Hump Day Happenings
Feb. 16th, 2022 03:39 pm1. I got a Valentine's Day card from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
misbegotten! <3
2.![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
journalsandplanners is hosting a Snowflake-type challenge for the rest of this month thanks to enthusiastic and enterprising members. Drop by and check out what people are saying, and maybe participate yourself. :)
3.gloss posted about Matthew Cheney's blog post The Strength of Kindness in a pedagogical context, which is phenomenal. Cheney references Contemplative Reading by Karolyn Kinane, an article which is not open-source. I have ILLed that sucker and have a PDF I am willing to share with anyone, so PM me an email address if you are interested in reading it.
( comments I made in gloss's journal about Cheney's post + Kinane's article )
4.
The End of Her: Racing Against Alzheimer's to Solve a Murder by Wayne Hoffman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. Its three threads (the history of the Jewish diaspora in Canada, the author's sorrow over his mother's decline into dementia, and the mystery of who murdered his great-grandmother more than one hundred years ago) form a fascinating narrative. I already knew Hoffman is an excellent storyteller from reading his other novels, but this novel outshines his earlier work and represents extensive research conducted over a number of years.
I highly recommend this to anyone interested in memoir, true crime, genealogy, and history.
View all my reviews
misbegotten! <32.
journalsandplanners is hosting a Snowflake-type challenge for the rest of this month thanks to enthusiastic and enterprising members. Drop by and check out what people are saying, and maybe participate yourself. :)3.
gloss posted about Matthew Cheney's blog post The Strength of Kindness in a pedagogical context, which is phenomenal. Cheney references Contemplative Reading by Karolyn Kinane, an article which is not open-source. I have ILLed that sucker and have a PDF I am willing to share with anyone, so PM me an email address if you are interested in reading it.( comments I made in gloss's journal about Cheney's post + Kinane's article )
4.
The End of Her: Racing Against Alzheimer's to Solve a Murder by Wayne HoffmanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. Its three threads (the history of the Jewish diaspora in Canada, the author's sorrow over his mother's decline into dementia, and the mystery of who murdered his great-grandmother more than one hundred years ago) form a fascinating narrative. I already knew Hoffman is an excellent storyteller from reading his other novels, but this novel outshines his earlier work and represents extensive research conducted over a number of years.
I highly recommend this to anyone interested in memoir, true crime, genealogy, and history.
View all my reviews
1. Please join us at journalsandplanners for talk about . . . journals and planners. LOL And all things stationery related. I just made a post to kick off activity, but feel free to make your own top-level posts. I'd love to see that comm get active again.
2. I got elected chair of Faculty Senate for next academic year. My plans for world domination continue apace.
3. I am clearly an outlier, but I really enjoy doing annual evaluations. I get to the end of mine, and I'm all, "I'm awesome. Look at all this amazing shit I did this year and recognize!" I have never had a problem tooting my own horn (which is perhaps its own kind of problem LOL).
4. Sammy wants to get in the fireplace, so that's A Project for today.
5. I put on my big girl panties and bought my plane ticket for SWPACA, a regional academic conference held in Albuquerque at the end of this month. I am crossing my fingers that I can get most of that + the conference registration reimbursed by my institution.
6. When Josh was at the grocery store yesterday, an employee suddenly started screaming and trying to cut himself with a box cutter in the middle of produce. It was very upsetting. I'm glad everyone in the store ended up okay, including the employee (or least not shot by police or a "good guy" with a gun), but Josh was really shaken up.
journalsandplanners for talk about . . . journals and planners. LOL And all things stationery related. I just made a post to kick off activity, but feel free to make your own top-level posts. I'd love to see that comm get active again.2. I got elected chair of Faculty Senate for next academic year. My plans for world domination continue apace.
3. I am clearly an outlier, but I really enjoy doing annual evaluations. I get to the end of mine, and I'm all, "I'm awesome. Look at all this amazing shit I did this year and recognize!" I have never had a problem tooting my own horn (which is perhaps its own kind of problem LOL).
4. Sammy wants to get in the fireplace, so that's A Project for today.
5. I put on my big girl panties and bought my plane ticket for SWPACA, a regional academic conference held in Albuquerque at the end of this month. I am crossing my fingers that I can get most of that + the conference registration reimbursed by my institution.
6. When Josh was at the grocery store yesterday, an employee suddenly started screaming and trying to cut himself with a box cutter in the middle of produce. It was very upsetting. I'm glad everyone in the store ended up okay, including the employee (or least not shot by police or a "good guy" with a gun), but Josh was really shaken up.
The week in review
Sep. 25th, 2021 07:49 am1. My 2022 Kokuyo Jibun Techo Biz Diary has arrived!
Yes, this is a planner. For 2022. That I have been stroking daily and adorning with stickers and washi tape and setting up already and brainstorming how to use every bit of its functionality. In my defense, I can start using it in December. Is that an adequate defense? LOL
I can already tell that the monthly calendar pages have squares that are a little too small, and I think that next time I want to try the daily version of this planner rather than the weekly. But on the whole, I am pleased. It's got Gantt charts for every month! I don't have to draw my medicine tracker by hand anymore. It has built in weather trackers and mood trackers. I'm going to use this two-page spread at the beginning that lists all the months across the two pages with the days going down vertically to list one gratitude for each day. It's got all these list pages that I can repurpose; I've put washi tape over the titles, and now they can be anything I want. So far I've got goals for 2022 and my prayer list and my pen test page in the back.
I am wanting to use this more as a journal/record to keep than the way I typically use a planner which is to cross the hell out of to-dos and throw it away when I'm done, so I might get a cheap or free calendar with bigger squares that I can put tasks on if these squares prove too inadequate to list all the stuff I need to list.
