky and his detractors) than even ecology is, and I would not have enjoyed that. So I still enjoy learning about it, even if I am a biology professor. (One of the great things no one really tells you explicitly in school - once you're done with the "required" courses you can go on learning whatever you want, provided you can find either books in it or someone willing to teach you)
Anyway, a lot of the historical linguistics research uses some of the same logic and thought processes to tease out the evolution of language as biologists use to figure out biological evolution, so it's a familiar thought process and it makes sense to me. Also, it's just cool and sort of numinous (weird and a bit spooky) to think that maybe, just maybe, we've hit on a word that an ancestor of ours some 7000 years removed would recognize (Wheel, for example, they think was originally something like *kwekwelos. (The asterisk shows it's not a "real" word, it's a reconstruction).
The author also talks about how language changes - merchants and traders and entertainers tend to have their usage change faster; the very rich and the very poor are more conservative about language and theirs changes more slowly. He maintains that two individuals speaking ostensibly the same language but separated by 1000 years would not be mutually understandable. (English, for example: the English of 1013 would not yet have been influenced by the Normans, and so a good percentage of the words English speakers use today would not have joined the language yet) I have read things like Old English renderings of the Lord's Prayer and I can see this - some of the words are still vaguely familiar, you can kind of get what's going on from the cadence and the position of words in the document. (Then again - years and years ago, traveling with my family in a very remote part of the Southwest, a Sunday morning, the only station we could pick up on the radio was broadcasting in Hopi, and we were kind of able to guess that it was a church service and even guess when they were saying the Lord's Prayer, even though none of us knew even a word of the language).
But anyway: fascinating to me, partly because it makes me wonder about life "back then." What would my life be like were I alive then? (I suppose, provided I survived the various childhood diseases and also stuff like childbirth, I'd probably be a grandmother. I am guessing that being unattached (how ever the ancients viewed marriage) and childless were considerably less of an option then than now). When did people first start building shelters to live in? When did furniture arise, and how? When did humans first start using what was recognizable as language? (All of that speculation comes before the time of the book I'm currently reading; the author refers to there having been "cities" and some of the time frames he talks about overlap with times when places like Ancient Israel would have existed....)
And at first, I was going to do a cabled sock of it, but then I thought of Lydia Bennet's Secret Stockings. This yarn sort of calls out for a lace pattern, and also, the idea of a horseshoe pattern with a yarn that has Twilight (though not Sparkle) in its name sort of appealed to me. (Never mind that I found Lydia Bennet a somewhat annoying character; I vastly preferred Jane, or, of course, Lizzie) Though actually, in the "backstory" of the sock pattern, it was Kitty who made them. (I love that a pattern can have a made-up backstory, but one that actually seems plausible in the context of the novel that inspired it).
I wonder - are they going to do any more "Jane Austen Knits" special issues, or do they think people are out of ideas? I'd buy another issue if one came out. I AM buying the Harry Potter Knits special issue that is coming out very soon; even if I never knit anything from it it will be fun to read and fun to look at the patterns. And it makes me wonder what other kinds of fandom-knits there could be. I'd love to see a Golden Era Mysteries knit issue, with some of Campion's slipover sweaters (he wears a nifty one with narrow cables in a couple of the episodes, and I think he has a Fair Isle one that is not unlike the one the man who would have been Edward VIII (were it not for Mrs. Simpson) was shown wearing in a Punch cartoon of him)....And there could be one of the things Miss Marple knit, and perhaps a mustache-cover (!) for Hercule Poirot (he is described in one of the books, I think, as wearing something rather like a hairnet over his mustaches at night, to keep them in order). Of course, another fandom I consider myself a bit of a part of (not as much a joiner as some, but) could have things like Rarity's striped scarf (from Dragonshy), and maybe a headband that mimics the little coronet Rainbow Dash has as part of her Grand Galloping Gala costume, and maybe even a sleep-shade that either has Rarity's eyes embroidered on it, or looks like DJ PON-3's glasses....I know there are already Pony themed patterns out there (and for more than just amigurumi). (Why, I myself made a pair of socks that were inspired by a certain light-blue Pegasus....)
I did also select the books to take with me. I am taking Dancers in Mourning (another Campion, and one I realized I had not read. I admit I will be sad when I run through these; Campion is one of my favorite recurring characters). And I found an Inspector Alleyn that I don't think I've read yet. (I don't remember the title, but then again, often the US printings have different titles than the book originally had).
I also re-started "The Horse, the Wheel, and Language" - I read most of this last year, then I bogged down and got busy and it wound up getting chucked under the bed and forgotten about. I pulled it back out the other night (after realizing that a hugacious Barry Cunliffe book that I wanted to read was way too heavy to take). Once again, I'm enjoying the first part - about the first half of the book is about the attempted reconstructions of Proto-Indo-European (the hypothesized "common ancestor" of nearly all the European languages, and also some of the Eastern and Middle Eastern languages). Part of it is that I just like linguistics - I took several classes in it for my Social Sciences requirement as a college student (and then took a couple more, as electives). I actually thought of majoring in linguistics at one point but then realized a degree in that field would mainly equip me to teach linguistics at the dwindling number of universities with a department of such. (I guess the heyday of "philology" - which is what I really would have loved - was the 1930s.). Also, it's more politicized (Chomsky and his detractors) than even ecology is, and I would not have enjoyed that. So I still enjoy learning about it, even if I am a biology professor. (One of the great things no one really tells you explicitly in school - once you're done with the "required" courses you can go on learning whatever you want, provided you can find either books in it or someone willing to teach you)
Anyway, a lot of the historical linguistics research uses some of the same logic and thought processes to tease out the evolution of language as biologists use to figure out biological evolution, so it's a familiar thought process and it makes sense to me. Also, it's just cool and sort of numinous (weird and a bit spooky) to think that maybe, just maybe, we've hit on a word that an ancestor of ours some 7000 years removed would recognize (Wheel, for example, they think was originally something like *kwekwelos. (The asterisk shows it's not a "real" word, it's a reconstruction).
The author also talks about how language changes - merchants and traders and entertainers tend to have their usage change faster; the very rich and the very poor are more conservative about language and theirs changes more slowly. He maintains that two individuals speaking ostensibly the same language but separated by 1000 years would not be mutually understandable. (English, for example: the English of 1013 would not yet have been influenced by the Normans, and so a good percentage of the words English speakers use today would not have joined the language yet) I have read things like Old English renderings of the Lord's Prayer and I can see this - some of the words are still vaguely familiar, you can kind of get what's going on from the cadence and the position of words in the document. (Then again - years and years ago, traveling with my family in a very remote part of the Southwest, a Sunday morning, the only station we could pick up on the radio was broadcasting in Hopi, and we were kind of able to guess that it was a church service and even guess when they were saying the Lord's Prayer, even though none of us knew even a word of the language).
But anyway: fascinating to me, partly because it makes me wonder about life "back then." What would my life be like were I alive then? (I suppose, provided I survived the various childhood diseases and also stuff like childbirth, I'd probably be a grandmother. I am guessing that being unattached (how ever the ancients viewed marriage) and childless were considerably less of an option then than now). When did people first start building shelters to live in? When did furniture arise, and how? When did humans first start using what was recognizable as language? (All of that speculation comes before the time of the book I'm currently reading; the author refers to there having been "cities" and some of the time frames he talks about overlap with times when places like Ancient Israel would have existed....)
Finished mixtape quilt
I also got the binding on the Mixtape quilt this weekend.
I didn't try hanging it up to photograph it as I knew it was large enough that it would drag on the ground.
This is an Elisabeth Hartman pattern. I don't know if she still sells it or not; I know at one point she was closing out some of her patterns. It's a nice simple pattern but you can really play with color combinations in it, and it's good for novelty fabrics as the blocks use fairly large pieces.
I tried several fabrics up to it for the binding. This was the "long shot" - a striped fabric from Connecting Threads I bought for another project and wound up not using. But it made the other colors "pop" in a way the more pastel colors I had been trying did not. That's one thing I like about quilting - it can still surprise me; there are still things I think, "meh, this won't work" about and then they DO.
And here's the backing. I really like the backing - it was a large piece I got on a good sale (I think it was a "you finish the bolt, get an extra 20% off" or something like that). I like using novelty prints for backings because you can see the whole big fabric instead of little cut-up bits.
I didn't try hanging it up to photograph it as I knew it was large enough that it would drag on the ground.
This is an Elisabeth Hartman pattern. I don't know if she still sells it or not; I know at one point she was closing out some of her patterns. It's a nice simple pattern but you can really play with color combinations in it, and it's good for novelty fabrics as the blocks use fairly large pieces.
I tried several fabrics up to it for the binding. This was the "long shot" - a striped fabric from Connecting Threads I bought for another project and wound up not using. But it made the other colors "pop" in a way the more pastel colors I had been trying did not. That's one thing I like about quilting - it can still surprise me; there are still things I think, "meh, this won't work" about and then they DO.
And here's the backing. I really like the backing - it was a large piece I got on a good sale (I think it was a "you finish the bolt, get an extra 20% off" or something like that). I like using novelty prints for backings because you can see the whole big fabric instead of little cut-up bits.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Finished Boxed Pullover
(And hooray, I can still copy and paste photo links from Flickr at home. Maybe it's some weirdness in my work 'puter or how Firefox is configured there. I know they have some permissions set so it's hard to download or upload material - again, a case of a few bad apples (a student, some eight or nine years back, caught downloading truly nasty pornography onto one of the lab computers...) ruining it for the people who abide by the rules - and yes, "no downloading objectionable content" was an explicit rule in the TOS for the campus internet).
Anyway. I finished Boxed Raglan. It fits me less as a cropped sweater and more as a standard sweater because I am apparently shorter-waisted than the model it was shown on. (I guess most of my height is actually in my legs; my father and I have about the same inseam and he's a good half-a-foot taller than I am)
I'm a LOT happier with it now that it's finished. The colors look nicer all knit up and I actually don't think the yarn will pill as badly as I feared. (This was the "casual shot" - in the mirror, with the sweater over jeans shorts and a t-shirt)
For this one, I put on a black knit dress (That I rarely wear because I am self-conscious over how it clings, but with something over it, maybe it's okay)
It took just over six balls of the yarn for this (size 43" finished bust). If I hadn't sewn the seams with the same yarn I might have had enough, as I had to fasten on the new ball to finish the last row and bind off the neckline.
I have 3 balls (and perhaps 90-95% of a fourth) left; that's just under 400 yards so I'll have to think if there's something else I want to do with that. (I have enough scarves already....) Maybe it would be enough for a small vest, I don't know.
I have another finished item (and possibly a second, provided I get onto it again this afternoon after I pack); pictures of those will come later.
Anyway. I finished Boxed Raglan. It fits me less as a cropped sweater and more as a standard sweater because I am apparently shorter-waisted than the model it was shown on. (I guess most of my height is actually in my legs; my father and I have about the same inseam and he's a good half-a-foot taller than I am)
I'm a LOT happier with it now that it's finished. The colors look nicer all knit up and I actually don't think the yarn will pill as badly as I feared. (This was the "casual shot" - in the mirror, with the sweater over jeans shorts and a t-shirt)
For this one, I put on a black knit dress (That I rarely wear because I am self-conscious over how it clings, but with something over it, maybe it's okay)
It took just over six balls of the yarn for this (size 43" finished bust). If I hadn't sewn the seams with the same yarn I might have had enough, as I had to fasten on the new ball to finish the last row and bind off the neckline.
I have 3 balls (and perhaps 90-95% of a fourth) left; that's just under 400 yards so I'll have to think if there's something else I want to do with that. (I have enough scarves already....) Maybe it would be enough for a small vest, I don't know.
I have another finished item (and possibly a second, provided I get onto it again this afternoon after I pack); pictures of those will come later.
Friday, July 26, 2013
escape velocity approaching
Well, surprise, surprise. ZERO grade-grubbing e-mails as of 9 this morning. (I must have got them all yesterday). Okay. I'm going to submit the grades and be done with it.
I also have that thesis to read, and I need to clean up my part of the shared lab. And I also have to go do the various pre-vacation duties: have mail held, get money from the bank.
And I have a quilt to pick up. I had dropped off the Mixtape Quilt back at the beginning of the summer. The quilter warned me that she had a big backlog and it might be eight to ten weeks. (Also, I think when there's an "I really need this quilted for a show/wedding gift/because the baby is due" request, the "I don't really care if it takes a while; it's a quilt of my own" requests get bumped back. But I GUESS that's okay.)
Anyway, when I went in the other day to buy the yarn for the "It's so fluffy...." unicorn amigurumi, the woman working there said, "Oh, your quilt is going to be quilted next." I told her I was going on vacation (I know, I know: but living in a small town has made me a bit more trusting. Also having cops as neighbors....) and that if I didn't come in right away, I'd get it when I got back.
Well, they called yesterday. It's done. I'm really happy about that - happy to get my quilt, happy that I won't have to leave it sitting at the shop. I might even have time to put a binding on it. (I'll have to figure out what to use. Probably a pink, I'll have to look at what I have in my stash.)
I also have that thesis to read, and I need to clean up my part of the shared lab. And I also have to go do the various pre-vacation duties: have mail held, get money from the bank.
And I have a quilt to pick up. I had dropped off the Mixtape Quilt back at the beginning of the summer. The quilter warned me that she had a big backlog and it might be eight to ten weeks. (Also, I think when there's an "I really need this quilted for a show/wedding gift/because the baby is due" request, the "I don't really care if it takes a while; it's a quilt of my own" requests get bumped back. But I GUESS that's okay.)
Anyway, when I went in the other day to buy the yarn for the "It's so fluffy...." unicorn amigurumi, the woman working there said, "Oh, your quilt is going to be quilted next." I told her I was going on vacation (I know, I know: but living in a small town has made me a bit more trusting. Also having cops as neighbors....) and that if I didn't come in right away, I'd get it when I got back.
Well, they called yesterday. It's done. I'm really happy about that - happy to get my quilt, happy that I won't have to leave it sitting at the shop. I might even have time to put a binding on it. (I'll have to figure out what to use. Probably a pink, I'll have to look at what I have in my stash.)
Thursday, July 25, 2013
about extra credit
I'm getting a lot of requests. So here's my blanket policy.
And no, I'm not "mean" enough to mail that picture in response. But I kind of want to. The policy was in the syllabus, for gosh sakes.
(Ask culture. I just have to repeat to myself, they come from Ask Culture, they don't realize that it offends a Guess Culture person to be asked something that it's so obvious they will have to say NO to.)
And no, I'm not "mean" enough to mail that picture in response. But I kind of want to. The policy was in the syllabus, for gosh sakes.
(Ask culture. I just have to repeat to myself, they come from Ask Culture, they don't realize that it offends a Guess Culture person to be asked something that it's so obvious they will have to say NO to.)
Proof of sleeve
I can't quite believe today is the last day of summer session.
On the one hand, I'm sorry to have these classes end - like most of my summer classes, the students were engaged and interested and did well (in one class, the exam average was 15 percentage points above what it is during the regular semester. As I do not think my teaching skill took a sudden spike between early May and early June, I am sure that is attributable to the students)
On the other hand: it's nice to wrap up another semester. And it will be nice to have a few days off. (Fewer than in the past; we now have a week of "Faculty Development" meetings, which started up last year - those were two days' worth and they dam' near killed me. I may HAVE to bring knitting, sit in the back, and stealth-knit in order to keep my sanity.)
But for now, I have a little free time. So I'm working on this at home:
(I have no idea if this is going to work. I can't get the "share" icon to work on my photostream right now, very annoying. I didn't reset anything so I assume it's flickr being stupid. And they don't have an obvious link to a "help" page any more, so I assume that means there isn't one.)
(Well, dangit. I'll download it to my computer and then use Blogger's photo-posting. Stupid flickr. Hm. I can still use Ravelry's photo-grabber to post on my Ravelry page....)
Anyway:
I'm about halfway done with the increases. I know the sleeve looks big, but I tried it on and it won't be too large - the stitch pattern seems to pull it in a lot.
I'll be glad to have this one done. I've decided to take it with me on vacation (I have the second sleeve, and then the collar and zipper-band to do). If I finish this, and if I finish the Boxed Raglan (I anticipate I will finish the knitting during the exams today), I will have both the sweaters I was working on done - and can start a new one. (Probably the Pearl Buck jacket; maybe that lace cardigan from New England Knits....)
