| Division of labor |
[Jul. 8th, 2009|06:32 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Lattimore Brown, Darlin' Dear | ] |
On the road, I handle language and knowing historical stuff. He handles directions, knowing about scientific instruments, and appearing to be interested in historical information. We make a good team. |
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| Italy MVPs |
[Jul. 8th, 2009|09:09 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Lee Fields and the Dap-Kings, Give Me a Chance Pt. 1 | ] |
• Rough Guide map of Rome: comprehensive street index, major sites of interest labelled, reliable restaurant recommendations. By the end of day 5 in Rome, I think ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jere7my was ready to propose to it.
• Blue Guide to Rome: What's that pile of ancient rubble over there? When was that church built? Who painted that? When is that museum open? The Blue Guide knows (almost) all. We missed it when we left Rome for Florence.
• New turquoise cardigan: bright, pretty, and light, easy to stuff into a shoulder bag when not needed and whip out for churches or cool evenings in Trastevere, went with practically everything I'd packed. No tarp of shame for me as long as I have this handy garment on hand!
• iPod: Roughly 15 hours of soothing NPR podcasts let me sleep on the plane going and coming, and smoothed the way through those inevitable 4 AM wake-ups; Never Mind the Buzzcocks episodes whiled away some boring hours when the in-flight movies were too dreadful to bear. |
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| Day 1: Benvenuto a Roma! |
[Jul. 8th, 2009|07:58 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Lorraine Ellison, Stay with Me | ] |
Just across the bridge from where we're staying in Trastevere is the Forum Boarium, the riverside market of ancient Rome. Rising up to greet you is the 1st cen. BCE Temple of Portunus, whose unblemished boringness makes it perfect for teaching the basics of Roman temple design. To the right of Portunus is the little round Temple of Hercules Victor, a classic example of the architectural experimentation that characterized the 3rd cen. BCE, before the conservative retrenchment of the 2nd. A little beyond that to the south, those jumbled ruins in front of the church of Sant' Ombono are the remains of, inter alia, the 6th cen. BCE Temple of Mater Matuta, traditionally attributed to Servius Tullius. Its acroterial sculptures of Minerva conducting Hercules to Olympus, on display in the Capitoline Museum, are a fine illustration of the principle that there is no pre-Greek period in Roman religion.
Or go the other way, and soon you're walking around the Theater of Marcellus (heu, miserande puer) and the Porticus of Octavia ("I married a two-timing alcoholic lout to advance my brother's career, and all I got was this lousy porticus!"). And that's just the beginning...
My point: Virtually every street in Rome is a frickin' museum; if it's not antiquity, it's medieval Christianity, or the Renaissance, or the unification of Italy. When I was here as a student, 15 years ago, all these things were new and exciting to me. Now, this is the landscape which I spend much of my professional life traversing in my imagination. To walk through it in person almost makes my head explode. |
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| Day 12: Rome to Boston |
[Jul. 6th, 2009|05:44 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Martin Solveig, I'm a Good Man | ] |
The morning started with our Amazing Race moment of the trip: sprinting across Fiumicino Airport armed only with passports and a confirmation number (would an American airport let you through security on such slender documentation?), to arrive at the gate just in time to walk onto the plane (mercifully delayed, or we'd never haver made it). After being dead certain that we were going to miss the flight, any on-board privation would have seemed trivial, but in fact we got an entire spacious center row to ourselves, and everything ran smoothly from there. It was a wonderful trip (more about that presently), but I'm very glad to be back home. |
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| Andiamo! |
[Jun. 25th, 2009|08:38 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Deer Tick, The Ghost | ] |
Bills paid, ILL books returned.
Strictly non-edifying vacation books selected: Atonement, Soldier of Sidon, The Kalahiri Typing School for Men.
Italian flash cards made.
iPod loaded with Buzzcocks episodes and podcasts, laptop with Rome season 2 and Cinematic Titanic.
Restaurant recommendations collected; wish lists of sights to see made, and remade.
Plans to meet up with former colleague in Florence cemented (ciao, Crispine!).
Cat delivered to her vacation location.
Bags packed.
Flights checked into, boarding passes printed.
We're going to Rome! Back in 11 days. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|09:05 am] |
| [ | music |
| | The Budos Band, Ephra | ] |
Off to Baltimore to celebrate my parents' wedding anniversary. 45 years tomorrow — not bad, eh? We're celebrating with a baseball game (my dad's favorite thing), joined by my sister's family and my mom's favorite sister and brother-in-law (my mom's favorite thing). Live sporting events are decidedly not jere7my's favorite thing, but he's being a trouper about it, on solemn promise of a trip to the Aquarium in the afternoon before the game. Of course, if it rains, as seems not unlikely, that could end up being all we do... |
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| Your horoscope for today |
[Jun. 11th, 2009|10:20 am] |
"Those born in Leo are of the following description: round head, reddish hair, huge wrinkled forehead, coarse ears, large development of neck, partly bald, red complexion, grey eyes, large jaws, coarse mouth, gross in the upper parts, huge breast, the under limbs tapering. The same are by nature persons who allow nothing to interfere with their own decision, pleasing themselves, irascible, passionate, scorners, obstinate, forming no design, not loquacious, indolent, making an improper use of leisure, familiar, wholly abandoned to pleasures of women, adulterers, immodest, in faith untrue, importunate, daring, penurious, spoliators, remarkable; as regards fellowship, useful; as regards friendship, useless."
(From Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 4.19. Eerily accurate, eh?) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 9th, 2009|09:36 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Graham Central Station, The Jam | ] |
Bought tickets.
Going to Italy!
Woo!