2. Emma slipped and fell on her phone and cracked the screen. Now that it is all over (as of yesterday), I can report that it was a nail biter getting her replacement phone to her because I could see that it had been delivered to her dorm, but she wasn't getting the damn phone. Why not? My name was on the package despite us entering her name online and me specifically calling them to confirm that the package had been addressed to her. All is well that ends well, but I have expended a great deal of angst over this situation.
3. A dear real life friend lost her father this week, and I went to the funeral on Thursday. It was outside in a beautiful cemetary, and we could not have ordered better weather from a menu. It was sunny but cool, and everything was green and flowering. I ended up with a sunburn, my chest bright red except for a ring of white where my pearls circled my neck. Her dad had been a tank commander in the National Guard and a volunteer firefigher and an EMT, so an honor guard did the flag hand off and the bell ringing and the fire truck did a last sign off (or call in; I'm not exactly sure what to call it) for her dad that was very moving. It felt very celebratory of a life well lived in service to others and a fitting tribute.
4. And now for the obligatory comment about my health. ( sorta long )
So, keep those candles lit, y'all, and let's see if we can get some real answers about what's going on with me soon.
Yes, this is a planner. For 2022. That I have been stroking daily and adorning with stickers and washi tape and setting up already and brainstorming how to use every bit of its functionality. In my defense, I can start using it in December. Is that an adequate defense? LOL
I can already tell that the monthly calendar pages have squares that are a little too small, and I think that next time I want to try the daily version of this planner rather than the weekly. But on the whole, I am pleased. It's got Gantt charts for every month! I don't have to draw my medicine tracker by hand anymore. It has built in weather trackers and mood trackers. I'm going to use this two-page spread at the beginning that lists all the months across the two pages with the days going down vertically to list one gratitude for each day. It's got all these list pages that I can repurpose; I've put washi tape over the titles, and now they can be anything I want. So far I've got goals for 2022 and my prayer list and my pen test page in the back.
I am wanting to use this more as a journal/record to keep than the way I typically use a planner which is to cross the hell out of to-dos and throw it away when I'm done, so I might get a cheap or free calendar with bigger squares that I can put tasks on if these squares prove too inadequate to list all the stuff I need to list.
2. Emma slipped and fell on her phone and cracked the screen. Now that it is all over (as of yesterday), I can report that it was a nail biter getting her replacement phone to her because I could see that it had been delivered to her dorm, but she wasn't getting the damn phone. Why not? My name was on the package despite us entering her name online and me specifically calling them to confirm that the package had been addressed to her. All is well that ends well, but I have expended a great deal of angst over this situation.
3. A dear real life friend lost her father this week, and I went to the funeral on Thursday. It was outside in a beautiful cemetary, and we could not have ordered better weather from a menu. It was sunny but cool, and everything was green and flowering. I ended up with a sunburn, my chest bright red except for a ring of white where my pearls circled my neck. Her dad had been a tank commander in the National Guard and a volunteer firefigher and an EMT, so an honor guard did the flag hand off and the bell ringing and the fire truck did a last sign off (or call in; I'm not exactly sure what to call it) for her dad that was very moving. It felt very celebratory of a life well lived in service to others and a fitting tribute.
4. And now for the obligatory comment about my health. ( sorta long )
So, keep those candles lit, y'all, and let's see if we can get some real answers about what's going on with me soon.
Hump Day Happenings
Jun. 2nd, 2021 07:10 am1. When I was admiring goss's Vampire Gardener, I said that I would buy a thousand postcards with this image on them. Imagine my delight and surprise when I received in the mail from minoanmiss a stack of gorgeous, glossy postcards of goss's drawing with this note: "I couldn't send 1000 but here are 50!" What an excellent gift. *loves*
2. Lately I've been reading mnmlscholar, the stationery blog of what I think is a high school teacher. I can't tell where he's located, but I really enjoy reading about his fountain pen use and even more his teaching. He's got to be at a private school because I can't imagine his focus on LGBTQ issues flying in, say, a public high school in the deep South. It makes me happy to know that some kids somewhere are getting the education I wish Emma had gotten; it would have made such a difference for her to have any one teacher say something positive/accepting about being gay. Anyway, check him out.
3. Nature observed: young deer wandering through yard; another indigo bunting (we now have two males and two females living in the yard); downy woodpeckers; some tiny bird I couldn't identify screeching its head off until a male cardinal basically landed on top of it (that is enough of that, young sir! this is my yard! LOL).
4. We watched the final episode of Escape to the Chateau. Filming was stopped because of the pandemic. I hope it won't be too long before they are able to release new episodes. In this last episode, Dick was using a fountain pen with a hooded nib, but I couldn't tell what brand it was. :)
5. ( reading: kids books, literary criticism, Atwood )
goss's Vampire Gardener, I said that I would buy a thousand postcards with this image on them. Imagine my delight and surprise when I received in the mail from minoanmiss a stack of gorgeous, glossy postcards of goss's drawing with this note: "I couldn't send 1000 but here are 50!" What an excellent gift. *loves*2. Lately I've been reading mnmlscholar, the stationery blog of what I think is a high school teacher. I can't tell where he's located, but I really enjoy reading about his fountain pen use and even more his teaching. He's got to be at a private school because I can't imagine his focus on LGBTQ issues flying in, say, a public high school in the deep South. It makes me happy to know that some kids somewhere are getting the education I wish Emma had gotten; it would have made such a difference for her to have any one teacher say something positive/accepting about being gay. Anyway, check him out.
3. Nature observed: young deer wandering through yard; another indigo bunting (we now have two males and two females living in the yard); downy woodpeckers; some tiny bird I couldn't identify screeching its head off until a male cardinal basically landed on top of it (that is enough of that, young sir! this is my yard! LOL).