On the one hand, I'm sorry to have these classes end - like most of my summer classes, the students were engaged and interested and did well (in one class, the exam average was 15 percentage points above what it is during the regular semester. As I do not think my teaching skill took a sudden spike between early May and early June, I am sure that is attributable to the students)
On the other hand: it's nice to wrap up another semester. And it will be nice to have a few days off. (Fewer than in the past; we now have a week of "Faculty Development" meetings, which started up last year - those were two days' worth and they dam' near killed me. I may HAVE to bring knitting, sit in the back, and stealth-knit in order to keep my sanity.)
But for now, I have a little free time. So I'm working on this at home:
(I have no idea if this is going to work. I can't get the "share" icon to work on my photostream right now, very annoying. I didn't reset anything so I assume it's flickr being stupid. And they don't have an obvious link to a "help" page any more, so I assume that means there isn't one.)
(Well, dangit. I'll download it to my computer and then use Blogger's photo-posting. Stupid flickr. Hm. I can still use Ravelry's photo-grabber to post on my Ravelry page....)
Anyway:
I'm about halfway done with the increases. I know the sleeve looks big, but I tried it on and it won't be too large - the stitch pattern seems to pull it in a lot.
I'll be glad to have this one done. I've decided to take it with me on vacation (I have the second sleeve, and then the collar and zipper-band to do). If I finish this, and if I finish the Boxed Raglan (I anticipate I will finish the knitting during the exams today), I will have both the sweaters I was working on done - and can start a new one. (Probably the Pearl Buck jacket; maybe that lace cardigan from New England Knits....)
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
They caught 'em
....well, maybe. The story isn't up on the local-news website and I was half listening (drying my hair) but I think John Law may have caught up with the dude or dudes who stole my credit card number.
Apparently, a couple guys (the name sounded vaguely Greek but I don't know for sure) were caught with multiple forged credit cards (One was seen using something like 15 different cards in an ATM....)
Anyway, they apparently installed a very sophisticated skimmer on some of the gas station self-pay pumps. I don't know exactly where (I didn't hear that part) but apparently it was in this area....and a Murphy Oil was one of the places, and I had bought gas from a Murphy during the time when the skimming was going on. (Normally I look really carefully, but they showed the device, and it really was good enough to fool a non-expert)
But it looks like they caught them. I am probably more gleeful about this than it really is gracious to be, especially considering I was mostly out some hassle (and good on my credit card company for catching it and calling me; I didn't wind up even with fraudulent charges I had to challenge).
But yeah. I don't really have any problem at all with these dastards going to prison.
And yeah, yeah, I suppose some will say "That's what you get for paying at the pump" but dangit, with the "You must pay in advance" rule now, that means walking INTO the store, estimating what you need, paying, going back out, pumping, going back in if you need more or if you overestimated.....no one has time for that. (And an unscrupulous clerk could still skim). I'm more for making examples of people caught stealing....which hopefully will happen to these guys; they said "Multiple charges of wire fraud and theft" so I hope they stick.
Like I said, I was mainly out some hassle - this was the card I use primarily for online purchases and buying gas for the very reason that I keep a low credit limit on it IN CASE it is stolen....
Apparently, a couple guys (the name sounded vaguely Greek but I don't know for sure) were caught with multiple forged credit cards (One was seen using something like 15 different cards in an ATM....)
Anyway, they apparently installed a very sophisticated skimmer on some of the gas station self-pay pumps. I don't know exactly where (I didn't hear that part) but apparently it was in this area....and a Murphy Oil was one of the places, and I had bought gas from a Murphy during the time when the skimming was going on. (Normally I look really carefully, but they showed the device, and it really was good enough to fool a non-expert)
But it looks like they caught them. I am probably more gleeful about this than it really is gracious to be, especially considering I was mostly out some hassle (and good on my credit card company for catching it and calling me; I didn't wind up even with fraudulent charges I had to challenge).
But yeah. I don't really have any problem at all with these dastards going to prison.
And yeah, yeah, I suppose some will say "That's what you get for paying at the pump" but dangit, with the "You must pay in advance" rule now, that means walking INTO the store, estimating what you need, paying, going back out, pumping, going back in if you need more or if you overestimated.....no one has time for that. (And an unscrupulous clerk could still skim). I'm more for making examples of people caught stealing....which hopefully will happen to these guys; they said "Multiple charges of wire fraud and theft" so I hope they stick.
Like I said, I was mainly out some hassle - this was the card I use primarily for online purchases and buying gas for the very reason that I keep a low credit limit on it IN CASE it is stolen....
Summer almost done
We had "surprise rain" this morning (Well, really: "Surprise storms"). Rain was predicted, but the weather guy here had been saying it would all be east of us, or wouldn't make it this far south.
At a bit before 4 this morning, I woke up to crashing noises. My first thought was, "Oh crud, did a critter get under the house again?" (I've had issues with cats fighting - or doing something else that SOUNDS like fighting under there; I also once had an armadillo. And I wouldn't be at all surprised that one of those things I heard under there might be a possum. I try to make covers for the crawl space to exclude them but so far they have defeated every one.)
Then I realized - no, it wasn't under the house, it was over. Yeah, we had some storms. Don't know how much rain but any rain at this point is welcome. We're supposed to get more later on, possibly with some bad stuff ("hail the size of ping pong balls," the NWS is saying. Somewhere, Mr. Bunny Rabbit is laughing.)
Actually, I probably should have guessed this was coming; I had a near-migraine yesterday afternoon. (My doctor claims that while on the beta blocker, I shouldn't get migraines any more, but I still have had one or two). In the past, I used to get them with big weather changes. (And I'm sure this was one - I had the near-aphasia, where I have to stand and think for what seems like FOREVER to come up with the word I want - this is scary when you're in front of a class. And I couldn't play piano worth spit yesterday afternoon, and usually when my brain is hurting it affects my concentration and coordination)
Anyway: I'm effectively done, save for giving and grading finals tomorrow. (One is machine-graded: it's a "common" final that is given to all sections of the gen-ed class. Yes, we have to guard its security incredibly tightly, and I am waiting on the day when someone manages to stealth-photograph it with their cell camera: it's going to happen, just when, I don't know). The other one is all multiple choice, that I wrote, because (a) time needed to grade and (b) lazy.
And yes, faculty get tired and lazy at the end of a semester just as students do. And sometimes we take the easier way out. Part of it IS time pressures (I still have that thesis to read....) but part of it is that we get tired.
At any rate. Monday I leave for a short vacation. I really need some time off, some time in a cooler location, a few days of not having to come home, look at the pantry, and go "Now what do I fix for dinner?" (My mom is a better cook than I am, and since she cooks for more people, there are things she makes that I never would). And KNITTING TIME.
(Heh. Now I want to draw up the Adventure Time logo, only call it Knitting Time, and have a knitting needle running through it instead of the sword that Adventure Time has)
Yeah, I think my desire to knit is slowly returning. Part of it is, as the person who runs Phydeaux Designs wrote in a recent newsletter: "Unbelievable: August is just a few days away. But you know what that means? Autumn is just around the corner!"
Yes, autumn. The time of cooler temperatures. The time when knitwear is more than just a shawl thrown over my arm on the off-chance that one of the classrooms is too highly air-condiitoned. The time of changeable weather and changing colors and cooler temperatures.
I also did something that I find helps when my desire to knit wanes - I look through my accumulated patterns. I pulled out the various Brit-mags I have (Simply Knitting, the Knitter, and a couple of odd issues of other ones like Yarnwise I don't normally find on the newsstand). I found a cardigan with a geometric lace pattern (they call is "faux entrelac," but I'm really not fooled) I want to make eventually, and I even have yarn on-hand for it (some avocado-green Vickie Howell yarn bought on a very good sale, and it turns out I have enough). And I found the issue with the pattern for the "free" ball of Bergere de France yarn that came with it. (Simply Knitting UK always gives some kind of "free gift" with purchase, which is one reason I like it. Oh, I get that the gift isn't really "free" - it's part of the cost of the magazine, and also, I'm sure the company gets "promotional consideration" for it). But anyway - my next small project is going to be those fingerless mitts made out of pale-lavender Bergere yarn. (And even knit on 3.0 mm dpns, which were another month's "gift"! The pattern calls for that size but that's an odd size in the US - it's inbetween US 2 and US 3, so it can be hard to find.)
I'm still thinking about projects to take with me - do I take along Basketweave and try to finish it? Or do I just take smaller stuff? Which small shawl do I want to do next - Hop Vines (ravelry link out of a grey-green and cream variegated yarn, or the Ostrich-plume fern (again, Ravelry link) out of pastel colored Phydeaux sockyarn? Do I want to start the Witches Britches (I think I figured out how to slightly enlarge the pattern without altering it too much)?
I think I will probably finish the Boxed Raglan during invigilating tomorrow - I'm on the second sleeve, and I just have a few inches to go on that before the decreases. And I think I'll take Hitchhiker along as a back-up; I might finish that one as well.
(Incidentally: Knitting by Nature - the source of the two shawl patterns I referred to - is a new book I just recently bought. It's very nice - something like 20 different shawls and scarves, mostly lace, all inspired by some kind of horticultural or garden plant. Hop Vines and Ostrich-Plume Fern are just my two favorites; there are a bunch of others in there I'd like to knit some day. Many of them are knit from sockweight yarn, which has easily become my favorite weight of yarn to work with....)
I also bought (from Ravelry) an Anna Paula Rimoli amigurumi pattern - a toy unicorn, designed to look like the "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" toy unicorn in Despicable Me. (I had actually considered buying myself the beanie baby type version of this, but never did. But making my own seems a lot more fun). I even took a trip to the local yarn shop (wow, saying that NEVER gets old for me) and bought a boucle yarn (the fluffiest they had) in white, and tan for the nose, gold for the horn, and I even found a Brown Sheep yarn in that odd hot-pink for the hair. So I think I'm going to be doing at least one ami over break....
At a bit before 4 this morning, I woke up to crashing noises. My first thought was, "Oh crud, did a critter get under the house again?" (I've had issues with cats fighting - or doing something else that SOUNDS like fighting under there; I also once had an armadillo. And I wouldn't be at all surprised that one of those things I heard under there might be a possum. I try to make covers for the crawl space to exclude them but so far they have defeated every one.)
Then I realized - no, it wasn't under the house, it was over. Yeah, we had some storms. Don't know how much rain but any rain at this point is welcome. We're supposed to get more later on, possibly with some bad stuff ("hail the size of ping pong balls," the NWS is saying. Somewhere, Mr. Bunny Rabbit is laughing.)
Actually, I probably should have guessed this was coming; I had a near-migraine yesterday afternoon. (My doctor claims that while on the beta blocker, I shouldn't get migraines any more, but I still have had one or two). In the past, I used to get them with big weather changes. (And I'm sure this was one - I had the near-aphasia, where I have to stand and think for what seems like FOREVER to come up with the word I want - this is scary when you're in front of a class. And I couldn't play piano worth spit yesterday afternoon, and usually when my brain is hurting it affects my concentration and coordination)
Anyway: I'm effectively done, save for giving and grading finals tomorrow. (One is machine-graded: it's a "common" final that is given to all sections of the gen-ed class. Yes, we have to guard its security incredibly tightly, and I am waiting on the day when someone manages to stealth-photograph it with their cell camera: it's going to happen, just when, I don't know). The other one is all multiple choice, that I wrote, because (a) time needed to grade and (b) lazy.
And yes, faculty get tired and lazy at the end of a semester just as students do. And sometimes we take the easier way out. Part of it IS time pressures (I still have that thesis to read....) but part of it is that we get tired.
At any rate. Monday I leave for a short vacation. I really need some time off, some time in a cooler location, a few days of not having to come home, look at the pantry, and go "Now what do I fix for dinner?" (My mom is a better cook than I am, and since she cooks for more people, there are things she makes that I never would). And KNITTING TIME.
(Heh. Now I want to draw up the Adventure Time logo, only call it Knitting Time, and have a knitting needle running through it instead of the sword that Adventure Time has)
Yeah, I think my desire to knit is slowly returning. Part of it is, as the person who runs Phydeaux Designs wrote in a recent newsletter: "Unbelievable: August is just a few days away. But you know what that means? Autumn is just around the corner!"
Yes, autumn. The time of cooler temperatures. The time when knitwear is more than just a shawl thrown over my arm on the off-chance that one of the classrooms is too highly air-condiitoned. The time of changeable weather and changing colors and cooler temperatures.
I also did something that I find helps when my desire to knit wanes - I look through my accumulated patterns. I pulled out the various Brit-mags I have (Simply Knitting, the Knitter, and a couple of odd issues of other ones like Yarnwise I don't normally find on the newsstand). I found a cardigan with a geometric lace pattern (they call is "faux entrelac," but I'm really not fooled) I want to make eventually, and I even have yarn on-hand for it (some avocado-green Vickie Howell yarn bought on a very good sale, and it turns out I have enough). And I found the issue with the pattern for the "free" ball of Bergere de France yarn that came with it. (Simply Knitting UK always gives some kind of "free gift" with purchase, which is one reason I like it. Oh, I get that the gift isn't really "free" - it's part of the cost of the magazine, and also, I'm sure the company gets "promotional consideration" for it). But anyway - my next small project is going to be those fingerless mitts made out of pale-lavender Bergere yarn. (And even knit on 3.0 mm dpns, which were another month's "gift"! The pattern calls for that size but that's an odd size in the US - it's inbetween US 2 and US 3, so it can be hard to find.)
I'm still thinking about projects to take with me - do I take along Basketweave and try to finish it? Or do I just take smaller stuff? Which small shawl do I want to do next - Hop Vines (ravelry link out of a grey-green and cream variegated yarn, or the Ostrich-plume fern (again, Ravelry link) out of pastel colored Phydeaux sockyarn? Do I want to start the Witches Britches (I think I figured out how to slightly enlarge the pattern without altering it too much)?
I think I will probably finish the Boxed Raglan during invigilating tomorrow - I'm on the second sleeve, and I just have a few inches to go on that before the decreases. And I think I'll take Hitchhiker along as a back-up; I might finish that one as well.
(Incidentally: Knitting by Nature - the source of the two shawl patterns I referred to - is a new book I just recently bought. It's very nice - something like 20 different shawls and scarves, mostly lace, all inspired by some kind of horticultural or garden plant. Hop Vines and Ostrich-Plume Fern are just my two favorites; there are a bunch of others in there I'd like to knit some day. Many of them are knit from sockweight yarn, which has easily become my favorite weight of yarn to work with....)
I also bought (from Ravelry) an Anna Paula Rimoli amigurumi pattern - a toy unicorn, designed to look like the "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" toy unicorn in Despicable Me. (I had actually considered buying myself the beanie baby type version of this, but never did. But making my own seems a lot more fun). I even took a trip to the local yarn shop (wow, saying that NEVER gets old for me) and bought a boucle yarn (the fluffiest they had) in white, and tan for the nose, gold for the horn, and I even found a Brown Sheep yarn in that odd hot-pink for the hair. So I think I'm going to be doing at least one ami over break....
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
In-progress knitting
First off: I am NOT saying "Today has to be better than yesterday" because I think the world would take that as a challenge to show me that that's not necessarily so.
I took these photos Sunday night; the first sleeve of the sweater is now done, and I just began the second one. (This is the invigilating-knitting that got the yogurt on it. I plan to finish this this week and then wet-block it with a bit of wool-wash, in case I didn't get all the yogurt out.)
It's Boxed Raglan from the Fall 2012....I forget what it's called, but it's an Interweave publication of mostly-simple knits. Norah Gaughan design. I actually used the yarn called for (I usually substitute heavily) but in a different colorway than the one in the magazine.
And this is Hitchhiker. I'm within 10 "points" of finishing:
I think some of my distress of the past few days is related to the fact that everything seems to be "in progress" and nothing is getting "finished."
***
One more task: on my dad's advice, I'm going to my bank and see if any kind of protection can be put on my account just in case someone less-than-honest happens to find the errant water-bill check. (Well, he suggested setting up all-new accounts with new account numbers, and moving all but the money I needed to pay outstanding charges into them, but I think that's a little much).
But, gah. What a pain.
***
Also: we're supposed to have a heat index of 110 degrees today.
****
One small piece of good news: our anatomist/physiologist is retiring summer 2014. We've been back and forth with trying to get a tenure-track position to replace her. (At one point they were ACTUALLY saying, "Can't you just hire an adjunct?" REALLY?!?! REALLY!?!? Pay someone $1500 a semester with no benefits (and thus, they are limited to working 29 hours a week) to teach gross anatomy? You really think we'll find someone willing to do that?)