Recommendations for restaurants, hotels, & sights, esp. in Rome, Florence, Siena, & Ravenna, gladly accepted. |
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| Facebook revelations |
[Jun. 2nd, 2009|08:53 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Carolyn Franklin, Deal With It | ] |
My high school crush, whose beauty I used to find so melting, has grown up, filled out, and shaved his head. He looks exactly like his father did almost 30 years ago, when I first met their family. |
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| Accomplishments |
[May. 31st, 2009|09:13 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Asha Puthli, You've Been Loud Too Long | ] |
Made soup
Did 3 loads of laundry
Acquired sharp-looking new iPod case
Got mother-in-law to try sushi for the first time
Visited adorable kitten at Diskovery
Did no work all day long |
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| True statements I have read today |
[May. 29th, 2009|07:37 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Ella Fitzgerald, Something's Gotta Give | ] |
“Let the reader be warned — the evidence for the dependency theme in Clement of Alexandria will only in exceptional cases provide any amount of intellectual stimulation for a modern reader.” (D. Ridings, The Attic Moses: The Dependency Theme in Some Early Christian Authors)
"The philosophic historian will never stop meditating on the nose of Cleopatra." (A. Momigliano, Alien Wisdom: The Limits of Hellenization) |
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| What I can do now that I'm done grading |
[May. 15th, 2009|03:40 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Betty Padgett, Rocking Chair | ] |
do laundry
get a hair cut
sleep in
nap
take an exploratory bike ride
catch up on lj & correspondence
sit outside in the sun and read
NOT GRADE ANY MORE |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 10th, 2009|10:18 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Parliament, Flash Light | ] |
What sadist scheduled my Roman History exam for 9 AM tomorrow? So bitter... |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 5th, 2009|09:57 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Eddie Bo, Let's Let It Roll | ] |
Bronchitis week 5 definitely beats weeks 1-4. A 15-minute walk up the hill to Brighton Center is still enough to confirm that I'm not entirely better yet, but steady improvement continues in other regards. I'm slowly returning to my morning exercise routine (to the great joy of the cat, for whom that's a traditional play time), I danced 4 dances last night without dying, and I can now lie on my back for minutes at a time. My big dream now is to be well enough to put the car away and start biking to work. Soon, maybe? |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 2nd, 2009|09:47 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Swervedriver, Rave Down | ] |
Woke myself up with an angry dream about Justices Roberts and Alito last night. Time to stop reading about the Supreme Court before bed? |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 1st, 2009|07:44 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Shirley Scott, I Want You Back | ] |
Went to CostCo for the first time today. It was an experience, kind of like all the worst parts of shopping at Target (giant parking lot, full of manic drivers and dazed pedestrians; cavernous store; bizarre juxtaposition of products) multiplied by ten. With no criticism intended of those for whom giant membership wholesalers are an economic necessity, it was an experience I hope not to repeat soon. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 1st, 2009|09:27 am] |
| [ | music |
| | New Holidays, Maybe So, Maybe No | ] |
May 1, 9:27 AM: No outdoor fucking detected yet today. |
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| Medical report |
[Apr. 28th, 2009|07:08 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Of Montreal, Disconnect the Dots | ] |
Saw the doctor. Am a little bitter that I couldn't have seen her last week, when I made the appointment, or three days before that, when I first started called the office, when I was really in agony. Today, I'm just not sick enough to make much impression. The doctor listened to my chest, peered into my throat, and said that I probably had bronchitis (more of a description than a diagnosis, as jere7my points out), that a healthy, non-smoking 35-year-old can usually get over bronchitis on her own, and that I probably didn't need antibiotics. Instead, I came home with an inhaler (souped up with a bong-like plastic tube, which allegedly makes it easier to use effectively, and definitely makes the apparatus look extra dorky) and an injunction to stay away from my cat.
I'm somewhat disappointed — I wanted serious drugs! — but I'm also more or less resigned to the fact that I have to wait for this thing to go away on its own. It would be great if it had died down enough, and my muscles healed enough, for me to dance at the Boston Highland Ball on Saturday, but I'm not holding my breath. Because, you know, I can't. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 27th, 2009|09:15 am] |
| [ | music |
| | Connie Converse, One by One | ] |
The big question of the day is whether I should cancel my doctor's appointment for tomorrow. When I made the appointment, a week ago, I was desperate; a week seemed an unbearable amount of time to wait. I've improved enough that I'm not feeling desperate anymore, but neither am I done coughing stuff up out of my lungs, which means that my bruised ribs haven't had much chance to heal, either. Can I assume that the virus (or whatever) will continue to work its way out of my system, or would I be crazy to pass up my chance to get more serious drugs to get rid of this thing NOW? The rub is that the only appointment I could get is at the same time as my Latin class, the penultimate one of the semester, so I'd have to cancel the class or find someone to cover it. For some of you, I'm sure, cancelling the class would be a no-brainer, but bear in mind that I enjoy teaching this class and feel some responsibility to it. What should I do? |
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| Hope springs eternal |
[Apr. 24th, 2009|05:29 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | Big John Hamilton, How Much Can a Man Take | ] |
Morning is the time for coughing up stuff out of my lungs, which continues more or less unabated. Nonetheless, I'm once again entertaining cautious hope that there's light visible at the end of the bronchitis tunnel. I've had a couple of relatively good nights in which I've been able to sleep on my left side for the first time in weeks; my appetite has rebounded; I no longer get winded while eating; and in the last few days, I've been able to talk for longer stretches without losing my breath or dissolving into coughing. Today was the big challenge, because I had to lecture in Roman History for the first time in two weeks (fortuitiously, we've been having holidays and panel presentations during my illness). I made it! 50 minutes, and only one short coughing jag! Of course, it only takes one untimely cough to reclench the muscles around my ribs, and lying on my back is still strictly off limits. Still, it's beginning to seem possible that I could one day no longer be sick. |
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