4. We watched the final episode of Escape to the Chateau. Filming was stopped because of the pandemic. I hope it won't be too long before they are able to release new episodes. In this last episode, Dick was using a fountain pen with a hooded nib, but I couldn't tell what brand it was. :)
5. ( reading: kids books, literary criticism, Atwood )
1. Have some pen reviews!
JetPens Purple Pen Sampler
Scroll down to Products Included in This Bundle for info on each pen included.
( My Review )
2.
Online Teaching at Its Best: Merging Instructional Design with Teaching and Learning Research by Linda B. Nilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is excellent, one of the best teaching online books I've read. I've been teaching online for over a decade, and I've been really disappointed that most of the books I've read about teaching online are very elementary--great for beginning online teachers but not a lot to offer the intermediate or expert teacher.
This book fits the bill. It makes explicit the research that forms the foundation of its suggestions for teaching in a way that most books on teaching don't (and so serves as a really excellent lit review of scholarship of teaching and learning which helps someone who wants to do that kind of writing know what to read/research next). It also has some ideas that were new to me that I'm looking forward to experimenting with/implementing.
Highly recommend this one. I don't think it's for someone who's never taught online before; I'd tell a brand new online instructor to read Small Teaching Online first and then read this book next.
View all my reviews
JetPens Purple Pen Sampler
Scroll down to Products Included in This Bundle for info on each pen included.
( My Review )
2.
Online Teaching at Its Best: Merging Instructional Design with Teaching and Learning Research by Linda B. NilsonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is excellent, one of the best teaching online books I've read. I've been teaching online for over a decade, and I've been really disappointed that most of the books I've read about teaching online are very elementary--great for beginning online teachers but not a lot to offer the intermediate or expert teacher.
This book fits the bill. It makes explicit the research that forms the foundation of its suggestions for teaching in a way that most books on teaching don't (and so serves as a really excellent lit review of scholarship of teaching and learning which helps someone who wants to do that kind of writing know what to read/research next). It also has some ideas that were new to me that I'm looking forward to experimenting with/implementing.
Highly recommend this one. I don't think it's for someone who's never taught online before; I'd tell a brand new online instructor to read Small Teaching Online first and then read this book next.
View all my reviews
So much good stuff
Mar. 9th, 2021 08:06 am1. MeeMaw appears to be okay. She didn't have any cognitive or physical impairments from those episodes she had after coming home from the hospital, so my mom (a nurse) thinks her blood pressure just tanked rather than her having subsequent strokes. I talked to her on a video call, and mom sent me a couple of videos of her laughing and talking with everyone. I am under no delusions; she is nearer to the end of her life than the beginning. However, I will be very happy if she continues to maintain the good quality of life she is enjoying now until the end, whenever that may be.
2. Josh and I put our names on the no-waste list at Walmart. Several of our colleagues did so last week and got calls for shots within a few days. So hopefully this will lead to us being vaccinated soon.
3. Everyone should go read the new Blake's 7 zine The House Always Sins. I am partial toexecutrix's contributions. Her writing is always very funny with great dialogue and sharp character insights.
4. I have never shopped at this stationery store, but I thought I'd pass on the PSA: Chicago-based Paper Source is declaring bankruptcy and possibly not paying all the small stationery makers they ordered from during the pandemic.
5.
The Novel-Machine: The Theory and Fiction of Anthony Trollope by Walter M. Kendrick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book looks at what Kendrick sees as Trollope's grand unified theory of writing as laid out in his autobiography. I think what Trollope has to say about writing is really interesting and is not far afield from what some of today's writing manuals suggest is necessary to form a writing discipline, but his treatment of writing as something to diligently practice and then sell is exactly what led his contemporaries to devalue his writing (according to Kendrick).
Also, did Henry James ever like anything? Every time I run across a James quote, he just sounds like the worst kind of snobby jerk.
View all my reviews
2. Josh and I put our names on the no-waste list at Walmart. Several of our colleagues did so last week and got calls for shots within a few days. So hopefully this will lead to us being vaccinated soon.
3. Everyone should go read the new Blake's 7 zine The House Always Sins. I am partial to
executrix's contributions. Her writing is always very funny with great dialogue and sharp character insights.4. I have never shopped at this stationery store, but I thought I'd pass on the PSA: Chicago-based Paper Source is declaring bankruptcy and possibly not paying all the small stationery makers they ordered from during the pandemic.
5.
The Novel-Machine: The Theory and Fiction of Anthony Trollope by Walter M. KendrickMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book looks at what Kendrick sees as Trollope's grand unified theory of writing as laid out in his autobiography. I think what Trollope has to say about writing is really interesting and is not far afield from what some of today's writing manuals suggest is necessary to form a writing discipline, but his treatment of writing as something to diligently practice and then sell is exactly what led his contemporaries to devalue his writing (according to Kendrick).
Also, did Henry James ever like anything? Every time I run across a James quote, he just sounds like the worst kind of snobby jerk.
View all my reviews
two times two for tooosday
Mar. 2nd, 2021 08:17 am1. I wish I had decided I wanted a Hobonichi Techo Cousin planner a little closer to when they will be available for purchase. September is a long time to wait! LOL
2. Josh bought an air fryer and made chicken tenders, and they were awesome. So looking forward to using that more.
3.
Sunset Gun: Poems by Dorothy Parker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
All the poems rhyme; all of them are quite witty and funny. However, there's a thread of melancholy for love lost and unrequited (as well as suicidal ideation) that runs through the whole collection that tempers that wit and humor and creates a sense of deep discontent in the speakers of the poems.
View all my reviews
4. Children's books roundup for Jan and Feb is pretty lean. Fi and I have been reading an enormous 400 page book the size of a laptop for months now. LOL
The Dangerous Journey by Tove Jansson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is beautifully illustrated.
I didn't quite follow the story because I'm not familiar with the universe the story is set in, but I think once I seek out the original books, I will appreciate this one more.
View all my reviews
No, David! by David Shannon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is adorable. David gets told no over and over again for his mischievous behavior until the very end when he's finally told yes. Super sweet and very detailed drawings.