Anyway, they just yesterday approved a tenure-track position. Which is very, VERY, very good - both for us as a department and also as a precedent. (There were people in other departments, departments that need more full-time faculty, saying, "If Biology doesn't get this, it's all over..." meaning our ability to hire decent people....)
Also, we ought to be able to get someone good, seeing as how lousy the job market is. I mean, that's not a very nice reason, but....It'll be hard to replace Judy but this will make it a lot easier to get someone who is at least reliable and who has the skill-set we need.
(How glad I am that it was about 15 years ago - before some of the unsettling current changes in higher et- that I did the job search. I wouldn't want to do it today.)
I took these photos Sunday night; the first sleeve of the sweater is now done, and I just began the second one. (This is the invigilating-knitting that got the yogurt on it. I plan to finish this this week and then wet-block it with a bit of wool-wash, in case I didn't get all the yogurt out.)
It's Boxed Raglan from the Fall 2012....I forget what it's called, but it's an Interweave publication of mostly-simple knits. Norah Gaughan design. I actually used the yarn called for (I usually substitute heavily) but in a different colorway than the one in the magazine.
And this is Hitchhiker. I'm within 10 "points" of finishing:
I think some of my distress of the past few days is related to the fact that everything seems to be "in progress" and nothing is getting "finished."
***
One more task: on my dad's advice, I'm going to my bank and see if any kind of protection can be put on my account just in case someone less-than-honest happens to find the errant water-bill check. (Well, he suggested setting up all-new accounts with new account numbers, and moving all but the money I needed to pay outstanding charges into them, but I think that's a little much).
But, gah. What a pain.
***
Also: we're supposed to have a heat index of 110 degrees today.
****
One small piece of good news: our anatomist/physiologist is retiring summer 2014. We've been back and forth with trying to get a tenure-track position to replace her. (At one point they were ACTUALLY saying, "Can't you just hire an adjunct?" REALLY?!?! REALLY!?!? Pay someone $1500 a semester with no benefits (and thus, they are limited to working 29 hours a week) to teach gross anatomy? You really think we'll find someone willing to do that?)
Anyway, they just yesterday approved a tenure-track position. Which is very, VERY, very good - both for us as a department and also as a precedent. (There were people in other departments, departments that need more full-time faculty, saying, "If Biology doesn't get this, it's all over..." meaning our ability to hire decent people....)
Also, we ought to be able to get someone good, seeing as how lousy the job market is. I mean, that's not a very nice reason, but....It'll be hard to replace Judy but this will make it a lot easier to get someone who is at least reliable and who has the skill-set we need.
(How glad I am that it was about 15 years ago - before some of the unsettling current changes in higher et- that I did the job search. I wouldn't want to do it today.)
Monday, July 22, 2013
Need to withdraw
In one of those moods where I feel monumentally sorry for myself, like I don't matter, like my role in life is to be a whipping boy/complaining post. I'm getting jealous of compliments others are getting and that's a bad sign.
I need to shut down my access to Twitter, Ravelry, &c., and just grade these darn papers.
And maybe find a room that's cooler than 30 degrees C to hang out in.
Also, I might just have wrenched my back a little trying to pick up the trashcan from its awkward fallen position. At any rate, my lower back on the left side is hurting. (It definitely feels muscular, so I know it's not a kidney stone or anything like that)
***
And I have to list everything that happened. If it were in a movie starring whatever the female equivalent of Jack Lemmon is, it would be painfully funny (Painful, but still funny) to watch:
1. Dealt with rude city employee who refused to believe (over the phone) I was not a deadbeat
2. Went down there, got "put on hold" several times (They can put people on hold when they're standing right in an office, did you know that?)
3. Drove back to campus past my house, retrieved garbage can, pulled muscle in my back doing so
4. Had student e-mail me an "attached" paper that wasn't, had to try to track them down
5. While eating lunch, upset jar of yogurt off desk. Got yogurt on shoes, purse, textbook, shawl I had draped over purse, invigilating-knitting in knitting bag. Managed to brush most of it off invigilating knitting (but still, I will have to finish this soon and wet-block it using wool wash to get any smell out). Rinsed off shawl.
6. Had computer issues while students were trying to present research
7. Got home with student papers to grade, realized AFTER changing into pajamas I had left half of them in my office.
8. In my haste to get over there, left purse at home, so I couldn't fill up car like I planned and also was very worried a cop would stop me. (I said to myself: "You wouldn't even know who to call with your only phone call. You wouldn't think of anyone who could actually help.")
9. Got back home, realized I am STILL missing one paper. Am now assuming it wasn't turned in because I don't remember seeing it when I did a first-pass through the stack over at work.
That's QUITE enough, I think. Quite enough for one week.
Oh, wait: colleague found me in my office this afternoon, said, "My grad student was supposed to come and ask you about serving on his committee, but he forgot, he wants to defend by the end of this month, would you still have time to read his thesis?" ("Maybe I'll rent SIX horror movies...")
(Seriously: how do you "forget" to put your committee together? HOW?!?! It wasn't that long ago I was a grad student.)
I said yes, on the condition I got my grading done, my finals written, and still had time to look at it. He advised me "Don't pull an all-nighter to read it or anything" but I am a bit put out because my Friday-to-do-what-I-want is now probably my Friday-to-read-this-dude's-thesis. (I'd like to just let the guy hang through until August in return for his dilatoriness about coming to ask me to be on his committee, but apparently it doesn't work that way.)
Slack-cutting is something that is not equally distributed in this universe, I think.
Oh, forget it. Here's something totally different.
I present to you: "And I shall call him 'Swiffer'":
I need to shut down my access to Twitter, Ravelry, &c., and just grade these darn papers.
And maybe find a room that's cooler than 30 degrees C to hang out in.
Also, I might just have wrenched my back a little trying to pick up the trashcan from its awkward fallen position. At any rate, my lower back on the left side is hurting. (It definitely feels muscular, so I know it's not a kidney stone or anything like that)
***
And I have to list everything that happened. If it were in a movie starring whatever the female equivalent of Jack Lemmon is, it would be painfully funny (Painful, but still funny) to watch:
1. Dealt with rude city employee who refused to believe (over the phone) I was not a deadbeat
2. Went down there, got "put on hold" several times (They can put people on hold when they're standing right in an office, did you know that?)
3. Drove back to campus past my house, retrieved garbage can, pulled muscle in my back doing so
4. Had student e-mail me an "attached" paper that wasn't, had to try to track them down
5. While eating lunch, upset jar of yogurt off desk. Got yogurt on shoes, purse, textbook, shawl I had draped over purse, invigilating-knitting in knitting bag. Managed to brush most of it off invigilating knitting (but still, I will have to finish this soon and wet-block it using wool wash to get any smell out). Rinsed off shawl.
6. Had computer issues while students were trying to present research
7. Got home with student papers to grade, realized AFTER changing into pajamas I had left half of them in my office.
8. In my haste to get over there, left purse at home, so I couldn't fill up car like I planned and also was very worried a cop would stop me. (I said to myself: "You wouldn't even know who to call with your only phone call. You wouldn't think of anyone who could actually help.")
9. Got back home, realized I am STILL missing one paper. Am now assuming it wasn't turned in because I don't remember seeing it when I did a first-pass through the stack over at work.
That's QUITE enough, I think. Quite enough for one week.
Oh, wait: colleague found me in my office this afternoon, said, "My grad student was supposed to come and ask you about serving on his committee, but he forgot, he wants to defend by the end of this month, would you still have time to read his thesis?" ("Maybe I'll rent SIX horror movies...")
(Seriously: how do you "forget" to put your committee together? HOW?!?! It wasn't that long ago I was a grad student.)
I said yes, on the condition I got my grading done, my finals written, and still had time to look at it. He advised me "Don't pull an all-nighter to read it or anything" but I am a bit put out because my Friday-to-do-what-I-want is now probably my Friday-to-read-this-dude's-thesis. (I'd like to just let the guy hang through until August in return for his dilatoriness about coming to ask me to be on his committee, but apparently it doesn't work that way.)
Slack-cutting is something that is not equally distributed in this universe, I think.
Oh, forget it. Here's something totally different.
I present to you: "And I shall call him 'Swiffer'":
Monday morning blah
E-to-the-n-ETA: I cancelled part of my office hours and went down there. Was told, "Oh, you're about the 20th person with this problem today" (mailed in payment, they never received it). Um, maybe you could:
1. Check with the post office to see why a whole batch of your mail went missing?
2. Call your bulldog service and tell them NOT to send the "HEY YOU DEADBEAT" letters for this month?
And okay, I get now why she was rude to me over the phone. But you know? It led to me being kind of rude back because I wasn't getting anywhere. An eye for an eye makes the world blind, and kicking the dog is a really bad idea.
I'm still not doing any future trash-offs because I'm still just angry about this. (I still have no assurance that if my check DOES show up, that they won't cash it. If they do, I darn well hope it's applied to my account).
I'm just really sad and upset and tired and have too much to do and it's really hot and miserable out and I'm just DONE. Driving back up here I drove past my house and the trash collectors had been, and left my polycart tipped out in the street and the lid is slightly cracked. While I'm sure that they didn't get told "Give hers the 'special' treatment because of the 'unpaid' bill thing," still, it rankles, to have to lift that big heavy polycart up all the way off the ground. (I wonder what disabled or really tiny elderly people do. I'm not a weakling by any stretch and I find it heavy and hard to lift if it's been thrown down on the ground)
ETA: I called the city. Wow, were they rude: "Ma'am, we use an outside company. It's not our fault that these letters get sent." And "Well, if your check shows up, it might wind up getting cashed, there's nothing we can do."
I'm FURIOUS. This is of course a monopoly so there's nothing I can do - I can't take my business elsewhere if I want water. But it's just rude and nasty and rude to people who are trying to be responsible and do the right thing. I'm so sick of getting screwed over even though I make an effort to be responsible just because there are some deadbeats out there.
I guess being super grumpy wouldn't cut it as a medical excuse? I have way too much to do today to feel this bad.
E-ETA: You know what? I'm now DONE with the city trash-offs. The same department runs them as runs the water billing. They used to get free labor out of me a couple times a year but if that's how they treat a city customer, forget it. Screw them. I'll pick up trash outside of my house and on my block, but I'm not going to go pick up J. Random Street so it looks nice until the jerks trash it again.
I'm just really furious over this. I feel very disrespected. And yeah, yeah, I shouldn't take it personally, but you know? This is IT. I am just tired of smiling and swallowing the feces sandwiches handed to me by the various Powers That Be.
So I drove into work this morning. Sirius Pops was playing the last movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony - arguably, I would say, one of the greatest artistic achievements of Western culture. I waited in the car for a few moments after I parked for the "best" part (the part that, in versions with a chorus - this was a purely instrumental version, I guess - have Schiller's words about brotherhood).
And then I went into my office.
Sort of a let-down. My messy office, which I really need to clean this week lest I get another Safety write-up. And e-mails from students pleading why they can't take today's exam or proposing other troubles that I need to remedy. And people needing into the computer lab to "finish" the papers that are due at 8 this morning. And the letter from the City, which I have to call about today - they apparently didn't receive my water and trash payment after I sent it in on time, so two days after it was due, they mailed me a VERY STERN LETTER informing me that my water was going to be cut off next week and that not only that, but because I am apparently such a terrible deadbeat that I cannot be trusted to pay in a check, so I have to go down there with cash and pay (my father suggested going to the bank and getting the fifty-some dollars in pennies, but I think then they really WOULD cut off my water, and probably would leave my trash rollcart in the middle of the street every week from now on).
So, instead of the Schiller translation for today being something like, "joy is drunk by every creature/ From Nature's fair and charming breast;/ Every being, good or evil, Follows in her rosy steps./ Kisses she gave to us, and vines,/ And one good friend, tried in death;/ The serpent she endowed with base desire/ And the cherub stands before God." I think "Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain" is more appropriate.
I'm getting too old for this kind of stuff. I guess the purpose of adulthood is to beat the idealism out of you, but some days I think adulthood goes a little far.
1. Check with the post office to see why a whole batch of your mail went missing?
2. Call your bulldog service and tell them NOT to send the "HEY YOU DEADBEAT" letters for this month?
And okay, I get now why she was rude to me over the phone. But you know? It led to me being kind of rude back because I wasn't getting anywhere. An eye for an eye makes the world blind, and kicking the dog is a really bad idea.
I'm still not doing any future trash-offs because I'm still just angry about this. (I still have no assurance that if my check DOES show up, that they won't cash it. If they do, I darn well hope it's applied to my account).
I'm just really sad and upset and tired and have too much to do and it's really hot and miserable out and I'm just DONE. Driving back up here I drove past my house and the trash collectors had been, and left my polycart tipped out in the street and the lid is slightly cracked. While I'm sure that they didn't get told "Give hers the 'special' treatment because of the 'unpaid' bill thing," still, it rankles, to have to lift that big heavy polycart up all the way off the ground. (I wonder what disabled or really tiny elderly people do. I'm not a weakling by any stretch and I find it heavy and hard to lift if it's been thrown down on the ground)
ETA: I called the city. Wow, were they rude: "Ma'am, we use an outside company. It's not our fault that these letters get sent." And "Well, if your check shows up, it might wind up getting cashed, there's nothing we can do."
I'm FURIOUS. This is of course a monopoly so there's nothing I can do - I can't take my business elsewhere if I want water. But it's just rude and nasty and rude to people who are trying to be responsible and do the right thing. I'm so sick of getting screwed over even though I make an effort to be responsible just because there are some deadbeats out there.
I guess being super grumpy wouldn't cut it as a medical excuse? I have way too much to do today to feel this bad.
E-ETA: You know what? I'm now DONE with the city trash-offs. The same department runs them as runs the water billing. They used to get free labor out of me a couple times a year but if that's how they treat a city customer, forget it. Screw them. I'll pick up trash outside of my house and on my block, but I'm not going to go pick up J. Random Street so it looks nice until the jerks trash it again.
I'm just really furious over this. I feel very disrespected. And yeah, yeah, I shouldn't take it personally, but you know? This is IT. I am just tired of smiling and swallowing the feces sandwiches handed to me by the various Powers That Be.
So I drove into work this morning. Sirius Pops was playing the last movement of Beethoven's 9th symphony - arguably, I would say, one of the greatest artistic achievements of Western culture. I waited in the car for a few moments after I parked for the "best" part (the part that, in versions with a chorus - this was a purely instrumental version, I guess - have Schiller's words about brotherhood).
And then I went into my office.
Sort of a let-down. My messy office, which I really need to clean this week lest I get another Safety write-up. And e-mails from students pleading why they can't take today's exam or proposing other troubles that I need to remedy. And people needing into the computer lab to "finish" the papers that are due at 8 this morning. And the letter from the City, which I have to call about today - they apparently didn't receive my water and trash payment after I sent it in on time, so two days after it was due, they mailed me a VERY STERN LETTER informing me that my water was going to be cut off next week and that not only that, but because I am apparently such a terrible deadbeat that I cannot be trusted to pay in a check, so I have to go down there with cash and pay (my father suggested going to the bank and getting the fifty-some dollars in pennies, but I think then they really WOULD cut off my water, and probably would leave my trash rollcart in the middle of the street every week from now on).
So, instead of the Schiller translation for today being something like, "joy is drunk by every creature/ From Nature's fair and charming breast;/ Every being, good or evil, Follows in her rosy steps./ Kisses she gave to us, and vines,/ And one good friend, tried in death;/ The serpent she endowed with base desire/ And the cherub stands before God." I think "Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain" is more appropriate.
I'm getting too old for this kind of stuff. I guess the purpose of adulthood is to beat the idealism out of you, but some days I think adulthood goes a little far.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
I went antiquing
Saturday, after finishing the bit of finish-up research I needed to do, I wondered: do I just go home, or do I run down to Sherman and go antiquing (and to a grocery store that has decent salad....) like I had originally planned to?
Antiquing actually won out. (I didn't mention it, but I'd been a bit gunshy of driving much distance of late; my last trip south, coming home, I was moving into the passing lane and some dude came up out of nowhere, and either I nearly hit him or he nearly hit me (I looked, and I looked behind me, and I DID NOT SEE HIM). Of course, he was going pretty fast... but anyway, it made me nervous because I thought, "You're getting inattentive with the driving, better not do any "unnecessary" driving for a while."
But there's also the question of getting back on the horse.
