orichalcum

Yesterday, I attended a workshop with a former publishing director for Cambridge University Press. Some of her advice was the standard stuff you can get from books like "From Dissertation to Book," but there were some particular insights I hadn't thought about previously which it seemed like others reading this might find interesting:

( For those interested in publishing academic books: )

Hope this was helpful for relevant folks! Discussion welcome in comments.

This is a terrific post about how photos in newspapers unconsciously shape and structure our opinions of other nations and other cultures. If I was teaching something at all relevant, I'd make my students look at it. As it is, I highly encourage you to take a glance at these two photos of the same cultural event.

Oh, we're back from PV; things are good, and Mac seems to only have noticed our absence in that he didn't throw any temper tantrums till we got back. But he likes his new helicopter puzzle from Mexico.

Our initial snorkeling plans got canceled because the boat was too full, so wound up spending more time than ideal traveling and then waiting around for another boat. On the plus side, eventually got essentially a private tour - just the two of us, staying out as long as we liked, for a total of $68 U.S. Didn't see any dolphins, whales,or giant turtles :( - but did see lots and lots of gorgeous fishies. And honestly, the water was rough and choppy enough that spending more time in a boat than we did might have been rough on my tummy; snorkeling got quite exciting in the "let us not be washed away by the waves and current" category. Also, though this is humiliating, it is much harder than it used to be to lift myself by my arms onto a boat - the weight's all distributed wrong.

Then we went and walked along the Malecon, the old boardwalk downtown, and, of course, through the Naval History Museum, where we learned about the tragic fate of Clipperton Island, which is a Cthulhu module ready to be written....perhaps after I've written the next four on deck or so. But check out the link and tell me I'm wrong.

We went to a lovely traditional Mexican restaurant, Mama Rosa's, where for a total of $33.50 U.S. we had two three-course meals and lemonade, of which the highlights were a lovely sweet corn soup, what I christened the ladybird97  salad, as it was sweet potatoes and avocado with a coffee dressing, amuses of mushroom and potato turnovers with achote? chili sauce, a "Mayan" shredded chicken and mole dish complete with a little basket woven out of tortilla chip strips, and a variation on the Mexican tres leches cake where they gave me three individual little cupcake pound-cakes, one vanilla, one chocolate, and one dulce de leche, each with its own corresponding thick sauce to pour over it, and fresh crema.  Then we came back on the bus, which was cheap and fairly easy, but, um, very bumpy- take old-schoolbus style suspension and drive it fast over 100-year-old cobblestones.

Tomorrow, we shall lay on the beach, swim, and then catch a flight home in the late afternoon.

It seems remarkably appropriate to also wish you Happy Ada Lovelace Day! Yay for women scientists and mathematicians! MAy the next year bring you a smoother road and renewed clarity.

Mac, in the bath: Mommy, I'm an octopus!
Me: You're an octopus?
Mac: Octopuses don't wear shirts. I'm not wearing a shirt. I'm an octopus!

I took Mac to get a haircut this morning. I had been a bit nervous about this, because the last time, he squirmed and whined and I had to basically hold him down in the chair by force while the stylist went to work. So this time, I built it up with talking about how his Dad had just gotten a haircut, and how he'd get to sit in one of the special chairs (he chose the John Deere tractor, ultimately) and watch Dora, and so forth.

We get there; he's clearly a bit unhappy about water being spritzed on him and hair falling all around him, but puts up with it very calmly, focused on driving his tractor. He gets a very nice 21st century layered haircut which eliminates the Dickensian street urchin look he was sporting (helped by his 18th century face). I pay while he rides the giant Thomas the Tank Engine around the waiting room, and we walk out and get back in the car.

From the back seat, I hear, "Mommy, I want haircut! I want to try it again!"

Explaining that this is not a frequently repeated experience, now that took the rest of the drive to school.

Does anyone else look at this picture and just think, "Brrr"? I mean, if it makes them happy, fine, but...while they talk about the importance of wearing a hat and gloves and boots, I tend to like my other vulnerable bits covered as well!

I also tend to agree with the people later in the article who complain about it being a regularly trafficked trail. I have to admit I'd be a bit startled if I was hiking along and suddenly had to spend 15 minutes hiking in full view of someone's bottom.

Some non-spoilery reviews, which I haven't done lately, of works that might interest some of you: (And one random comment about BSG's "Islanded in a Stream of Stars,": Mr. Olmos, "beating your head against the wall" is intended to be understood _metaphorically._ Darn method actors. ) I got both of the books free via Stanford, as they were among the books handed out to froshlings. ( Read more... )

Kings premieres tonight at 8 PM on NBC. It is a modern drama based on a retelling of the Biblical accounts of Kings Saul and David, set in a 21st century monarchical pseudo-America (at war with its northern neighbor, "Gath.") It's gotten good if mixed reviews, and seems like an intriguing premise, at any rate. I'll be checking it out - pretty much mandatory for any scholar of ancient reception studies - and curious to hear your thoughts.

***
On another, more academic question - I'm looking for examples of psychologically healthy, positive mother-daughter relationships in literature (broadly defined) or other media _written by men._ I'm writing an article right now about mother-daughter relationships in Greek and Roman literature (specifically among prostitutes), and am curious if part of what's going on is a broader pattern of male writers imposing conflict and dysfunction on mother-daughter relationships because they don't have access to information about more normal mother-daughter relationships or are unnerved by their exclusion from such relationships. Any ones you can think of? I've been running through Shakespeare and the Western canon in my head and I'm pretty well stuck. Sure, there are plenty of examples like _Little Women_, but on the other side you wind up with what, _The Glass Menagerie_?

There's a column in the NYTimes today about how frequently doctors abandon their patients at the end of life. In the comments section, this is repeatedly contrasted with the behavior of vets, who make a point being there with the pet's human family when it is put to sleep, send sympathy cards, or arrange for rides home.

This makes me wonder why veterinarians would be more present and compassionate at such a time. One possible answer is that I suspect end-of-life care forms a larger part of veterinarians' practice than most human doctors, especially since dogs and cats simply don't live as long. This may cause vets to see the death of a patient as less a "failure" on their part, to be avoided in shame and remorse, and more a natural part of their relationship to a patient.

The other thought is that, because of the nature of the patient, vets spend a lot more time interacting with their family than human doctors necessarily do. So there's always more of an awareness on the effects of the death on the patient's loved ones.