View all my reviews
2. Josh bought an air fryer and made chicken tenders, and they were awesome. So looking forward to using that more.
3.
Sunset Gun: Poems by Dorothy ParkerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
All the poems rhyme; all of them are quite witty and funny. However, there's a thread of melancholy for love lost and unrequited (as well as suicidal ideation) that runs through the whole collection that tempers that wit and humor and creates a sense of deep discontent in the speakers of the poems.
View all my reviews
4. Children's books roundup for Jan and Feb is pretty lean. Fi and I have been reading an enormous 400 page book the size of a laptop for months now. LOL
The Dangerous Journey by Tove JanssonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is beautifully illustrated.
I didn't quite follow the story because I'm not familiar with the universe the story is set in, but I think once I seek out the original books, I will appreciate this one more.
View all my reviews
No, David! by David ShannonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is adorable. David gets told no over and over again for his mischievous behavior until the very end when he's finally told yes. Super sweet and very detailed drawings.
View all my reviews
On the continuum of raargh to yay
Feb. 26th, 2021 07:04 pm1. One of Emma's teachers was spouting Q-Anon adjacent bullshit in class about microchips in vaccines in what he thinks is probably a plausibly deniable kind of way. I am so weary of being surrounded by this kind of evil. I didn't call the school when we'd been here five minutes and the K-12 school district refused to air Obama's presidential address to students. I did call the school when Emma's sex ed (for values of sex ed that were not about sex or ed; the first year they did it, I opted Emma out because I knew it was going to be abstinence-only bullshit, but the second year, she told me not to opt her out because she had to sit in the gym or something else really boring the whole time, and she'd rather just sit through the bullshit) teacher told the class that God intended for marriage to be between a man and a woman. I don't think it changed anything, but I gave the principal a piece of my mind on that one. I'm not going to call the school over this because it's just not worth it; Emma can't be contaminated by anything he says, and I worry that complaining would make things harder for her in his class. She's just got to hang on until May.
2. No vaccine for college teachers in GA in the educator stage that just began, only K-12. It's really sad when MS and AL are doing better than we are at the rollout.
3. Josh noticed some cracks in the walls of the garage, and the insurance people came out today, so we're going through the process of seeing about getting that fixed plus a little patch of brickwork on the outside of the house that has looked wonky since we bought it. Josh has tied himself up in knots about this assuming it will be expensive. *pets him* I'm just choosing not to give a shit about it at the moment. It'll be fine. *hand waves*
4. The shirt thatspikedluv got me from the people on the HGTV show Hometown arrived today. It's perfect!
5. My friend M is home from her travels, and she brought everyone goodies. I got a Muji notebook. I have been really excited about trying this brand.
6. I just bought a cabinet on Wayfair so I can finally get all my office/school/stationery supplies organized. Right now the drawers of my desk are all jumbled, there's too much on the top of my desk, and there's a box of supplies in the closet. It's making me antsy; I need order and tidiness. So excited about that getting here in a couple of weeks. Then Josh gets to put it together, which I hope is not any kind of adventure. LOL
2. No vaccine for college teachers in GA in the educator stage that just began, only K-12. It's really sad when MS and AL are doing better than we are at the rollout.
3. Josh noticed some cracks in the walls of the garage, and the insurance people came out today, so we're going through the process of seeing about getting that fixed plus a little patch of brickwork on the outside of the house that has looked wonky since we bought it. Josh has tied himself up in knots about this assuming it will be expensive. *pets him* I'm just choosing not to give a shit about it at the moment. It'll be fine. *hand waves*
4. The shirt that
spikedluv got me from the people on the HGTV show Hometown arrived today. It's perfect!5. My friend M is home from her travels, and she brought everyone goodies. I got a Muji notebook. I have been really excited about trying this brand.
6. I just bought a cabinet on Wayfair so I can finally get all my office/school/stationery supplies organized. Right now the drawers of my desk are all jumbled, there's too much on the top of my desk, and there's a box of supplies in the closet. It's making me antsy; I need order and tidiness. So excited about that getting here in a couple of weeks. Then Josh gets to put it together, which I hope is not any kind of adventure. LOL
So much happiness!
Feb. 17th, 2021 05:26 pm1. The article I submitted to the ebook on teaching during the pandemic was accepted! Yay!
2.spikedluv and I have been talking about the HGTV show Hometown which is set in Laurel about an hour and a half north of where I grew up. I enjoy the show because the main couple is just so sweet, because she's a talented artist, and because everybody talks right. LOL
spikedluv sent me a gift certificate to their online store, so I just bought this super cool t-shirt.
Such an unexpected and generous gift.
3. I ordered some more things from Jetpens: a broad nibbed Lamy in black, a pencil board to use in my Tomoe River paper notebook (the paper is so thin that just normal writing really indents the next page), and two rolls of sparkly washi tape.
I have inked up the Lamy, and it's going to take a bit of getting used to; there's zero feedback from the nib, and it just glides across the page. I think the medium nib is going to end up being my preferred size, but I think I'm going to like the broad nib as well.
4. I have gotten so many things done and items crossed off my list and scraps of paper thrown away. It is glorious!
2.
spikedluv and I have been talking about the HGTV show Hometown which is set in Laurel about an hour and a half north of where I grew up. I enjoy the show because the main couple is just so sweet, because she's a talented artist, and because everybody talks right. LOL spikedluv sent me a gift certificate to their online store, so I just bought this super cool t-shirt.Such an unexpected and generous gift.
3. I ordered some more things from Jetpens: a broad nibbed Lamy in black, a pencil board to use in my Tomoe River paper notebook (the paper is so thin that just normal writing really indents the next page), and two rolls of sparkly washi tape.
I have inked up the Lamy, and it's going to take a bit of getting used to; there's zero feedback from the nib, and it just glides across the page. I think the medium nib is going to end up being my preferred size, but I think I'm going to like the broad nib as well.