But I went. I only went to one shop, the "big" antiques store in downtown Sherman. They've reconfigured the streetscape around the courthouse square; it's now one-way all the way 'round (in some ways it's like a giant traffic circle, just with lights at each corner to make it easier to get through).
I saw an absolutely sweet revolving bookcase that was done in Mission style oak and was about as tall as I am....but it was $900 and also I couldn't immediately think of where I could put it in my house. (Still - if I had had a spot? $900 is a lot, even for a sweet Mission-style oak revolving bookcase. Then again - if I had known IMMEDIATELY where I could put it, I probably would have figured "Worth dipping into savings for")
Instead, I wound up buying a couple older cookbooks:
The middle one - the Robert Farrar Capon one - was the most expensive, at about $20. (I have no idea if that is a good price, but I find books that are likely out of print, if you WANT want them, best to buy them when you see them, because you might never find them again). Capon is (was? I have no idea if he's still living) an Episcopal priest who writes essays, lots of them on food, eating, community around the table, etc. I enjoy his essays because he is very much in the "enjoying life" camp (He once commented in an essay "God must like stuff, because He made so much of it" - as part of (IIRC) an argument against those in favor of austere celebrations of Christmas and the like, where the family decides instead of giving gifts to give a family donation somewhere....Capon is all in favor of donations, but he also thinks that the sort of hair-shirt mentality that sometimes goes along with the "simplifying Christmas" is not ideal)
Anyway - he has chapters on A German Christmas Eve, an Armenian Easter, and similar, complete with recipes. And I enjoy those kinds of things - reading about recipes, their origins, what someone thinks of them, even if they are things I will never cook. And he also has essays on Bare Hands in the Kitchen (and yes, I often use my hands even when I might have another tool that would work), and one on salt (his argument being, the current killjoy mentality toward salt - or any good thing - that says even those without health issues MUST avoid it, is foolish. Though he does also acknowledge that there are those who (regretfully) must leave the shaker on the table for health reasons. And that's true. While I've dined with people who must avoid Item X and who spend the entire meal telling the other diners how they are "killing" themselves by indulging (and what a tiresome meal that becomes), my main reaction to someone getting a lovely Italian sausage pizza, or one of those giant soft pretzels covered in salt, is to look at it and murmur, "Enjoy it for me.")
The other two books are a bit older - "Impromptu Cooking" is from the early 1970s. It's allegedly aimed at those afraid to depart from the dogma of a recipe, and while I'm definitely not one of those (Actually, I could be described as an "impromptu cook"), I wanted to see another person's take on that form of cooking. (And it was inexpensive - $2). There are a number of "choose three things from this list and combine them with..." suggestions, and also broad general guidelines on things like braising meat and creating yeast bread.
The oldest of the three books is the Rumford Cook Book, published 1946 (a revision of a book first out in 1908). Yes, Rumford as in Count Rumford, or, more immediately, the company that makes Rumford baking powder (which, incidentally, is the brand I use - it's aluminum-free* and they also now make a reduced-sodium version, where a calcium compound replaces one of the sodium ones).
It's interesting, like many older cookbooks - very limited dependence on "convenience" foods (which didn't really exist in the initial run of the book). Which is good for someone like me. And also, there are some fascinating (and fascinatingly-named) recipes that you don't see much any more:
"Eggs in Prison" - essentially eggs baked in a custard cup between layers of breadcrumbs and minced cooked meat.
"King George's Pudding" - a steamed suet pudding with "dark colored" preserves (currant recommended). Makes me wonder if it was the George whose reign overlapped the era of the book, or an earlier George.
Planked whitefish (and also, a different recipe: planked eggs) where you cook things on a well-oiled plank of wood. I know some restaurants (especially up in northern Michigan) still do planked whitefish but you almost never see recipes for at-home planked cooking any more....
And there are other recipes you never see any more: beef tea, for example (usually suggested as an invalid-reviver). And often the vegetable recipes seem more creative in the older books....I don't know if that's because people cared more about vegetables then, or if they were less paranoid about cooking out all the vitamins (or less worried about "diluting" the alleged health-giving properties by flavoring them up with cheese sauces or some such).
Of course, the recipes for cakes and quick breads specifically recommend Rumford baking powder, but unlike some commercial cook books, they don't try to shoehorn their product in where it doesn't belong (well, they do suggest adding it to the beaten eggs for an omelette to make it rise higher....ugh, I'd think that would give it a "chemical" taste).
The previous owner of the book seems not to have used it much other than for desserts....some of the pages of those chapters bear stains, and a couple of the cake recipes have "good" handwritten next to them.
(That makes me smile. I guess all cooks do that. A few of my cookbooks, I've penned in "Good" next to certain recipes, or suggestions, like "Better if you cut sugar down to 1/3 cup." And my mom has that in some of her cookbooks: "Good" or "Makes more than suggested" or "NO! Use Mama's [my grandmother] recipe instead...." And in a few of them she has calorie calculations, back from the days when my father would try more actively to reduce, especially before field camp....a lot of the cookie recipes have "total calories per batch" written next to them; I suppose you divide based on the number you make)
(*There is limited, not-sure-how-much-I-trust-it-but-still, research that suggests ingesting more than a very small amount of aluminum could contribute to various health problems. It's not as clear-cut as the 10 or 12 year old research claiming aluminum can "cause" Alzheimer's, but still)
Antiquing actually won out. (I didn't mention it, but I'd been a bit gunshy of driving much distance of late; my last trip south, coming home, I was moving into the passing lane and some dude came up out of nowhere, and either I nearly hit him or he nearly hit me (I looked, and I looked behind me, and I DID NOT SEE HIM). Of course, he was going pretty fast... but anyway, it made me nervous because I thought, "You're getting inattentive with the driving, better not do any "unnecessary" driving for a while."
But there's also the question of getting back on the horse.
But I went. I only went to one shop, the "big" antiques store in downtown Sherman. They've reconfigured the streetscape around the courthouse square; it's now one-way all the way 'round (in some ways it's like a giant traffic circle, just with lights at each corner to make it easier to get through).
I saw an absolutely sweet revolving bookcase that was done in Mission style oak and was about as tall as I am....but it was $900 and also I couldn't immediately think of where I could put it in my house. (Still - if I had had a spot? $900 is a lot, even for a sweet Mission-style oak revolving bookcase. Then again - if I had known IMMEDIATELY where I could put it, I probably would have figured "Worth dipping into savings for")
Instead, I wound up buying a couple older cookbooks:
The middle one - the Robert Farrar Capon one - was the most expensive, at about $20. (I have no idea if that is a good price, but I find books that are likely out of print, if you WANT want them, best to buy them when you see them, because you might never find them again). Capon is (was? I have no idea if he's still living) an Episcopal priest who writes essays, lots of them on food, eating, community around the table, etc. I enjoy his essays because he is very much in the "enjoying life" camp (He once commented in an essay "God must like stuff, because He made so much of it" - as part of (IIRC) an argument against those in favor of austere celebrations of Christmas and the like, where the family decides instead of giving gifts to give a family donation somewhere....Capon is all in favor of donations, but he also thinks that the sort of hair-shirt mentality that sometimes goes along with the "simplifying Christmas" is not ideal)
Anyway - he has chapters on A German Christmas Eve, an Armenian Easter, and similar, complete with recipes. And I enjoy those kinds of things - reading about recipes, their origins, what someone thinks of them, even if they are things I will never cook. And he also has essays on Bare Hands in the Kitchen (and yes, I often use my hands even when I might have another tool that would work), and one on salt (his argument being, the current killjoy mentality toward salt - or any good thing - that says even those without health issues MUST avoid it, is foolish. Though he does also acknowledge that there are those who (regretfully) must leave the shaker on the table for health reasons. And that's true. While I've dined with people who must avoid Item X and who spend the entire meal telling the other diners how they are "killing" themselves by indulging (and what a tiresome meal that becomes), my main reaction to someone getting a lovely Italian sausage pizza, or one of those giant soft pretzels covered in salt, is to look at it and murmur, "Enjoy it for me.")
The other two books are a bit older - "Impromptu Cooking" is from the early 1970s. It's allegedly aimed at those afraid to depart from the dogma of a recipe, and while I'm definitely not one of those (Actually, I could be described as an "impromptu cook"), I wanted to see another person's take on that form of cooking. (And it was inexpensive - $2). There are a number of "choose three things from this list and combine them with..." suggestions, and also broad general guidelines on things like braising meat and creating yeast bread.
The oldest of the three books is the Rumford Cook Book, published 1946 (a revision of a book first out in 1908). Yes, Rumford as in Count Rumford, or, more immediately, the company that makes Rumford baking powder (which, incidentally, is the brand I use - it's aluminum-free* and they also now make a reduced-sodium version, where a calcium compound replaces one of the sodium ones).
It's interesting, like many older cookbooks - very limited dependence on "convenience" foods (which didn't really exist in the initial run of the book). Which is good for someone like me. And also, there are some fascinating (and fascinatingly-named) recipes that you don't see much any more:
"Eggs in Prison" - essentially eggs baked in a custard cup between layers of breadcrumbs and minced cooked meat.
"King George's Pudding" - a steamed suet pudding with "dark colored" preserves (currant recommended). Makes me wonder if it was the George whose reign overlapped the era of the book, or an earlier George.
Planked whitefish (and also, a different recipe: planked eggs) where you cook things on a well-oiled plank of wood. I know some restaurants (especially up in northern Michigan) still do planked whitefish but you almost never see recipes for at-home planked cooking any more....
And there are other recipes you never see any more: beef tea, for example (usually suggested as an invalid-reviver). And often the vegetable recipes seem more creative in the older books....I don't know if that's because people cared more about vegetables then, or if they were less paranoid about cooking out all the vitamins (or less worried about "diluting" the alleged health-giving properties by flavoring them up with cheese sauces or some such).
Of course, the recipes for cakes and quick breads specifically recommend Rumford baking powder, but unlike some commercial cook books, they don't try to shoehorn their product in where it doesn't belong (well, they do suggest adding it to the beaten eggs for an omelette to make it rise higher....ugh, I'd think that would give it a "chemical" taste).
The previous owner of the book seems not to have used it much other than for desserts....some of the pages of those chapters bear stains, and a couple of the cake recipes have "good" handwritten next to them.
(That makes me smile. I guess all cooks do that. A few of my cookbooks, I've penned in "Good" next to certain recipes, or suggestions, like "Better if you cut sugar down to 1/3 cup." And my mom has that in some of her cookbooks: "Good" or "Makes more than suggested" or "NO! Use Mama's [my grandmother] recipe instead...." And in a few of them she has calorie calculations, back from the days when my father would try more actively to reduce, especially before field camp....a lot of the cookie recipes have "total calories per batch" written next to them; I suppose you divide based on the number you make)
(*There is limited, not-sure-how-much-I-trust-it-but-still, research that suggests ingesting more than a very small amount of aluminum could contribute to various health problems. It's not as clear-cut as the 10 or 12 year old research claiming aluminum can "cause" Alzheimer's, but still)
Saturday, July 20, 2013
And another thing
I saw this the other day on MLB and had to laugh. Obviously I'm not the only one who thought it....but yes, I definitely thought it when I first saw it in the episode.
It's a little uncharacteristic for Fluttershy, but I'll give the backstory in a moment:
It's from "Putting your hoof down," which is one of my favorite episodes. Not just because of Fluttershy, but the whole story is entertaining. (Also, lots of views of background ponies. And I admit, I still - even though I've seen some of these episodes a dozen times - go "Derpy!" when everyone's favorite background pony makes her appearance. Yes, I say it out loud. I also recite some of the lines along with the characters.)
Anyway - Fluttershy winds up being more of a doormat than usual (Angel Bunny, especially, is pretty mean to her. If he were my pet....well, I'd be going, "You don't want to eat any of the perfectly fine and healthful meals I've prepared? Go hungry, then."). She gets a circular from "Iron Will," a motivational speaker who teaches ponies not to be doormats. (Iron Will is a minotaur who is a bit like a cross between Mr. T. and every motivational speaker ever).
Well, at the program, she learns a few catchphrases ("If somepony tries to block, show them that you rock") and winds up going a little overboard. (it's never really brought out, but I wonder if perhaps part of the "arc" of Season 2 was that each of the Ponies carried within her still a bit of the Discordization - Applejack lied (though she technically claimed not to), Twilight has several freak-outs, Rarity acted a bit selfish...)
In the scene that this .gif file came from, she just pushed another pony out of a (pony pulled) taxi, and is shaking her hoof at him. Out of character, but that's the idea. (It also seems uncharacteristic for Fluttershy to use a taxi....she doesn't seem to live that far from Ponyville, and most of the ponies walk everywhere (or fly, if you're Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy doesn't seem to use flight much as a mode of transportation)
What I really love about the episode is its resolution - first, Fluttershy realizes how awful she has been acting, and locks herself away from the world ("I've become a MONSTER.") But then, Iron Will shows up and demands payment. After some shenanigans involving Pinkie Pie trying to Warner Brothers Switcheroo him into coming back in one day ("half day!' "One day!"), he finally confronts Fluttershy - she needs to pay for the seminar.
Fluttershy says, "No." And she stands her ground.
Iron Will is aghast. Fluttershy goes on to explain: "You said we didn't have to pay if we weren't satisfied. And, well, I wasn't satisfied." (Because, though it's unsaid, she went too far with the assertiveness stuff). And she adds: "No means no."
Ultimately, Iron Will accepts her explanation....and goes away. (Muttering, "No means no....that would make a good catchphrase"). To me, it's another instance of "standing up to a bully without becoming one yourself" which is a theme several episodes have touched on, and it's a good lesson for kids (and for adults).
I may also like it particularly because I've had times in the past when I tried to say "no" to something (usually extra responsibilities) and whoever I was trying to say "no" to wouldn't accept that "no means no" and I would wind up having to come up with seventeen different reasons why I couldn't do what they wanted me to do.....so I wish I had that "Fluttershy magic" of being able to say "no" and having it stick.
I also love the episode because of the Fluttershy/Rarity/Pinkie interactions - they are the main three ponies in the episode. At first Rarity and Pinkie try to show Fluttershy how to get what she wants (Rarity by using an almost icky level of "charm" and Pinkie by, well, being Pinkie). But then, towards the end, they try to get her to come back out of her house after she's declared herself a "monster" (And there are GREAT - really great- reaction shots of them as she stands up to Iron Will. At one point, Rarity reaches over and closes Pinkies mouth, which is hanging open. Once again, a nod to the classic cartoons of the past.)
That was the episode I went home to watch over the noon hour yesterday (Yes, I have it on dvd - but for some reason, I also like to try to catch my favorite episodes when Hub happens to rebroadcast them).
It's a little uncharacteristic for Fluttershy, but I'll give the backstory in a moment:
It's from "Putting your hoof down," which is one of my favorite episodes. Not just because of Fluttershy, but the whole story is entertaining. (Also, lots of views of background ponies. And I admit, I still - even though I've seen some of these episodes a dozen times - go "Derpy!" when everyone's favorite background pony makes her appearance. Yes, I say it out loud. I also recite some of the lines along with the characters.)
Anyway - Fluttershy winds up being more of a doormat than usual (Angel Bunny, especially, is pretty mean to her. If he were my pet....well, I'd be going, "You don't want to eat any of the perfectly fine and healthful meals I've prepared? Go hungry, then."). She gets a circular from "Iron Will," a motivational speaker who teaches ponies not to be doormats. (Iron Will is a minotaur who is a bit like a cross between Mr. T. and every motivational speaker ever).
Well, at the program, she learns a few catchphrases ("If somepony tries to block, show them that you rock") and winds up going a little overboard. (it's never really brought out, but I wonder if perhaps part of the "arc" of Season 2 was that each of the Ponies carried within her still a bit of the Discordization - Applejack lied (though she technically claimed not to), Twilight has several freak-outs, Rarity acted a bit selfish...)
In the scene that this .gif file came from, she just pushed another pony out of a (pony pulled) taxi, and is shaking her hoof at him. Out of character, but that's the idea. (It also seems uncharacteristic for Fluttershy to use a taxi....she doesn't seem to live that far from Ponyville, and most of the ponies walk everywhere (or fly, if you're Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy doesn't seem to use flight much as a mode of transportation)
What I really love about the episode is its resolution - first, Fluttershy realizes how awful she has been acting, and locks herself away from the world ("I've become a MONSTER.") But then, Iron Will shows up and demands payment. After some shenanigans involving Pinkie Pie trying to Warner Brothers Switcheroo him into coming back in one day ("half day!' "One day!"), he finally confronts Fluttershy - she needs to pay for the seminar.
Fluttershy says, "No." And she stands her ground.
Iron Will is aghast. Fluttershy goes on to explain: "You said we didn't have to pay if we weren't satisfied. And, well, I wasn't satisfied." (Because, though it's unsaid, she went too far with the assertiveness stuff). And she adds: "No means no."
Ultimately, Iron Will accepts her explanation....and goes away. (Muttering, "No means no....that would make a good catchphrase"). To me, it's another instance of "standing up to a bully without becoming one yourself" which is a theme several episodes have touched on, and it's a good lesson for kids (and for adults).
I may also like it particularly because I've had times in the past when I tried to say "no" to something (usually extra responsibilities) and whoever I was trying to say "no" to wouldn't accept that "no means no" and I would wind up having to come up with seventeen different reasons why I couldn't do what they wanted me to do.....so I wish I had that "Fluttershy magic" of being able to say "no" and having it stick.
I also love the episode because of the Fluttershy/Rarity/Pinkie interactions - they are the main three ponies in the episode. At first Rarity and Pinkie try to show Fluttershy how to get what she wants (Rarity by using an almost icky level of "charm" and Pinkie by, well, being Pinkie). But then, towards the end, they try to get her to come back out of her house after she's declared herself a "monster" (And there are GREAT - really great- reaction shots of them as she stands up to Iron Will. At one point, Rarity reaches over and closes Pinkies mouth, which is hanging open. Once again, a nod to the classic cartoons of the past.)
That was the episode I went home to watch over the noon hour yesterday (Yes, I have it on dvd - but for some reason, I also like to try to catch my favorite episodes when Hub happens to rebroadcast them).
Setting some boundaries
I'm in, briefly, this morning, to finish one thing I planned to get to yesterday but didn't (finishing off the summer soil stuff). Normally on Saturdays this semester I haven't been in; I've been in the field.
I came in and turned on my computer and found an e-mail from a student. Asking about their grade. As I have had about five e-mails from this individual asking about their grade (yes, it's good they care, but I have guidelines up on how they can calculate their grades themselves), I am not motivated to deal with it right now. (Also: I really am not typically "here" on a summer Saturday).
And it occurred to me, as I was going through my first (of two) soil samples: Students seem to ask a lot of stuff I never would have dreamed of asking. Case in point: I gave an exam. A student did poorly on it and e-mailed me to ask if I'd allow them to retake it.
I had to look at that e-mail for several minutes, going "Are they really asking.....are they saying what I think it says?" As in: you've already seen the test and what was on it, now a couple hours later (hours you MIGHT have been boning up), you want a mulligan because "I just don't know what went wrong" (not the exact words as to why the test grade was low, but close).
I sent an e-mail back saying effectively, "sorry, no, and don't ask me that ever again" and got a response "No problem. I figure it doesn't hurt to ask!" (Except, it kind of does....those kinds of things go in the Professorial Memory Bank and some years down the road if a student comes looking for a recommendation....)
And I got to wondering - while I have been told many times (and it's probably true) that "it's the unusual student that becomes a professor" (and therefore: my experience and attitudes as a student may not necessarily map onto my own students), I also wonder if the existence of the Internet enables some of the more bizarre or over-reaching requests.
Back in the Dark Ages when I was in college (back when we rode Dire Wolves to school), if you wanted to ask a professor something, you went to his or her office hours. And you asked face-to-face.
(And an aside: back when I was in college, there was none of this mandated ten hours per week with at least one hour per business day and no office hours before 8 am business. Professors got to set office hours based on their own whims, which meant some people were really hard to find and you had to make an appointment, or catch them after class)
Anyway, you had to ask face-to-face. And that took a certain amount of guts and a certain amount of determining beforehand if your request was reasonable, or if the professor would (if they were one of the nice ones) say "Sorry, no" and then turn back to their work or (if they were not) laugh you out of their office (or throw you out).
And while I suppose the more timid students were at a disadvantage there (while I am timid in some ways, I didn't have problems approaching a professor with what I thought was a reasonable question, and even some of my majors professors would invite groups of us to their office for further discussion of topics or of our future plans), I think it also may have weeded out some of the strange requests, like "Is it okay if I miss your 8 am class because I reeeeeaallly want to go to the midnight premier of this movie" or "Can I take the test over again?" or "I made plans for a ski trip for two weeks the middle of the semester, will you give me all the work I'm going to miss early, before I leave?"
I think having to make the effort to ask face-to-face makes a difference. (Even on the phone - and I admit, I'm one of those people who HATES using the phone, though I think it's partly because I can't see a person's expression and I tend to judge how things are going by a person's expression, for example, whether to keep asking what I'm going to ask, or to just shut up and go, "Okay, I see that won't work.")
But the other thing with e-mail is there seems to be more of an assumption of immediate response. I have a clause in my syllabi that e-mails during the week will be answered within 24 hours, but e-mails on the weekend may have to wait until Monday for an answer. I still get people who are occasionally put out that I didn't e-mail them back within fifteen minutes or something. I mean, if it's a real world-ending thing, or if I'm bored in my office (procrastinating from something else), I might answer an e-mail as it comes in - but sometimes I need to sit and think about it. Or in some cases, I might draft up a reply in my head, then wait a few hours so I write something less angry or dismissive.
What really gets me are the people who send e-mails at, for example, 11:35 pm and expect me to answer them before their 8 am class the next day. Uh, guys? At 11:35 pm I am asleep. If I'm not asleep there's a big problem seeing as I teach an 8 am class. When I come in at 7 I MIGHT have time to respond.....or I might have to prep some stuff for the 8 am class and don't.
I once spoke with someone whose wife worked for one of those large all-online universities. He noted that she was directed to hold a set of "office hours" per week late at night - like 11 pm to 2 am - to "accommodate" the students with odd hours. So apparently (I say apparently because it was some years ago I was told this, and like I said, it was the husband of the person in question, so he might have had it slightly wrong), one night a week she was expected to alter her schedule for the convenience of her students....in a situation where the contact could be asynchronous anyway. (Really, is it so awful for someone to get a reply to a midnight e-mail at, say, 7:30 the next morning?)
And I think maybe a lot of us who work in education need to stop and think about accessibility. Yeah, it's great to have increased accessibility - but if you get people constantly barraging you with requests you can't ethically fulfill (like the redo of the test - it would be unfair to everyone else in the class even if I had wanted to do it), that kind of eats at your morale. And the expectation of immediate response, and the UPSET that some people display when you don't get back to them within an hour or two of their e-mail even though it was sent at a time after which most faculty have gone home for the day....yes, I get that we're grown ups and part of our pay is dealing with this kind of thing (The old joke: "They don't pay me to teach; they pay me to grade" could be rewritten as "They don't pay me to teach or grade; they are paying me to put up with the attitudes of certain people"). But I also think students have to learn that in much of the business world, a 24-hour turnaround on e-mails is FANTASTIC and something to be celebrated, instead of complaining, "I sent this e-mail at 12:15 am and the lousy blighter didn't e-mail me back until 7 the next morning!"
I suppose there's also elements of "ask" vs. "guess" culture coming into play - as I've said, I'm very firmly in the "guess" culture camp - you ask for stuff if you are reasonably sure of getting a yes; you don't want to "put someone out" by making them say no - and also, at least in my case, you don't want to risk the person thinking poorly of you because you asked for something unreasonable. In "ask" culture the rules are quite different and I find myself having to remind myself, "Some of these students are 'ask culture' people; don't let what they're asking for get under your skin."
But still: I think some of the requests ARE unreasonable, like the "I'm taking 2 weeks vacation the middle of the semester and I expect you to accommodate me with all the work in advance...."
***
And now that I'm done, a decision: do I go antiquing in Sherman (and check for any new issues of the British knitting mags) like I had thought, or just go home and hide in my cool dim living room and knit? It's hotter than Satan's backsweat out there....then again, I'm almost out of salad and the local Mart of Wal only carries their own house brand now, and it's *terrible* (you wouldn't think a company could ruin salad, but I guess it's possible....the "butter lettuce" I got was overmature and bitter). Hm. I guess I'll go home and eat lunch, and then figure out if I feel like driving through the heat and the glare and possibly dealing with people who are out at the stores because they don't feel like paying for airconditioning at home...
I will say it looks like the heat up north is breaking....Illinois is cooler than it was. I hope it stays that way because in just a bit over a week I will be up there for a short visit with parents.
I came in and turned on my computer and found an e-mail from a student. Asking about their grade. As I have had about five e-mails from this individual asking about their grade (yes, it's good they care, but I have guidelines up on how they can calculate their grades themselves), I am not motivated to deal with it right now. (Also: I really am not typically "here" on a summer Saturday).
And it occurred to me, as I was going through my first (of two) soil samples: Students seem to ask a lot of stuff I never would have dreamed of asking. Case in point: I gave an exam. A student did poorly on it and e-mailed me to ask if I'd allow them to retake it.
I had to look at that e-mail for several minutes, going "Are they really asking.....are they saying what I think it says?" As in: you've already seen the test and what was on it, now a couple hours later (hours you MIGHT have been boning up), you want a mulligan because "I just don't know what went wrong" (not the exact words as to why the test grade was low, but close).
I sent an e-mail back saying effectively, "sorry, no, and don't ask me that ever again" and got a response "No problem. I figure it doesn't hurt to ask!" (Except, it kind of does....those kinds of things go in the Professorial Memory Bank and some years down the road if a student comes looking for a recommendation....)
And I got to wondering - while I have been told many times (and it's probably true) that "it's the unusual student that becomes a professor" (and therefore: my experience and attitudes as a student may not necessarily map onto my own students), I also wonder if the existence of the Internet enables some of the more bizarre or over-reaching requests.
Back in the Dark Ages when I was in college (back when we rode Dire Wolves to school), if you wanted to ask a professor something, you went to his or her office hours. And you asked face-to-face.
(And an aside: back when I was in college, there was none of this mandated ten hours per week with at least one hour per business day and no office hours before 8 am business. Professors got to set office hours based on their own whims, which meant some people were really hard to find and you had to make an appointment, or catch them after class)
Anyway, you had to ask face-to-face. And that took a certain amount of guts and a certain amount of determining beforehand if your request was reasonable, or if the professor would (if they were one of the nice ones) say "Sorry, no" and then turn back to their work or (if they were not) laugh you out of their office (or throw you out).
And while I suppose the more timid students were at a disadvantage there (while I am timid in some ways, I didn't have problems approaching a professor with what I thought was a reasonable question, and even some of my majors professors would invite groups of us to their office for further discussion of topics or of our future plans), I think it also may have weeded out some of the strange requests, like "Is it okay if I miss your 8 am class because I reeeeeaallly want to go to the midnight premier of this movie" or "Can I take the test over again?" or "I made plans for a ski trip for two weeks the middle of the semester, will you give me all the work I'm going to miss early, before I leave?"
I think having to make the effort to ask face-to-face makes a difference. (Even on the phone - and I admit, I'm one of those people who HATES using the phone, though I think it's partly because I can't see a person's expression and I tend to judge how things are going by a person's expression, for example, whether to keep asking what I'm going to ask, or to just shut up and go, "Okay, I see that won't work.")
But the other thing with e-mail is there seems to be more of an assumption of immediate response. I have a clause in my syllabi that e-mails during the week will be answered within 24 hours, but e-mails on the weekend may have to wait until Monday for an answer. I still get people who are occasionally put out that I didn't e-mail them back within fifteen minutes or something. I mean, if it's a real world-ending thing, or if I'm bored in my office (procrastinating from something else), I might answer an e-mail as it comes in - but sometimes I need to sit and think about it. Or in some cases, I might draft up a reply in my head, then wait a few hours so I write something less angry or dismissive.
What really gets me are the people who send e-mails at, for example, 11:35 pm and expect me to answer them before their 8 am class the next day. Uh, guys? At 11:35 pm I am asleep. If I'm not asleep there's a big problem seeing as I teach an 8 am class. When I come in at 7 I MIGHT have time to respond.....or I might have to prep some stuff for the 8 am class and don't.
I once spoke with someone whose wife worked for one of those large all-online universities. He noted that she was directed to hold a set of "office hours" per week late at night - like 11 pm to 2 am - to "accommodate" the students with odd hours. So apparently (I say apparently because it was some years ago I was told this, and like I said, it was the husband of the person in question, so he might have had it slightly wrong), one night a week she was expected to alter her schedule for the convenience of her students....in a situation where the contact could be asynchronous anyway. (Really, is it so awful for someone to get a reply to a midnight e-mail at, say, 7:30 the next morning?)
And I think maybe a lot of us who work in education need to stop and think about accessibility. Yeah, it's great to have increased accessibility - but if you get people constantly barraging you with requests you can't ethically fulfill (like the redo of the test - it would be unfair to everyone else in the class even if I had wanted to do it), that kind of eats at your morale. And the expectation of immediate response, and the UPSET that some people display when you don't get back to them within an hour or two of their e-mail even though it was sent at a time after which most faculty have gone home for the day....yes, I get that we're grown ups and part of our pay is dealing with this kind of thing (The old joke: "They don't pay me to teach; they pay me to grade" could be rewritten as "They don't pay me to teach or grade; they are paying me to put up with the attitudes of certain people"). But I also think students have to learn that in much of the business world, a 24-hour turnaround on e-mails is FANTASTIC and something to be celebrated, instead of complaining, "I sent this e-mail at 12:15 am and the lousy blighter didn't e-mail me back until 7 the next morning!"
I suppose there's also elements of "ask" vs. "guess" culture coming into play - as I've said, I'm very firmly in the "guess" culture camp - you ask for stuff if you are reasonably sure of getting a yes; you don't want to "put someone out" by making them say no - and also, at least in my case, you don't want to risk the person thinking poorly of you because you asked for something unreasonable. In "ask" culture the rules are quite different and I find myself having to remind myself, "Some of these students are 'ask culture' people; don't let what they're asking for get under your skin."
But still: I think some of the requests ARE unreasonable, like the "I'm taking 2 weeks vacation the middle of the semester and I expect you to accommodate me with all the work in advance...."
***
And now that I'm done, a decision: do I go antiquing in Sherman (and check for any new issues of the British knitting mags) like I had thought, or just go home and hide in my cool dim living room and knit? It's hotter than Satan's backsweat out there....then again, I'm almost out of salad and the local Mart of Wal only carries their own house brand now, and it's *terrible* (you wouldn't think a company could ruin salad, but I guess it's possible....the "butter lettuce" I got was overmature and bitter). Hm. I guess I'll go home and eat lunch, and then figure out if I feel like driving through the heat and the glare and possibly dealing with people who are out at the stores because they don't feel like paying for airconditioning at home...
I will say it looks like the heat up north is breaking....Illinois is cooler than it was. I hope it stays that way because in just a bit over a week I will be up there for a short visit with parents.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Setting 'em up...
...knocking 'em down.
That was my dad's line. He used to say that a lot (well, before he retired) as it concerned work stuff - you make your list, you pick your tasks in order, you work 'til you're done.
This morning, I did the catch-up grading (including reading and grading a long paper a student had to do to fulfill an Honors Contract that I forgot I had agreed to until she gave me the paper yesterday). And I finished my syllabi, including picking the first two Directed Readings readings. (Sometime I need to talk about how Directed Readings is having to change because....well, because someone somewhere said so. Sometimes academia is a bit like the military - you get directions, they might not make total sense to you, but it doesn't necessarily pay to question them. And of course, sometimes the directions change after you've fulfilled them. No, I was never in the military but I've had my share of friends and relatives who were, so I know some of the unrepeatable acronyms and the old saying about how if it moves, you salute it, and if it doesn't, you paint it....)
And I wrote up the minutes from the AAUW meeting of a couple weeks back, and re-did the Yearbook for this fall (including, sadly, deleting the contact information of a member who died, and of a couple who moved away).
And I've taken one pass through the manuscript. It's in PRETTY good shape but I see a few tweaks to do, also I have to delete references to the map I never got around to making.
I have left to finish the ms. and do the soil stuff. I'm bailing on the bees for today; they will keep and I'll have some downtime next week I can work on them.