4. I have gotten so many things done and items crossed off my list and scraps of paper thrown away. It is glorious!
This week = sticker extravaganza!
Jan. 26th, 2021 02:03 pm1. I decorated some plain notecards with images I cut from the Christmas cards I received. I have five left and would love to send them to someone. First come, first served! PM me your address if I don't already have it.
2. A sticker set I ordered arrived today, and they are so adorable. I expected them to be cute, but I didn't realize they would be so thin which is awesome since I am mostly going to put them in my journal.
3. Talking Meme:
archersangel asks: Food: what you like that other people hate, what you hate that other people like, a lot of condiments or none? mayo; yay or nay? avocados; great or terrible? pineapple on pizza?
I will confine the first two questions to my immediate family. I love quinoa, beets, turnips, and couscous (which is sadly off the table for me now due to celiac); my kids and husband despise them. I truly do not hate any food. I pretty much like everything. I am a very adventurous eater.
I love condiments. As a kid, I loved mixing the condiments in the fridge to make new condiments. My favorite condiments are soy sauce, fish sauce, all kinds of hot sauces, mayo, and Dijon mustard.
I love avocados. I love to cut them in half, pour a little lemon juice in the hole left by the seed, sprinkle a little salt, and eat them out of the bowl of their skin with a spoon.
Pineapple on pizza is a yes. Although I mostly don't do pizza anymore because of celiac. There are some goodish gluten free pizzas, but nothing compares to a real pizza.
2. A sticker set I ordered arrived today, and they are so adorable. I expected them to be cute, but I didn't realize they would be so thin which is awesome since I am mostly going to put them in my journal.
3. Talking Meme:
archersangel asks: Food: what you like that other people hate, what you hate that other people like, a lot of condiments or none? mayo; yay or nay? avocados; great or terrible? pineapple on pizza?I will confine the first two questions to my immediate family. I love quinoa, beets, turnips, and couscous (which is sadly off the table for me now due to celiac); my kids and husband despise them. I truly do not hate any food. I pretty much like everything. I am a very adventurous eater.
I love condiments. As a kid, I loved mixing the condiments in the fridge to make new condiments. My favorite condiments are soy sauce, fish sauce, all kinds of hot sauces, mayo, and Dijon mustard.
I love avocados. I love to cut them in half, pour a little lemon juice in the hole left by the seed, sprinkle a little salt, and eat them out of the bowl of their skin with a spoon.
Pineapple on pizza is a yes. Although I mostly don't do pizza anymore because of celiac. There are some goodish gluten free pizzas, but nothing compares to a real pizza.
5 for Friday and 1 to grow on
Jan. 22nd, 2021 08:37 am1. Happy birthday, executrix! You make fandom a brighter place for me and so many others. Thank you for all the years of friendship and kindness. I hope today is an excellent one.
2. I got a letter fromhavocthecat on the most luxurious paper. Now I get to write her back! Whoo!
3. I finally wrote another pen dry so I'm going to ink it up with Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo ink. I can't wait to see how it looks on the different papers in my stash.
4. Like the rest of you, I watched the inauguration with joy and trepidation. I feel four years of anxiety and despair slowly sloughing off.
5. I would love to be able to post pictures again. Does anybody use dreamwidth's image hosting? Would you recommend it? Pros, cons? Link to a tutorial?
6.
Victorian Women Writers and the Woman Question by Nicola Diane Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
All the essays included in this collection are good reads. I read it for the chapter on Ouida (which deals with the way in she anticipates the New Woman novel and focuses on Under Two Flags and Folle-Farine) but found a great deal to appreciate. I have really got to read Marie Corelli at some point; I suspect I would really enjoy her novels.
View all my reviews
executrix! You make fandom a brighter place for me and so many others. Thank you for all the years of friendship and kindness. I hope today is an excellent one.2. I got a letter from
havocthecat on the most luxurious paper. Now I get to write her back! Whoo!3. I finally wrote another pen dry so I'm going to ink it up with Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo ink. I can't wait to see how it looks on the different papers in my stash.
4. Like the rest of you, I watched the inauguration with joy and trepidation. I feel four years of anxiety and despair slowly sloughing off.
5. I would love to be able to post pictures again. Does anybody use dreamwidth's image hosting? Would you recommend it? Pros, cons? Link to a tutorial?
6.
Victorian Women Writers and the Woman Question by Nicola Diane ThompsonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
All the essays included in this collection are good reads. I read it for the chapter on Ouida (which deals with the way in she anticipates the New Woman novel and focuses on Under Two Flags and Folle-Farine) but found a great deal to appreciate. I have really got to read Marie Corelli at some point; I suspect I would really enjoy her novels.
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Monday monday
Jan. 18th, 2021 05:09 pm1. I got my progressives on Friday, and adjusting to them has not been as difficult as I feared. I can see so much better for driving. I haven't quite gotten the hang of looking at things close up when I'm holding them in my hands, but sitting at a desk and reading and writing, everything's in the right spot.
Annoyingly, though, I didn't realize that the lenses were scratched when I picked them up. I didn't wear them home on Friday because I didn't want to adjust to new lenses while driving; by the time I got home and realized, they were closed. I had to drive up there again today and show them, but they were super cool about it and ordered me replacement ones.
2. I wrote one of my pens dry and filled it with my new Monteverde brown sugar ink, and it is glorious. Oh, the shading! It is making me extremely happy to write with this ink.
3. Josh feels so much better. At this point he's mostly just tired. We go back to work tomorrow, and I expect it to kick his ass. He'll be in the office from 7:30 to 3:15. Cross your fingers for him.