I wonder if part of my doldrum feeling was all that stuff hanging over my head. I know when I have some kind of slightly-onerous task hanging over me (or even a task that really isn't onerous, but which I have to overcome inertia to start), I find it hard to enjoy "fun" things until I've completed that task. I suppose that goes back to the old "You can't play outside until you finish your homework" rule of my childhood. (Never mind that some days that meant it was dark before I was done, so I didn't get outside, and never mind that the meme now is to toss the kids outside to run around for an hour so they're "sure" to stave off obesity....)
Anyway.
I had, um, ordered more yarn (yes, never mind that I have dozens of projects I am not finishing). I had pulled out my copy of "Knit Two Together" the other night and flipped through it.
You know, every time I see a couple things in there - the gym slip dress and the witches' britches, I kind of wishes I was slimmer so I could fit into them. Well, the gym slip dress, you also have to be slim and toned because a clingy knit dress shows stuff off....but
And I looked at the "britches" again. The largest size has a waist size of 32". Now, my waist is a bit bigger than that now. (How much, I may be in denial about. I don't think it's MUCH but then I haven't measured in a while.... I'm guessing somewhere between 34 and 36* based on how my trousers fit. and what size I am wearing...Depending on the cut, I wear a 16 or a 14, but in the 16s, the waist gaps a bit - usually if I need a 16 it's for the rise, or just to be a bit more roomy) but I'm thinking "maybe they'll stretch" (I don't have enormous hips in proportion, and frankly, I have a rather flat butt, thanks to all the years on the cross-country ski exerciser). So, I don't know.
Anyway, I decided to give them a try. No, I am not buying the Zara the originals were made of - that would run upwards of $100 and I can't see doing that. But KnitPicks was having a sale on a dk merino ("Swish") and so....I ordered enough in pink for the main body of the things, and black for the lace.
It came today. The colors make me smile because the pink is almost the exact pink of some of the "racy" Victorian lingerie I've seen (and that pink and black are sometimes "racy" lingerie colors, or at least they used to be) and I like the idea of what amount to granny pants being done in colors that at some point in time were "racy" (a modification of the pattern can be seen on Kat Coyle's blog). No, I won't probably wear them under dresses unless another Ice Age starts up here, but I was thinking they might be nice as either wintertime pajama bottoms or as lounging-around-the-house wear. (And anyway - a certain percentage of the stuff some of us knit, we don't knit so much because "This is super practical and I will wear it all the time" but because "This seems like a fun pattern or I am attracted to the image of the item")
I will have to play around and see if I can keep trying them on while I make them. (I think you make the legs first, then join them to do the waist). I might reduce the amount of shaping at the waist if I need the waist to be bigger. But then again: knitting stretches, and if my guess of a 34" waist isn't too far off, they should fit fine.
And anyway, if they come out really too small when I get them done, well, my sister in law is about a size or size and a half smaller than I am....maybe she would wear them.
I MIGHT consider taking this along as a knitting-on-break project, I don't know.
(*And I'm glad I don't live in Japan, because that would earn me the dreaded label of "metabo" and carry with it, apparently, "reeducation" until I got the waist size down. Ugh. I hope that never happens here. Shaming people into weight loss is a bad plan, IMHO)
That was my dad's line. He used to say that a lot (well, before he retired) as it concerned work stuff - you make your list, you pick your tasks in order, you work 'til you're done.
This morning, I did the catch-up grading (including reading and grading a long paper a student had to do to fulfill an Honors Contract that I forgot I had agreed to until she gave me the paper yesterday). And I finished my syllabi, including picking the first two Directed Readings readings. (Sometime I need to talk about how Directed Readings is having to change because....well, because someone somewhere said so. Sometimes academia is a bit like the military - you get directions, they might not make total sense to you, but it doesn't necessarily pay to question them. And of course, sometimes the directions change after you've fulfilled them. No, I was never in the military but I've had my share of friends and relatives who were, so I know some of the unrepeatable acronyms and the old saying about how if it moves, you salute it, and if it doesn't, you paint it....)
And I wrote up the minutes from the AAUW meeting of a couple weeks back, and re-did the Yearbook for this fall (including, sadly, deleting the contact information of a member who died, and of a couple who moved away).
And I've taken one pass through the manuscript. It's in PRETTY good shape but I see a few tweaks to do, also I have to delete references to the map I never got around to making.
I have left to finish the ms. and do the soil stuff. I'm bailing on the bees for today; they will keep and I'll have some downtime next week I can work on them.
I wonder if part of my doldrum feeling was all that stuff hanging over my head. I know when I have some kind of slightly-onerous task hanging over me (or even a task that really isn't onerous, but which I have to overcome inertia to start), I find it hard to enjoy "fun" things until I've completed that task. I suppose that goes back to the old "You can't play outside until you finish your homework" rule of my childhood. (Never mind that some days that meant it was dark before I was done, so I didn't get outside, and never mind that the meme now is to toss the kids outside to run around for an hour so they're "sure" to stave off obesity....)
Anyway.
I had, um, ordered more yarn (yes, never mind that I have dozens of projects I am not finishing). I had pulled out my copy of "Knit Two Together" the other night and flipped through it.
You know, every time I see a couple things in there - the gym slip dress and the witches' britches, I kind of wishes I was slimmer so I could fit into them. Well, the gym slip dress, you also have to be slim and toned because a clingy knit dress shows stuff off....but
And I looked at the "britches" again. The largest size has a waist size of 32". Now, my waist is a bit bigger than that now. (How much, I may be in denial about. I don't think it's MUCH but then I haven't measured in a while.... I'm guessing somewhere between 34 and 36* based on how my trousers fit. and what size I am wearing...Depending on the cut, I wear a 16 or a 14, but in the 16s, the waist gaps a bit - usually if I need a 16 it's for the rise, or just to be a bit more roomy) but I'm thinking "maybe they'll stretch" (I don't have enormous hips in proportion, and frankly, I have a rather flat butt, thanks to all the years on the cross-country ski exerciser). So, I don't know.
Anyway, I decided to give them a try. No, I am not buying the Zara the originals were made of - that would run upwards of $100 and I can't see doing that. But KnitPicks was having a sale on a dk merino ("Swish") and so....I ordered enough in pink for the main body of the things, and black for the lace.
It came today. The colors make me smile because the pink is almost the exact pink of some of the "racy" Victorian lingerie I've seen (and that pink and black are sometimes "racy" lingerie colors, or at least they used to be) and I like the idea of what amount to granny pants being done in colors that at some point in time were "racy" (a modification of the pattern can be seen on Kat Coyle's blog). No, I won't probably wear them under dresses unless another Ice Age starts up here, but I was thinking they might be nice as either wintertime pajama bottoms or as lounging-around-the-house wear. (And anyway - a certain percentage of the stuff some of us knit, we don't knit so much because "This is super practical and I will wear it all the time" but because "This seems like a fun pattern or I am attracted to the image of the item")
I will have to play around and see if I can keep trying them on while I make them. (I think you make the legs first, then join them to do the waist). I might reduce the amount of shaping at the waist if I need the waist to be bigger. But then again: knitting stretches, and if my guess of a 34" waist isn't too far off, they should fit fine.
And anyway, if they come out really too small when I get them done, well, my sister in law is about a size or size and a half smaller than I am....maybe she would wear them.
I MIGHT consider taking this along as a knitting-on-break project, I don't know.
(*And I'm glad I don't live in Japan, because that would earn me the dreaded label of "metabo" and carry with it, apparently, "reeducation" until I got the waist size down. Ugh. I hope that never happens here. Shaming people into weight loss is a bad plan, IMHO)
Summer doldrum time
I knitted a bit on the second "Alpenglow" (which, the pattern designer actually named "Alpine Glow." I don't know why I keep trying to fake-Germanize the name).
But it goes so SLOWLY. Everything seems to go slowly in the summer. Or, I look at my knitting now and I say "Why don't I make the big amounts of progress on it I used to? I used to be able to knock stuff out so much faster"
I suppose part of it is additional responsibilities - I have piano practice I do every day now (and no, I don't want to give that up, as much as I'd like more knitting time). And cooking takes longer because vegetables.
But I also think my ability to sit still is suffering - or maybe my ability to sit with the tv on. Unless there's some cartoon I specifically like (and that's a pretty broad net, actually - everything from Ponies! to Regular Show to Gravity Falls to even some of the kind of dumb stuff that's out there). But a lot of other shows get to me. I used to like some of the Law and Order re-runs, but I tried to watch one last night and it involved some kind of race-involved shooting, and while it was an episode done long before the Zimmerman trial, it was just too reminiscent of current events and I had to switch it off.
And a lot of the other stations run "marathons" of reality shows I have no interest in at all. (Incidentally: the local NBC affiliate's local news sometimes runs the Jeanne Moos stories from CNN, and they ran this one. "Meet the Tanners," "Clam Kings," "Long Island Landscapers" - heh, they seem just plausible enough that people fell for them. Well, that's a little sad....especially the tween girls who oohed over "Meet the Tanners" and said they'd want to watch it)
Even Discovery Fit and Health lately seems to be running stuff that neither pertains to fitness nor health...(Though I admit that Craft Wars show or whatever they called it was kind of weirdly compelling - Tori Spelling hosting it? And then a bunch of designers - some cranky, some effusive - critiquing the efforts of the two crafters? I'd NEVER want to do something like that, and also a lot of the stuff they "crafted" was made fast and cheaply and it would NEVER last more than a few weeks in the real world....)
I don't know. I WANT to be knitting or quilting, but when I sit down to do it....I don't know, it's like I lose interest. I look at how few rows or rounds I get done, and how many there are to go... Maybe it's the heat and humidity. Maybe it's being tired because it's nearly the end of the semester. Maybe it's not finishing anything, having all my projects at points where they are going to take a while to complete. Or I get tired and say "forget it, I'm going to bed to read."
I
I hope my knitting mojo comes back.
(So far I have the catch-up grading done; next is finishing the syllabi. I figure to take the smallest tasks first so I feel like I'm getting something done.)
ETA: I need to get back to the syllabi but "Giant Colin Firth Terrorizes London!". Heh. (I don't remember the swimming scene from the book; I assume it was added in to the movie as a sort of "fan service" so the lllllllladies watching could see his bare chest through a wet shirt?....Ah, I see. It wasn't in the book, the article notes. Durr.
Also: "This British version of "Pacific Rim" is a bit rubbish...." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.)
But it goes so SLOWLY. Everything seems to go slowly in the summer. Or, I look at my knitting now and I say "Why don't I make the big amounts of progress on it I used to? I used to be able to knock stuff out so much faster"
I suppose part of it is additional responsibilities - I have piano practice I do every day now (and no, I don't want to give that up, as much as I'd like more knitting time). And cooking takes longer because vegetables.
But I also think my ability to sit still is suffering - or maybe my ability to sit with the tv on. Unless there's some cartoon I specifically like (and that's a pretty broad net, actually - everything from Ponies! to Regular Show to Gravity Falls to even some of the kind of dumb stuff that's out there). But a lot of other shows get to me. I used to like some of the Law and Order re-runs, but I tried to watch one last night and it involved some kind of race-involved shooting, and while it was an episode done long before the Zimmerman trial, it was just too reminiscent of current events and I had to switch it off.
And a lot of the other stations run "marathons" of reality shows I have no interest in at all. (Incidentally: the local NBC affiliate's local news sometimes runs the Jeanne Moos stories from CNN, and they ran this one. "Meet the Tanners," "Clam Kings," "Long Island Landscapers" - heh, they seem just plausible enough that people fell for them. Well, that's a little sad....especially the tween girls who oohed over "Meet the Tanners" and said they'd want to watch it)
Even Discovery Fit and Health lately seems to be running stuff that neither pertains to fitness nor health...(Though I admit that Craft Wars show or whatever they called it was kind of weirdly compelling - Tori Spelling hosting it? And then a bunch of designers - some cranky, some effusive - critiquing the efforts of the two crafters? I'd NEVER want to do something like that, and also a lot of the stuff they "crafted" was made fast and cheaply and it would NEVER last more than a few weeks in the real world....)
I don't know. I WANT to be knitting or quilting, but when I sit down to do it....I don't know, it's like I lose interest. I look at how few rows or rounds I get done, and how many there are to go... Maybe it's the heat and humidity. Maybe it's being tired because it's nearly the end of the semester. Maybe it's not finishing anything, having all my projects at points where they are going to take a while to complete. Or I get tired and say "forget it, I'm going to bed to read."
I
I hope my knitting mojo comes back.
(So far I have the catch-up grading done; next is finishing the syllabi. I figure to take the smallest tasks first so I feel like I'm getting something done.)
ETA: I need to get back to the syllabi but "Giant Colin Firth Terrorizes London!". Heh. (I don't remember the swimming scene from the book; I assume it was added in to the movie as a sort of "fan service" so the lllllllladies watching could see his bare chest through a wet shirt?....Ah, I see. It wasn't in the book, the article notes. Durr.
Also: "This British version of "Pacific Rim" is a bit rubbish...." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.)
Thursday, July 18, 2013
One more week
* I worked some more on the first Basketweave sleeve last night. The challenge with these is that as you increase at either end, you have to figure out how to work them into the pattern, so if the directions are "Knit 4, then *p2 k2 p2 k6* or some such, you have to add the "extra" increased stitches onto that Knit 4 and figure out what the pattern would be. Which slows things down and has made me had to rip out on occasion.
* Monumentally unmotivated to do anything I need to do. What I need to do:
-finish syllabi for this fall (One of the admins requires they be in two weeks before the start of classes. Never mind that some faculty might not know for sure which classes they are teaching yet two weeks before the start of classes). I will be in Illinois at that time so I need to do them now. One of the syllabi is a big deal because the class is being totally overhauled to meet some new requirements.
- Go through the last two soil samples
- Try to get through at least a few more bee identifications
- Go over the manuscript again and just send it off to POAS. I'm not gonna make the map. They can tell me to do that after the review if they want one. It will take multiple hours to make the map, plus probably assistance from an outside agency, and the first place I asked for help told me to file a "Freedom of Information Act" request to get what I needed. It's not worth it. Manuscripts are due in on the 15th of August so I need to get on this.
- Catch-up grading. There's always catch-up grading.
* It smelled strongly of mold outside this morning. This is what you get after a couple days of unexpected rain, followed by warm temperatures and unnaturally high humidity. I expect my allergies to flare up badly. And now that I know certain mold exposures make me cray-cray (see: my adventure in taking a sulfa drug), I'm going to be worrying that every moment when my patience starts to fray, or every little thing that gets at me, is the beginning of me just snapping because of the mold. I'm as antihistamined up as I reasonably can be.
(Is it spelled cra-cra or cray-cray? I've only ever heard it (and then, only on cartoons) so I don't know for sure. (Gravity Falls: "Girl, why you actin' so cray-cray?")
* It smells strongly of mold in my building. If I have a coughing fit, I am just going to end class for the day. I can't deal with this level of humidity AND mold. (We've asked multiple times for duct cleaning; there's never the money to, though there is money to landscape around the athletic campus....)
* I finished "The Unsuitable Englishman" the other night. I'm keeping the book, because it obviously has a cool story behind it (it came from a bookshop in Baghdad), but I doubt I'd ever read it again. Not that the story broke so very bad, it's just....really none of the characters, not even really Jason, turned out to be all that sympathetic. I need a character that I can really root for in order for me to become deeply involved in a book. Also, I think I was frustrated by the fact that the "bad guy" of the piece pretty much didn't face any consequences....just got a job posting somewhere else, where he could continue abusing people (both in his professional life and his personal life). I know that's how the real world happens, but sometimes I like my entertainments to present a world that's a little better, a little nicer, and a little more cosmically fair than the real world.
*This is my long teaching day: 2 1/2 hours lecture, followed by 4 and some hours of lab. (And this is the lab with the team that takes literally until the last minute to finish everything).
At least I'm not doing fieldwork this weekend so maybe I can make myself come in here and do the other stuff on my list tomorrow.
* Monumentally unmotivated to do anything I need to do. What I need to do:
-finish syllabi for this fall (One of the admins requires they be in two weeks before the start of classes. Never mind that some faculty might not know for sure which classes they are teaching yet two weeks before the start of classes). I will be in Illinois at that time so I need to do them now. One of the syllabi is a big deal because the class is being totally overhauled to meet some new requirements.
- Go through the last two soil samples
- Try to get through at least a few more bee identifications
- Go over the manuscript again and just send it off to POAS. I'm not gonna make the map. They can tell me to do that after the review if they want one. It will take multiple hours to make the map, plus probably assistance from an outside agency, and the first place I asked for help told me to file a "Freedom of Information Act" request to get what I needed. It's not worth it. Manuscripts are due in on the 15th of August so I need to get on this.