4. I am going to experiment with being in the office more for a little while. In the fall, I set up my office hours to avoid campus as much as possible, but I literally had zero students come to my office the entire semester, I never saw any of my colleagues, and the only person I had any interaction with (masked/distanced) is a colleague in our bubble. So, I'm not worried about being in my office as a possible COVID issue anymore.
I still technically only have to be on campus the two days I'm teaching in person, but I'm going to go on campus the other days and see how that goes. I'm starting to wonder if the whole being here all the time is affecting my mental health. I mean, I like it and have decided I would happily work from home for forever, but I'm wondering if it's not as good for me as I think it is. I'm also wondering if part of my tiredness and listlessness is related; sometimes when I start feeling like I have no energy, it's because I've been laying around too much not doing anything. So we'll see what happens.
5. My brother got diagnosed with COVID today. He's okay so far. He is convinced he had it back in March; he had an inexplicable nine day fever back then. He didn't get tested at the time. Not sure if he just didn't want to or if tests weren't available. He says this time is much better than the first. Prayers and good vibes appreciated here as well.
Annoyingly, though, I didn't realize that the lenses were scratched when I picked them up. I didn't wear them home on Friday because I didn't want to adjust to new lenses while driving; by the time I got home and realized, they were closed. I had to drive up there again today and show them, but they were super cool about it and ordered me replacement ones.
2. I wrote one of my pens dry and filled it with my new Monteverde brown sugar ink, and it is glorious. Oh, the shading! It is making me extremely happy to write with this ink.
3. Josh feels so much better. At this point he's mostly just tired. We go back to work tomorrow, and I expect it to kick his ass. He'll be in the office from 7:30 to 3:15. Cross your fingers for him.
4. I am going to experiment with being in the office more for a little while. In the fall, I set up my office hours to avoid campus as much as possible, but I literally had zero students come to my office the entire semester, I never saw any of my colleagues, and the only person I had any interaction with (masked/distanced) is a colleague in our bubble. So, I'm not worried about being in my office as a possible COVID issue anymore.
I still technically only have to be on campus the two days I'm teaching in person, but I'm going to go on campus the other days and see how that goes. I'm starting to wonder if the whole being here all the time is affecting my mental health. I mean, I like it and have decided I would happily work from home for forever, but I'm wondering if it's not as good for me as I think it is. I'm also wondering if part of my tiredness and listlessness is related; sometimes when I start feeling like I have no energy, it's because I've been laying around too much not doing anything. So we'll see what happens.
5. My brother got diagnosed with COVID today. He's okay so far. He is convinced he had it back in March; he had an inexplicable nine day fever back then. He didn't get tested at the time. Not sure if he just didn't want to or if tests weren't available. He says this time is much better than the first. Prayers and good vibes appreciated here as well.
Quarantine is over!
Jan. 15th, 2021 07:43 am1. The kraken has been released! The girls are really happy to get back to school today. I got tested again just to be sure because I'm having an autoimmune flareup that's making me feel really tired, and it was negative.
I know it was hard on Josh, but I think this is a testament to how well he isolated from us.
I'm ready for things to get back to our normal around here.
2. Emma got accepted to Georgia Southern University! I fully anticipate that she will be accepted to all the schools where she applied, but this is an excellent start. So proud of her.
3. I got a beautiful card fromgoss decorated with lines of Maya Angelou's poetry. <3
4. McFarland finally listed the book with my chapter on Ouida and technology: The Rail, the Body, and the Pen.
5. My JetPens order arrived! I haven't played around with the inks yet (seven bottles of ink! hurrah!) because I want to write my pens dry before I change the ink, but I messed around a little with the Tomoe River paper notebook I bought, and OMG, all the hype is true. I tested all my currently inked pens plus other pens like fineliners and gel pens. The only thing that bled through was the Penmark marker. The truly exciting thing is that I have seen my first sheen!!!! The Pilot Parallel takes proprietary cartridges, and it's got a purple in it right now. I had no idea that ink is sheening, but it has a lovely green sheen. I literally squealed when I saw it. Can't wait to dig into the inks.
6. Talking Meme
likeadeuce asks: What got you interested in studying literature?
( cut for length )
I know it was hard on Josh, but I think this is a testament to how well he isolated from us.
I'm ready for things to get back to our normal around here.
2. Emma got accepted to Georgia Southern University! I fully anticipate that she will be accepted to all the schools where she applied, but this is an excellent start. So proud of her.
3. I got a beautiful card from
goss decorated with lines of Maya Angelou's poetry. <34. McFarland finally listed the book with my chapter on Ouida and technology: The Rail, the Body, and the Pen.
5. My JetPens order arrived! I haven't played around with the inks yet (seven bottles of ink! hurrah!) because I want to write my pens dry before I change the ink, but I messed around a little with the Tomoe River paper notebook I bought, and OMG, all the hype is true. I tested all my currently inked pens plus other pens like fineliners and gel pens. The only thing that bled through was the Penmark marker. The truly exciting thing is that I have seen my first sheen!!!! The Pilot Parallel takes proprietary cartridges, and it's got a purple in it right now. I had no idea that ink is sheening, but it has a lovely green sheen. I literally squealed when I saw it. Can't wait to dig into the inks.
6. Talking Meme
likeadeuce asks: What got you interested in studying literature?( cut for length )
Christmas Eve!
Dec. 24th, 2020 10:22 am1. Moar Christmas cards from chelseagirl, spikedluv, and aurumcalendula!
2. Since I complained here, I feel I must tell you that my MIL received the card I sent 18 days after it was postmarked instead of misplacing it as I had feared. I am starting to worry that I should not have put the power bill in the mail last week. The bills we get in the next few weeks I will pay online or by phone because I don't trust them to be delivered on time.
3. I am super stoked about Yuletide!! I wrote my main gift plus one treat. One is for one of the most obscure fandoms in Yuletide, and the other is for one of the most popular. Feel free to guess!