- Catch-up grading. There's always catch-up grading.
* It smelled strongly of mold outside this morning. This is what you get after a couple days of unexpected rain, followed by warm temperatures and unnaturally high humidity. I expect my allergies to flare up badly. And now that I know certain mold exposures make me cray-cray (see: my adventure in taking a sulfa drug), I'm going to be worrying that every moment when my patience starts to fray, or every little thing that gets at me, is the beginning of me just snapping because of the mold. I'm as antihistamined up as I reasonably can be.
(Is it spelled cra-cra or cray-cray? I've only ever heard it (and then, only on cartoons) so I don't know for sure. (Gravity Falls: "Girl, why you actin' so cray-cray?")
* It smells strongly of mold in my building. If I have a coughing fit, I am just going to end class for the day. I can't deal with this level of humidity AND mold. (We've asked multiple times for duct cleaning; there's never the money to, though there is money to landscape around the athletic campus....)
* I finished "The Unsuitable Englishman" the other night. I'm keeping the book, because it obviously has a cool story behind it (it came from a bookshop in Baghdad), but I doubt I'd ever read it again. Not that the story broke so very bad, it's just....really none of the characters, not even really Jason, turned out to be all that sympathetic. I need a character that I can really root for in order for me to become deeply involved in a book. Also, I think I was frustrated by the fact that the "bad guy" of the piece pretty much didn't face any consequences....just got a job posting somewhere else, where he could continue abusing people (both in his professional life and his personal life). I know that's how the real world happens, but sometimes I like my entertainments to present a world that's a little better, a little nicer, and a little more cosmically fair than the real world.
*This is my long teaching day: 2 1/2 hours lecture, followed by 4 and some hours of lab. (And this is the lab with the team that takes literally until the last minute to finish everything).
At least I'm not doing fieldwork this weekend so maybe I can make myself come in here and do the other stuff on my list tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
It's happening again
I came home last afternoon and found I had a voicemail message. At first, I was excited and hopeful that maybe it was my piano teacher calling to say, "Okay, I'm teaching this fall. When do you want your lessons scheduled?"
But no, it was some collections firm again. Looking for the son of the former owner of my house:
"This call is for Stephen Cox. If you are not Stephen Cox, hang up now...."
(And on earlier ones I listened all through to, they essentially imply that by listening to the whole message, you are asserting you are the person they seek, and that you are responsible for the debt).
This is one of those modern-life things that just should not be. Innocent people - people who pay all their bills off on time every month - should not have to field calls for some stranger who doesn't.
I don't know why they call me. The phone number that is linked to the address is NOT the phone number when the person in question lived here - this phone number has always been MY number; it was mine when I lived in the apartment and it moved with me. The phone number to my house was different when the previous owner lived there. (And FWIW, I have no idea if Stephen Cox ever lived here; his mother did, but I don't know if he ever lived with her in this house).
Obviously this dude is quite the deadbeat, because off and on I've been getting calls seeking him - starting about five years back, then ending for a while, and now starting up about once a year and keeping going for a few weeks to a few months. It's annoying.
I've tried calling the number some of the messages left and explaining, but that cuts no ice. Obviously they think I'm lying for him. (Good heavens. If I knew where the guy was, I'd drive there myself, kidnap him, and drive him to the office of the collections firm, and leave him hogtied on their front porch. That is how done I am with dealing with these calls)
I figured out yesterday the reason these calls bug me:
1. I feel like the people there are judging me; they think I'm a liar or a cheat
2. I somehow have a vague fear I'll come home and find a collections officer waiting for me at my door, and I'll have to try to explain how I am not shielding their deadbeat.
And I realized yesterday, both of those are kind of unreasonable:
1. Why should I care what a collections firm (if it is the rhymes-with-Bot-Flowery Law firm that has called in the past, they're crooks) thinks of me. I pay all my bills on time. My credit score is clean. Why should I care what people who are skirting the law (or just on the other side of it) think? They probably assume everyone's a deadbeat and a crook. Or that they can intimidate or harass people into sending them money.
2. They won't do that. And if they did, I could drive over to the police station, explain to the officers that there was an uninvited guest on my front porch, and, considering that there's not a lot of other crime going on (and a few officers know me, from church and stuff), they'd drive over there and turf the creep. But as I said, it won't happen.
In other words: Stephen Cox's being a deadbeat is not my responsibility, and I need to stop acting like it somehow is. That's what rhymes-with-Bot-Flowery Law Firm wants me to do.
If I had more energy, and could remember how to change my outgoing voicemail message, I'd change it to "You have reached (myphonenumber). If you are calling on behalf of Stephen Cox's debt, hang up now. There is no Stephen Cox here, nor do I have contact information for him....." and then, I don't know? Can you threaten to charge someone for wasting your time?
I will say: if I ever hear from Stephen Cox again, he's getting a piece of my mind. I'm freaking sick of fielding these calls.
But no, it was some collections firm again. Looking for the son of the former owner of my house:
"This call is for Stephen Cox. If you are not Stephen Cox, hang up now...."
(And on earlier ones I listened all through to, they essentially imply that by listening to the whole message, you are asserting you are the person they seek, and that you are responsible for the debt).
This is one of those modern-life things that just should not be. Innocent people - people who pay all their bills off on time every month - should not have to field calls for some stranger who doesn't.
I don't know why they call me. The phone number that is linked to the address is NOT the phone number when the person in question lived here - this phone number has always been MY number; it was mine when I lived in the apartment and it moved with me. The phone number to my house was different when the previous owner lived there. (And FWIW, I have no idea if Stephen Cox ever lived here; his mother did, but I don't know if he ever lived with her in this house).
Obviously this dude is quite the deadbeat, because off and on I've been getting calls seeking him - starting about five years back, then ending for a while, and now starting up about once a year and keeping going for a few weeks to a few months. It's annoying.
I've tried calling the number some of the messages left and explaining, but that cuts no ice. Obviously they think I'm lying for him. (Good heavens. If I knew where the guy was, I'd drive there myself, kidnap him, and drive him to the office of the collections firm, and leave him hogtied on their front porch. That is how done I am with dealing with these calls)
I figured out yesterday the reason these calls bug me:
1. I feel like the people there are judging me; they think I'm a liar or a cheat
2. I somehow have a vague fear I'll come home and find a collections officer waiting for me at my door, and I'll have to try to explain how I am not shielding their deadbeat.
And I realized yesterday, both of those are kind of unreasonable:
1. Why should I care what a collections firm (if it is the rhymes-with-Bot-Flowery Law firm that has called in the past, they're crooks) thinks of me. I pay all my bills on time. My credit score is clean. Why should I care what people who are skirting the law (or just on the other side of it) think? They probably assume everyone's a deadbeat and a crook. Or that they can intimidate or harass people into sending them money.
2. They won't do that. And if they did, I could drive over to the police station, explain to the officers that there was an uninvited guest on my front porch, and, considering that there's not a lot of other crime going on (and a few officers know me, from church and stuff), they'd drive over there and turf the creep. But as I said, it won't happen.
In other words: Stephen Cox's being a deadbeat is not my responsibility, and I need to stop acting like it somehow is. That's what rhymes-with-Bot-Flowery Law Firm wants me to do.
If I had more energy, and could remember how to change my outgoing voicemail message, I'd change it to "You have reached (myphonenumber). If you are calling on behalf of Stephen Cox's debt, hang up now. There is no Stephen Cox here, nor do I have contact information for him....." and then, I don't know? Can you threaten to charge someone for wasting your time?
I will say: if I ever hear from Stephen Cox again, he's getting a piece of my mind. I'm freaking sick of fielding these calls.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
At long last
I finished the first Alpenglow sock.
I did change up the toe to make it shorter; as written, the toe decreases would have been way too long.
I like how the detail of that pattern moves across the instep. It's a little tricky in that you have to pay attention (every fifth row or so you increase on one side and decrease on the other to "move" the pattern).
Here are some details of the leg and the clocks:
Taken upside down. It's hard to photograph your own ankles.
I cast on for the second sock. I hope this one takes me less time - this one took me over a year to complete, mainly because I would get "meh" about something that moved so slowly and required so much attention. Now that I have the pattern figured out better, I might be able to do the second sock a bit faster.
I did change up the toe to make it shorter; as written, the toe decreases would have been way too long.
I like how the detail of that pattern moves across the instep. It's a little tricky in that you have to pay attention (every fifth row or so you increase on one side and decrease on the other to "move" the pattern).
Here are some details of the leg and the clocks:
Taken upside down. It's hard to photograph your own ankles.
I cast on for the second sock. I hope this one takes me less time - this one took me over a year to complete, mainly because I would get "meh" about something that moved so slowly and required so much attention. Now that I have the pattern figured out better, I might be able to do the second sock a bit faster.
Tuesday morning things
* I had someone complain in class three separate times "I CAN'T READ YOUR WRITING ON THE BOARD!!!!" My sympathy over that is rapidly spiraling down because (a) they are sitting in the backmost row, and there are open seats in the front two rows and (b) I READ OFF what I am writing on the board right after I write it. (I cannot read it AS I am writing it - which is usually a professorial skill. I find I am just close enough to being dyslexic that I wind up writing the wrong letter or reversing letters (When I am tired, especially, sometimes I write a "d" when I mean to write a "b")
I don't know but there seems to be some kind of a life metaphor for someone sitting in the back row when seats are open in the front row, and then complaining they can't see. Or maybe I just deal with too many other people who seem overly interested in complaining about their states without actually doing something that they could do to improve them.
* I finished the actual knitting-requiring-concentration on the first of the Bavarian twisted-stitch sock (Alpenglow) last night. I didn't get to the toe decreases but I think I'm going to modify the pattern to make the toe shorter, because either my row gauge was off, or the socks were designed for someone with longer feet, because the sock's already plenty long, and using the decreases as written will probably make it too long. That irritates me a bit.
* I'm working away on the sweater sleeves but of course they take a while.
* I started reading a book on the flu pandemic of 1918 (Yes, I find that kind of thing interesting, in a strange way). I'm a bit irritated with the author - instead of getting into the history of the pandemic, it looks like he's taking the first half of the book to go OH LOOK AT ME AND LOOK AT HOW MUCH I KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE!!!! and I'm all "Dude, Roy Porter already did a lot of this, and did it in a more interesting way."
That kind of annoys me, when I buy a non-fiction book and instead of being about what it's supposed to be about, it starts off as a LOOK HOW SMART I AM series of less-related-to-the-topic-at-hand chapters. (I grade down student research papers - and I tell them I will - when they go and regurgitate all kinds of marginally-related background information to pad out the page requirement. No. Find the important research, the stuff that's relevant. I don't need to know about the ease with which starlings can be taught to speak in captivity if you are doing research on their tendency to compete with bluebirds for nesting cavities.)
And yeah, I get what he's trying to say - that "paradigms" can slow down innovation, and that's somehow going to fit in with the diagnosis and treatment of the flu pandemic, but it's really slowing down the book for me.
* I'm counting the days until break. I'm just tired. I'm telling myself this is no different than the last month of any semester, that I always get this tired and this bummed out and spend time in my office surfing Ravelry when I should be working on research instead. It's like my brain gets tired and it resists doing what I know I need to be doing. It's not even been that hot out these past few days (though the research labs almost feel like they turned the heat on in them - I don't know what's up with that).
* I'm weighing the possibility of doing something "fun" (perhaps a McKinney trip, but then again, a friend at church went down there last week and commented on the bad construction) this weekend. I'm done with fieldwork for now - I wound up giving up last Saturday because I couldn't find enough stuff flowering to make it worth while. Until we get some rain, some cooler weather, and some "short days" (some plants don't flower until the longer period of dark in the fall), and some new stuff starts flowering, it's just not worth the time out in the field, staring at the same faded stands of brown-eyed susan and trying to WILL bees to come to it, even though the pollen and probably all the nectar is gone.
I will say I wonder what the bees feed on during drought summers. Honeybees maybe could rely on their stored honey - then again, they might run out for winter if they did that - but most of the solitary bees have few reserves against bad times. I'm supposing that there are some agricultural plants or maybe some better-watered meadows that still have a few things flowering. But I'm not seeing much in the sort of upland sites I've been working on.
* Then again, it's going to be hot and humid again. Wharrgarrrbllll. I think it's been more humid this summer than in recent summers, and that's actually worse than heat.
I don't know but there seems to be some kind of a life metaphor for someone sitting in the back row when seats are open in the front row, and then complaining they can't see. Or maybe I just deal with too many other people who seem overly interested in complaining about their states without actually doing something that they could do to improve them.
* I finished the actual knitting-requiring-concentration on the first of the Bavarian twisted-stitch sock (Alpenglow) last night. I didn't get to the toe decreases but I think I'm going to modify the pattern to make the toe shorter, because either my row gauge was off, or the socks were designed for someone with longer feet, because the sock's already plenty long, and using the decreases as written will probably make it too long. That irritates me a bit.
* I'm working away on the sweater sleeves but of course they take a while.
* I started reading a book on the flu pandemic of 1918 (Yes, I find that kind of thing interesting, in a strange way). I'm a bit irritated with the author - instead of getting into the history of the pandemic, it looks like he's taking the first half of the book to go OH LOOK AT ME AND LOOK AT HOW MUCH I KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE!!!! and I'm all "Dude, Roy Porter already did a lot of this, and did it in a more interesting way."
That kind of annoys me, when I buy a non-fiction book and instead of being about what it's supposed to be about, it starts off as a LOOK HOW SMART I AM series of less-related-to-the-topic-at-hand chapters. (I grade down student research papers - and I tell them I will - when they go and regurgitate all kinds of marginally-related background information to pad out the page requirement. No. Find the important research, the stuff that's relevant. I don't need to know about the ease with which starlings can be taught to speak in captivity if you are doing research on their tendency to compete with bluebirds for nesting cavities.)
And yeah, I get what he's trying to say - that "paradigms" can slow down innovation, and that's somehow going to fit in with the diagnosis and treatment of the flu pandemic, but it's really slowing down the book for me.
* I'm counting the days until break. I'm just tired. I'm telling myself this is no different than the last month of any semester, that I always get this tired and this bummed out and spend time in my office surfing Ravelry when I should be working on research instead. It's like my brain gets tired and it resists doing what I know I need to be doing. It's not even been that hot out these past few days (though the research labs almost feel like they turned the heat on in them - I don't know what's up with that).
* I'm weighing the possibility of doing something "fun" (perhaps a McKinney trip, but then again, a friend at church went down there last week and commented on the bad construction) this weekend. I'm done with fieldwork for now - I wound up giving up last Saturday because I couldn't find enough stuff flowering to make it worth while. Until we get some rain, some cooler weather, and some "short days" (some plants don't flower until the longer period of dark in the fall), and some new stuff starts flowering, it's just not worth the time out in the field, staring at the same faded stands of brown-eyed susan and trying to WILL bees to come to it, even though the pollen and probably all the nectar is gone.
I will say I wonder what the bees feed on during drought summers. Honeybees maybe could rely on their stored honey - then again, they might run out for winter if they did that - but most of the solitary bees have few reserves against bad times. I'm supposing that there are some agricultural plants or maybe some better-watered meadows that still have a few things flowering. But I'm not seeing much in the sort of upland sites I've been working on.
* Then again, it's going to be hot and humid again. Wharrgarrrbllll. I think it's been more humid this summer than in recent summers, and that's actually worse than heat.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Okay, that's weird.
So I'm going over a student's paper that she handed in early for my "freebee" check, and another student (a former student of mine) stops by:
"Dr. Fillyjonk, do you know how to dispose of a brain?"
I look at her for a moment, boggled: "A.....brain?!?"
"Yeah, a brain. Someone left it in the plants I'm growing for research. I think it's a cat's brain, see?" (She holds up a small glass jar with liquid and what is pretty clearly a preserved brain in it. I was too flabbergasted to ask her if it showed up like that - in the jar - or if she had to pick it up and put it in there herself. I presume it was in the jar because it looked too well-preserved to just be laying out loose).
I just gape at it for a few moments, and weakly say "I think Dr. Anatomist would know better than I do"
"But she's not here."
"Well, I think she's in lab, she's probably not busy as it's the midpoint of lab. I don't think she'd mind you going and asking her. I THINK they incinerate those kinds of things but I don't know for sure."
So the student left, carrying the jar of brain, to go find Dr. Anatomist.
I said it last week, and I say it again: the weird stuff can stop happening ANY TIME now.