4. I'm so new to fountain pen use that a lot of the time I don't know what more seasoned users are talking about when they describe phenomena, but now I know what a dry ink writes like, and I hates it!! I put a red, random cartridge in my Yafa Icona, and I really did not like the way it wrote with that ink. I've read over and over again that the ink really affects the writing experience besides looks, but I didn't quite believe it until this experience. I cannot abide waste, so I used up the whole cartridge, but now I have a random blue in, and the pen is writing beautifully again. I cannot wait until after Christmas. At some point in January, probably the end given how slow mail is going right now, I'm going to place a Jetpens order and get some bottled ink and some Tomoe River paper to try.
chelseagirl, spikedluv, and aurumcalendula!2. Since I complained here, I feel I must tell you that my MIL received the card I sent 18 days after it was postmarked instead of misplacing it as I had feared. I am starting to worry that I should not have put the power bill in the mail last week. The bills we get in the next few weeks I will pay online or by phone because I don't trust them to be delivered on time.
3. I am super stoked about Yuletide!! I wrote my main gift plus one treat. One is for one of the most obscure fandoms in Yuletide, and the other is for one of the most popular. Feel free to guess!
4. I'm so new to fountain pen use that a lot of the time I don't know what more seasoned users are talking about when they describe phenomena, but now I know what a dry ink writes like, and I hates it!! I put a red, random cartridge in my Yafa Icona, and I really did not like the way it wrote with that ink. I've read over and over again that the ink really affects the writing experience besides looks, but I didn't quite believe it until this experience. I cannot abide waste, so I used up the whole cartridge, but now I have a random blue in, and the pen is writing beautifully again. I cannot wait until after Christmas. At some point in January, probably the end given how slow mail is going right now, I'm going to place a Jetpens order and get some bottled ink and some Tomoe River paper to try.
I finished the Yuletide treat!
Dec. 14th, 2020 10:28 am1. *happy dance*
I really, really like this story, and it was so intimidating to write, but I'm finished, and I hope my recipient likes it! Oh, how can I sit on this joy for days and days?! LOL
2. I would like to make an announcement about book binding. Perfect bound notebooks (glue bound) suck. They are incapable of laying flat. Also not a fan of staple binding simple because only very small notebooks can be staple bound. Thread or glue+thread is the only acceptable lay-flat binding for a notebook. I made a mistake when I first started getting into fountain pens earlier in the year and ordered a perfect bound Clairefontaine notebook; the paper is great, but it's hard to write in because of the binding. So I relegated it to a commonplace book rather than a journal for daily writing.
3. Fiona watched White Christmas this weekend with me, and she liked it! Yay! She was besotted with the costumes and the dancing. Josh and Emma are not fans, so I'm glad to have someone to watch with.
I really, really like this story, and it was so intimidating to write, but I'm finished, and I hope my recipient likes it! Oh, how can I sit on this joy for days and days?! LOL
2. I would like to make an announcement about book binding. Perfect bound notebooks (glue bound) suck. They are incapable of laying flat. Also not a fan of staple binding simple because only very small notebooks can be staple bound. Thread or glue+thread is the only acceptable lay-flat binding for a notebook. I made a mistake when I first started getting into fountain pens earlier in the year and ordered a perfect bound Clairefontaine notebook; the paper is great, but it's hard to write in because of the binding. So I relegated it to a commonplace book rather than a journal for daily writing.
3. Fiona watched White Christmas this weekend with me, and she liked it! Yay! She was besotted with the costumes and the dancing. Josh and Emma are not fans, so I'm glad to have someone to watch with.
Reading and Writing
Dec. 11th, 2020 03:09 pm1. I got my second Christmas card of the year from misbegotten!
2. So tantalizingly close to being done with Yuletide treat. I am very happy with how it's going so far.
3. Several years ago when I became fascinated with bullet journaling, I bought a dot grid Leuchtturm 1917 journal for my bujo. I abandoned bullet journaling pretty quickly; turns out it's too fussy for me, and I am not artistic, so it just became something that didn't work for me. I also really disliked the dot grid. I don't see very well, and I had trouble using the dots to guide my writing. When I started journaling again this spring (although not bullet journaling, just regular hand writing in a diary), I used a blank Midori MD. At first, my writing slanted all over the place, but by the end of the journal, I was writing pretty consistently in a fairly straight line. When I finished the Midori, I went back to the Leuchtturm which only had about 40 pages used. Turns out that all that writing in the blank journal means that I can just write on the dotted page and not even worry about trying to use the dots to guide my writing; basically, I have learned to ignore the dot grid which means my notebook options have increased since the whole journaling world seems to be head over heels for dot grid (or graph ruling, bleck).
An interesting fountain pen point of data: so far, the Leuchtturm paper is my favorite to write on with my fountain pens. It has a little bit of tooth to it but not too much; dry times are not very long. The Midori paper has a little too much tooth for me; it's fine, but I don't think it will be my first choice again for fountain pen friendly paper. The Clairefontaine is almost too smooth; I haven't written in that journal very much. I'm using it as a commonplace book and copying out quotes I like, so only about three pages have been written in. It's so smooth that I almost feel like the pen kinda gets away from me a little. I need to spend more time with that notebook to make a real judgment though. Try times are the longest on the Clairfontaine of the three. I haven't written in the Rhodia notebook I bought yet beyond pen tests on the back page, so that will be an experiment for the future.
4.
Sylvia Plath: A Critical Guide by Tim Kendall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
So, I thought I wasn't going to enjoy this very much for the first chapter or two. The back of the book describes this as a "detailed and dispassionate examination of her poetry" that avoids "preoccupation with her life and death." Predictably, I enjoy this book the most when Kendall is dealing with her life and death which he starts to do more frequently about three chapters in. I'm not a Plath scholar and can't judge the quality of Kendall's criticism, but the book is interesting and well argued.
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misbegotten!2. So tantalizingly close to being done with Yuletide treat. I am very happy with how it's going so far.
3. Several years ago when I became fascinated with bullet journaling, I bought a dot grid Leuchtturm 1917 journal for my bujo. I abandoned bullet journaling pretty quickly; turns out it's too fussy for me, and I am not artistic, so it just became something that didn't work for me. I also really disliked the dot grid. I don't see very well, and I had trouble using the dots to guide my writing. When I started journaling again this spring (although not bullet journaling, just regular hand writing in a diary), I used a blank Midori MD. At first, my writing slanted all over the place, but by the end of the journal, I was writing pretty consistently in a fairly straight line. When I finished the Midori, I went back to the Leuchtturm which only had about 40 pages used. Turns out that all that writing in the blank journal means that I can just write on the dotted page and not even worry about trying to use the dots to guide my writing; basically, I have learned to ignore the dot grid which means my notebook options have increased since the whole journaling world seems to be head over heels for dot grid (or graph ruling, bleck).
An interesting fountain pen point of data: so far, the Leuchtturm paper is my favorite to write on with my fountain pens. It has a little bit of tooth to it but not too much; dry times are not very long. The Midori paper has a little too much tooth for me; it's fine, but I don't think it will be my first choice again for fountain pen friendly paper. The Clairefontaine is almost too smooth; I haven't written in that journal very much. I'm using it as a commonplace book and copying out quotes I like, so only about three pages have been written in. It's so smooth that I almost feel like the pen kinda gets away from me a little. I need to spend more time with that notebook to make a real judgment though. Try times are the longest on the Clairfontaine of the three. I haven't written in the Rhodia notebook I bought yet beyond pen tests on the back page, so that will be an experiment for the future.
4.
Sylvia Plath: A Critical Guide by Tim KendallMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
So, I thought I wasn't going to enjoy this very much for the first chapter or two. The back of the book describes this as a "detailed and dispassionate examination of her poetry" that avoids "preoccupation with her life and death." Predictably, I enjoy this book the most when Kendall is dealing with her life and death which he starts to do more frequently about three chapters in. I'm not a Plath scholar and can't judge the quality of Kendall's criticism, but the book is interesting and well argued.
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Today is Fountain Pen Day!
Nov. 6th, 2020 03:08 pmCheck out the official site for more info plus deals from online stationery purveyors.
Let's talk about Fountain Pens!
What's your Grail Pen (most coveted pen)? What's currently inked? What's your favorite ink? Nib style? Best paper to use fountain pens on?
Or maybe you want to talk about what doesn't work--the dud pen or the crappy paper with tons of bleed through.
Time for some fountain pen love!
Let's talk about Fountain Pens!
What's your Grail Pen (most coveted pen)? What's currently inked? What's your favorite ink? Nib style? Best paper to use fountain pens on?
Or maybe you want to talk about what doesn't work--the dud pen or the crappy paper with tons of bleed through.
Time for some fountain pen love!
it is a wednesday
Oct. 21st, 2020 02:13 pm1. Well I spoke too soon. I had a fever again yesterday (very low), and I feel kinda crummy today without having a fever. Clearly this is still a process, and I'm not going to post any more pronouncements about how I'm feeling better unless it's been two weeks of no fever and feeling better. LOL
2. So all these stationery blogs I read also talk about fancy pencils, and they have been slowly snookering me into thinking I need to be writing with fancy pencils. Which is ludicrous. I do not write with pencils. I do not need fancy pencils. Fortunately, my friend M has some fancy pencils she let me borrow today, and I am relieved to say that they are indeed just fucking pencils (no matter how fancy) that I do not need or want to write with on a regular basis, and my desire for fancy pencils has been successfully exorcised. I feel like I deserve some sort of award for this achievement.
3. ( cut for spoilery review of The Tower of Nero--Trials of Apollo )
2. So all these stationery blogs I read also talk about fancy pencils, and they have been slowly snookering me into thinking I need to be writing with fancy pencils. Which is ludicrous. I do not write with pencils. I do not need fancy pencils. Fortunately, my friend M has some fancy pencils she let me borrow today, and I am relieved to say that they are indeed just fucking pencils (no matter how fancy) that I do not need or want to write with on a regular basis, and my desire for fancy pencils has been successfully exorcised. I feel like I deserve some sort of award for this achievement.
3. ( cut for spoilery review of The Tower of Nero--Trials of Apollo )
Not bad for a Monday
Oct. 19th, 2020 02:23 pm1. I think I am getting better? I haven't registered a fever in four days. I do not feel like I am dying anymore. I felt well enough that I decided to start exercising again today, so I walked leisurely for fifteen minutes, and I still feel okay. I am taking it really slowly, though. Stupid slow. I do not want to relapse. Fifteen minutes felt enough like really doing something that it's clear that I am going to need to be very gentle with myself.
2. ( I reread Harriet Jacobs for that book chapter I wrote )
3. Everybody should go watchsholio's Fanvid: Defenders--Welcome to New York because it is glorious and will make you cry. And want to rewatch everything. LOL
4. Just in case you also want to go to sleep every night reading stationery blogs, these are my top three sites:
The Well-Appointed Desk
The Pen Addict
The Gentleman Stationer
These sites cover all kinds of pen, pencil, and paper use, but they also feature art and reviews of artists' supplies, so there's a wide range of posts that might interest many of you.
2. ( I reread Harriet Jacobs for that book chapter I wrote )
3. Everybody should go watch
sholio's Fanvid: Defenders--Welcome to New York because it is glorious and will make you cry. And want to rewatch everything. LOL4. Just in case you also want to go to sleep every night reading stationery blogs, these are my top three sites:
The Well-Appointed Desk
The Pen Addict
The Gentleman Stationer
These sites cover all kinds of pen, pencil, and paper use, but they also feature art and reviews of artists' supplies, so there's a wide range of posts that might interest many of you.