"Dr. Fillyjonk, do you know how to dispose of a brain?"
I look at her for a moment, boggled: "A.....brain?!?"
"Yeah, a brain. Someone left it in the plants I'm growing for research. I think it's a cat's brain, see?" (She holds up a small glass jar with liquid and what is pretty clearly a preserved brain in it. I was too flabbergasted to ask her if it showed up like that - in the jar - or if she had to pick it up and put it in there herself. I presume it was in the jar because it looked too well-preserved to just be laying out loose).
I just gape at it for a few moments, and weakly say "I think Dr. Anatomist would know better than I do"
"But she's not here."
"Well, I think she's in lab, she's probably not busy as it's the midpoint of lab. I don't think she'd mind you going and asking her. I THINK they incinerate those kinds of things but I don't know for sure."
So the student left, carrying the jar of brain, to go find Dr. Anatomist.
I said it last week, and I say it again: the weird stuff can stop happening ANY TIME now.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Campion on film
First off - Brookshire's is a very nice grocery store. Not that farther for me to get to than the Sherman Kroger's. And their produce section is very nice - they are the FIRST place I had seen "small servings" (broken down partial heads) of cauliflower on sale fresh. No, I didn't buy any as I had an almost-full head in the fridge, but I can keep that in mind for the future.
And their beef is fantastic. I sprang for a couple of the "Brookshire's Best" (they actually sell different grades of meat - this is a novelty to me ) rib steaks and cooked one up Friday night. It was the best I'd had in a long, long time. They weren't cheap, but when you buy meat only infrequently it's probably worth buying the best if you can afford it.
I also have short ribs for early this coming week - they had some of the nicest looking short ribs I've seen in a while, so I'm going to do my old favorite oven-barbecued version of them, probably Tuesday evening.
They also carry the "Food Club" brand, which I remember from ages ago - that was the same "house" brand the Acme stores, back in Ohio, carried - oh, I'm sure the two chains aren't affiliated and that "Food Club" is just a distributor, but it kind of made me happy to see that name again.
***
I realized after finishing reading "Flowers for the Judge," that I had the BBC production of it on dvd (a long time back, I earned a sizable Amazon gift certificate for some textbook reviewing, and I spent it on the Campion boxed sets. Both "whole" seasons (four stories each - you gotta love British television as it compares to US television)
One thing I will note, the Campion stories are probably a bit better on the page than filmed. The BBC adaptations are very faithful, which means the boring bits (that don't seem so boring when you read them) are left in - the first episode (I guess each story is as two episodes, so a "season" really is eight episodes) seemed mainly to be the inquest hearing, which doesn't make for great drama. (The second episode moved along much more smartly).
Part of it was that I wanted to see how Ritchie was portrayed. In the novel he is described as very awkward and he speaks extremely telegraphically, which led me to speculate if he could be somewhere on the Asperger's spectrum (though I think that was largely unknown in Allingham's day; I suspect a lot of people now who would be diagnosed with something like Asperger's or ADD or something would simply be described as "odd" or "simple").
In the BBC production, Ritchie still speaks with a certain economy of words, but he seems much more donnish than odd - in fact, I have had professors who did not seem that much different from Ritchie in speech and mannerisms. (Then again - mine is a profession known to attract the odd, the unworldly, and sometimes even those on the Asperger's spectrum).
There is also an event almost at the very end of the film, which I guess I blipped over in the book, which explains his precipitous departure and also makes him not the innocent that I had thought him to be - but I won't be any more spoilerish than that.
Miss Curley is much more of a battle-axe in the BBC production than I had imagined her to be in the novel. And Rigget is more slimy and weaselish than simply abject - it seems like he is talking about how evil he is as a way of getting out of trouble, rather than some kind of perverse joy in believing himself debased (which is the sense I got from the novel).
There are a couple minor changes in what was otherwise a very faithful (perhaps too faithful, in some places) retelling of the story - first, the "Frame" that Campion is sent on (a sort of elaborate red herring) is much more perilous than the one that happens in the book (And Lugg goes along, to mutter "Frames is evidence" dourly several times, as he observes his employer in Mortal Peril). Second, the whole "disappearing cousin" thing (another member of the publishing firm who had disappeared some 20 years before the setting of the story) was written out. (As is the scene with Campion finding a "spangled frill" in Ritchie's apartment). The circus scene denoument is much the same, but it is set in Ireland rather than the south of France - probably more economical (and more convincing) for the BBC to film it that way.
Much of the fun of these stories, like most detective stories, are the recurring characters - here, it is Campion (played by Peter Davison) and Lugg, his manservant (played by Bryan Glover). Lugg is a "retired" (if not entirely reformed) criminal (mostly petty theft, if I remember correctly). And Campion, as I've mentioned before, in the context of the books he is someone operating under an alias, but is apparently somehow connected with, if not the Royal Family, certainly one of the uppermost aristocratic ones. (In the more-real world, he's kind of a parody of Lord Peter Wimsey). The stories are definitely more fanciful than some of the other Golden Age mysteries (Campion seems to get beat up a lot without sustaining serious damage; there are the occasional moments of Deus ex Machina).
One of the things I like about many of the BBC productions is that the actors they use, to my eye, are more "ordinary" looking (as in: someone you would actually see on the street) than the very prettied-up sort of people you often see in Hollywood productions. (Scanning the biographies of the actors, I also note a number of the actors in this production did bits in the older series of Dr. Who. I wonder if their appearance was partly an effect of a former association with the "Fifth Doctor" - that is, Davison). Actually, a lot of the slightly older (this was filmed in 1989, so it's not terribly old, but it's also not very recent) BBC productions are a bit less polished than what Americans might be used to - and I kind of like that.
There's also lots of knitwear, as you might expect in a story set in 1930s Britain - in particular, a very nice cabled slipover that Campion wears in several scenes, and we also see a Fair Isle sweater vest that I think was in some other episodes.
(Okay, I must admit - even though he's close to 20 years my senior, I've had a little "thing" about Peter Davison, starting with when I used to watch him on "All Creatures Great and Small." He is not, perhaps, quite as ludicrous as Campion as Campion perhaps should be (I don't think he does the "vacuous" look as well as it might be done), but it's still fun to watch)
***
ETA: and in the Ponyverse, there are brief glimpses of a Pony that just might be the Fifth Doctor (blue stallion with blond mane in a cut not unlike the haircut Davison had in that role). And so of course I have contemplated a Ponified Campion - his "flank insignia" (that is less twee than "cutie mark" and less crude than "butt symbol") would be a woodbine flower (That is, after all, a campion - and part of the source of his pseudonym). Not sure what Lugg in Pony form would have...seeing as he is a reformed burglar....I wonder, can cutie marks change? Is there some kind of underground tattooing movement for Ponies who don't like the destiny that, well, Destiny has dealt them? (Or perhaps Lugg's would be a polished tea-set, or something fitting his *real* role as a gentlepony's gentlepony, and he just THOUGHT, in his wasted youth, that it meant he was to "boost" those items.... Then again, there seems to be no crime in Ponyville, so I don't know.)
I also have to admit a moment of distraction in church this morning; the reading was from I Corinthians 1 about how foolishness was chosen to shame the wisdom of the world, and how weakness was chosen to shame the strength in the world....and I admit my mind briefly blipped to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. But I brought myself back and concentrated after that. (But it is funny how I can keep seeing the long-term virtues of my culture showing up in those pastel cartoon ponies....)
And their beef is fantastic. I sprang for a couple of the "Brookshire's Best" (they actually sell different grades of meat - this is a novelty to me ) rib steaks and cooked one up Friday night. It was the best I'd had in a long, long time. They weren't cheap, but when you buy meat only infrequently it's probably worth buying the best if you can afford it.
I also have short ribs for early this coming week - they had some of the nicest looking short ribs I've seen in a while, so I'm going to do my old favorite oven-barbecued version of them, probably Tuesday evening.
They also carry the "Food Club" brand, which I remember from ages ago - that was the same "house" brand the Acme stores, back in Ohio, carried - oh, I'm sure the two chains aren't affiliated and that "Food Club" is just a distributor, but it kind of made me happy to see that name again.
***
I realized after finishing reading "Flowers for the Judge," that I had the BBC production of it on dvd (a long time back, I earned a sizable Amazon gift certificate for some textbook reviewing, and I spent it on the Campion boxed sets. Both "whole" seasons (four stories each - you gotta love British television as it compares to US television)
One thing I will note, the Campion stories are probably a bit better on the page than filmed. The BBC adaptations are very faithful, which means the boring bits (that don't seem so boring when you read them) are left in - the first episode (I guess each story is as two episodes, so a "season" really is eight episodes) seemed mainly to be the inquest hearing, which doesn't make for great drama. (The second episode moved along much more smartly).
Part of it was that I wanted to see how Ritchie was portrayed. In the novel he is described as very awkward and he speaks extremely telegraphically, which led me to speculate if he could be somewhere on the Asperger's spectrum (though I think that was largely unknown in Allingham's day; I suspect a lot of people now who would be diagnosed with something like Asperger's or ADD or something would simply be described as "odd" or "simple").
In the BBC production, Ritchie still speaks with a certain economy of words, but he seems much more donnish than odd - in fact, I have had professors who did not seem that much different from Ritchie in speech and mannerisms. (Then again - mine is a profession known to attract the odd, the unworldly, and sometimes even those on the Asperger's spectrum).
There is also an event almost at the very end of the film, which I guess I blipped over in the book, which explains his precipitous departure and also makes him not the innocent that I had thought him to be - but I won't be any more spoilerish than that.
Miss Curley is much more of a battle-axe in the BBC production than I had imagined her to be in the novel. And Rigget is more slimy and weaselish than simply abject - it seems like he is talking about how evil he is as a way of getting out of trouble, rather than some kind of perverse joy in believing himself debased (which is the sense I got from the novel).
There are a couple minor changes in what was otherwise a very faithful (perhaps too faithful, in some places) retelling of the story - first, the "Frame" that Campion is sent on (a sort of elaborate red herring) is much more perilous than the one that happens in the book (And Lugg goes along, to mutter "Frames is evidence" dourly several times, as he observes his employer in Mortal Peril). Second, the whole "disappearing cousin" thing (another member of the publishing firm who had disappeared some 20 years before the setting of the story) was written out. (As is the scene with Campion finding a "spangled frill" in Ritchie's apartment). The circus scene denoument is much the same, but it is set in Ireland rather than the south of France - probably more economical (and more convincing) for the BBC to film it that way.
Much of the fun of these stories, like most detective stories, are the recurring characters - here, it is Campion (played by Peter Davison) and Lugg, his manservant (played by Bryan Glover). Lugg is a "retired" (if not entirely reformed) criminal (mostly petty theft, if I remember correctly). And Campion, as I've mentioned before, in the context of the books he is someone operating under an alias, but is apparently somehow connected with, if not the Royal Family, certainly one of the uppermost aristocratic ones. (In the more-real world, he's kind of a parody of Lord Peter Wimsey). The stories are definitely more fanciful than some of the other Golden Age mysteries (Campion seems to get beat up a lot without sustaining serious damage; there are the occasional moments of Deus ex Machina).
One of the things I like about many of the BBC productions is that the actors they use, to my eye, are more "ordinary" looking (as in: someone you would actually see on the street) than the very prettied-up sort of people you often see in Hollywood productions. (Scanning the biographies of the actors, I also note a number of the actors in this production did bits in the older series of Dr. Who. I wonder if their appearance was partly an effect of a former association with the "Fifth Doctor" - that is, Davison). Actually, a lot of the slightly older (this was filmed in 1989, so it's not terribly old, but it's also not very recent) BBC productions are a bit less polished than what Americans might be used to - and I kind of like that.
There's also lots of knitwear, as you might expect in a story set in 1930s Britain - in particular, a very nice cabled slipover that Campion wears in several scenes, and we also see a Fair Isle sweater vest that I think was in some other episodes.
(Okay, I must admit - even though he's close to 20 years my senior, I've had a little "thing" about Peter Davison, starting with when I used to watch him on "All Creatures Great and Small." He is not, perhaps, quite as ludicrous as Campion as Campion perhaps should be (I don't think he does the "vacuous" look as well as it might be done), but it's still fun to watch)
***
ETA: and in the Ponyverse, there are brief glimpses of a Pony that just might be the Fifth Doctor (blue stallion with blond mane in a cut not unlike the haircut Davison had in that role). And so of course I have contemplated a Ponified Campion - his "flank insignia" (that is less twee than "cutie mark" and less crude than "butt symbol") would be a woodbine flower (That is, after all, a campion - and part of the source of his pseudonym). Not sure what Lugg in Pony form would have...seeing as he is a reformed burglar....I wonder, can cutie marks change? Is there some kind of underground tattooing movement for Ponies who don't like the destiny that, well, Destiny has dealt them? (Or perhaps Lugg's would be a polished tea-set, or something fitting his *real* role as a gentlepony's gentlepony, and he just THOUGHT, in his wasted youth, that it meant he was to "boost" those items.... Then again, there seems to be no crime in Ponyville, so I don't know.)
I also have to admit a moment of distraction in church this morning; the reading was from I Corinthians 1 about how foolishness was chosen to shame the wisdom of the world, and how weakness was chosen to shame the strength in the world....and I admit my mind briefly blipped to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. But I brought myself back and concentrated after that. (But it is funny how I can keep seeing the long-term virtues of my culture showing up in those pastel cartoon ponies....)
Friday, July 12, 2013
And it's Friday
And darn glad it is. I was on campus from 7 am until just after 5 pm yesterday. Then I had an evening meeting from 6:30 until nearly 9 pm.
I am not a happy camper when I get essentially no "home time" in a day.
***
I do think I'm going to try going to the Brookshire's - if for nothing else, something different to do (also, I am almost out of milk. And also, I think I need a steak or something - I've been eating vegetarian for a couple weeks and I can feel my energy levels aren't that great. The local stores don't have very good meat options, so I either have to make a special trip to the Braum's or plan on going into Texas)
It's kind of sad when your main entertainment of the week is going to a different grocery store than the ones you ordinarily go to.
***
It's still really hot. It's supposed to get cooler (they're saying a "high of 86 for Sunday") but I will believe that when I see it.
***
A while back, the "Dumb Ways to Die" video was making the rounds of the Internet (an incredibly catchy song, and a darkly funny cartoon that was done as a PSA to encourage people (in Australia) not to walk across train tracks when a train was coming and such*)
Well, everything can be Ponified:
I really like how they tried to fit each fate to its appropriate Pony.....so Fluttershy dresses as a Moose during hunting season, and Vinyl Scratch sticking a fork in a toaster (And yes, Derpy is there....)
There's also a version using repurposed show clips. I had no idea how often the Ponies put themselves in Mortal Peril:
(*apparently there was some controversy; some people thought it was too catchy and "imitatable" and thus not appropriate because children might see it. I don't know. I grew up seeing Daffy Duck getting his beak blown off by shotguns and Yosemite Sam playing pianos that had been rigged with explosives and I never wanted to try any of those things....)
I am not a happy camper when I get essentially no "home time" in a day.
***
I do think I'm going to try going to the Brookshire's - if for nothing else, something different to do (also, I am almost out of milk. And also, I think I need a steak or something - I've been eating vegetarian for a couple weeks and I can feel my energy levels aren't that great. The local stores don't have very good meat options, so I either have to make a special trip to the Braum's or plan on going into Texas)
It's kind of sad when your main entertainment of the week is going to a different grocery store than the ones you ordinarily go to.
***
It's still really hot. It's supposed to get cooler (they're saying a "high of 86 for Sunday") but I will believe that when I see it.
***
A while back, the "Dumb Ways to Die" video was making the rounds of the Internet (an incredibly catchy song, and a darkly funny cartoon that was done as a PSA to encourage people (in Australia) not to walk across train tracks when a train was coming and such*)
Well, everything can be Ponified:
I really like how they tried to fit each fate to its appropriate Pony.....so Fluttershy dresses as a Moose during hunting season, and Vinyl Scratch sticking a fork in a toaster (And yes, Derpy is there....)
There's also a version using repurposed show clips. I had no idea how often the Ponies put themselves in Mortal Peril:
(*apparently there was some controversy; some people thought it was too catchy and "imitatable" and thus not appropriate because children might see it. I don't know. I grew up seeing Daffy Duck getting his beak blown off by shotguns and Yosemite Sam playing pianos that had been rigged with explosives and I never wanted to try any of those things....)
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