It was dark and cold when I arrived in the tiny Fredricton airport, walking off a little cigar-tube plane onto the tarmac. This was Thursday, about a quarter after midnight. I was tired. It had taken three plane flights and well over 12 hours to get to New Brunswick. I was excited about the conference and the days ahead-- not knowing at all what my first classics conference would be like. The power shut on an off a couple of times when I was waiting for my bag-- although the emergency lights did not go off, just the main lights. Anyway, when I finally got my bag, I got into a taxi and told them I needed to go to the Best Western. I asked if there was only one in town, and the cab driver confirmed that there was, which signaled to me how small New Brunswick was, and my first conference experience began.
In the cab on the way to the hotel, the cab driver made a little bit of conversation, asking why I was in town and that sort of thing. I explained that I was there to present at a classics conference. The cab driver did not seem to know what classics was, so explained that I studied Greek and Latin. He did not seem particularly impressed by this. After a long silence, he asked me what I thought about the planets aligning on December 12, 2012. My first reaction was, "well, I only know a little bit about Maya mythology." I remembered reading that their callender was more astronomically accurate than ours and that it predicted the world to end in 2012 and be reborn. This long cycle is known as the "great year" in many cultures and is often divided into four mythological ages. As it turns out, I'm going to do a presentation for Latin on the stoic conception of ekpyrosis, which explains that at the end of the four ages, the world will die in fire and be reborn.
Despite all of my mostly-useless and very surface-level mythological knowledge, I still had no idea what to say to the questioning cabby. He told me that astronomers have different conceptions of the phenomena. For example, some believe that it might cause more earthquakes here on earth as well as shifting tides. I remarked that this was plausible (I'm not entirely sure, but gravitational forces shifting might be reasonable). He explained that the last time that it happened was 26,000 years ago. Then he asked me if I had heard of a book series called the Earth Chronicles. When I said that I had not, he told me that he was not religious, but he found them very interesting and that I should read them. I paid, left the cab, and decided that these New Brunswick people were rather strange. Friendly, certainly, but definitely strange.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
A Very Indian Valentines
Happy Valentines Day! This morning I got up early to work on my thesis, but was side-tracked by trying to find a job in some employment postings. So depressing-- I don't seem to be qualified for anything. At 9am, I made Cerinthus a surprise breakfast: his favorite is fresh-made Belgian waffles with a whipped cream, strawberries, and a touch of butter. I pulled the whole thing off rather well, I though, except that I totally failed at making hearts out of the whipped cream and it just looked like demented ellipses. Oh well.
Last night, to celebrate Valentines Eve (yes, we're clearly desperate romantics) we went to Indian Food at a place called the Bombay Cricked Club. We ordered cheese and garlic naan and chicken tikka masala. It was wonderful. The cheese naan was especially good-- it had spices and possibly green onions in it, I couldn't be sure. The garlic naan was HUGE. I wasn't expecting it to be so large. From now on, we will just order one piece of naan. The chicken tikka masala was great, although it was dark meat instead of breast meat, which was a little disappointing. However, this may be more traditional, I do not know. Cerinthus got the medium plus, while I got the hot. Both were a little out of our league spice-wise because they use habaneros instead of jalapenos. It was great anyway. Highly recommended, although a bit pricy (but I think worth it for good Indian food).
Tonight, crazy as we are, we are going to try the India House. The reviews are mixed, but we're going to try it anyway. It's cheaper than Bombay Cricket Club. I will write a review when done.
ADDED REVIEW:
India House was also fabulous, and Cerinthus and I had a lovely Valentines Day. I also got the Chickken Tikka Masala hot at the India House with garlic naan and paneer kulcha. The naan and kulcha were incredible and much more what I'm used to. Although I really liked the cheese naan at the Bombay cricket club, it was almost a meal unto itself. The garlic naan was much smaller at India House, but I like that it was topped with cilantro and I liked the naan dough better. I also liked the rice better at India House. My Chicken Tikka Masala was better on the whole at Bombay Cricket Club, partially because it was spiced with peppers rather than simply cayenne power and paprica, but the chicken at India House was breast meat, which was nice and was still flavorful and fabulous.
At India house, I got a glass of Oregon Pinot Noir. The glass was quite good, but the spiciness in the Pinot Noir actually intensified the spice in the food (which for India food as hot as I like it) is very hot. I tried a Syrrah with the leftovers and it was much better because it cooled my mouth down.
NOTE ON LEFTOVERS:
Last night, to celebrate Valentines Eve (yes, we're clearly desperate romantics) we went to Indian Food at a place called the Bombay Cricked Club. We ordered cheese and garlic naan and chicken tikka masala. It was wonderful. The cheese naan was especially good-- it had spices and possibly green onions in it, I couldn't be sure. The garlic naan was HUGE. I wasn't expecting it to be so large. From now on, we will just order one piece of naan. The chicken tikka masala was great, although it was dark meat instead of breast meat, which was a little disappointing. However, this may be more traditional, I do not know. Cerinthus got the medium plus, while I got the hot. Both were a little out of our league spice-wise because they use habaneros instead of jalapenos. It was great anyway. Highly recommended, although a bit pricy (but I think worth it for good Indian food).
Tonight, crazy as we are, we are going to try the India House. The reviews are mixed, but we're going to try it anyway. It's cheaper than Bombay Cricket Club. I will write a review when done.
ADDED REVIEW:
India House was also fabulous, and Cerinthus and I had a lovely Valentines Day. I also got the Chickken Tikka Masala hot at the India House with garlic naan and paneer kulcha. The naan and kulcha were incredible and much more what I'm used to. Although I really liked the cheese naan at the Bombay cricket club, it was almost a meal unto itself. The garlic naan was much smaller at India House, but I like that it was topped with cilantro and I liked the naan dough better. I also liked the rice better at India House. My Chicken Tikka Masala was better on the whole at Bombay Cricket Club, partially because it was spiced with peppers rather than simply cayenne power and paprica, but the chicken at India House was breast meat, which was nice and was still flavorful and fabulous.
At India house, I got a glass of Oregon Pinot Noir. The glass was quite good, but the spiciness in the Pinot Noir actually intensified the spice in the food (which for India food as hot as I like it) is very hot. I tried a Syrrah with the leftovers and it was much better because it cooled my mouth down.
NOTE ON LEFTOVERS:
- There were more leftovers from Bombay Cricket Club, quite simply because the portions are much bigger.
- The rice from Bombay Cricket Club did not heat up very well, but the naan and the Chicken Tikka Masala did
- I heated the leftovers from India house up in the microwave. This was a bad plan-- the oil separated from the rest of the sauce. Probably next time I will heat it up in a pan.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
The Beginning of Classes
I was so concerned with the conference that I have not blogged at all about the beginning of classes. My classes are fascinating.
The only one I don't like so far is my Latin class on the civil war in Rome, reading Caesar and Lucan. The professor is a wonderful young woman with a sly sense of humor (and no sense of fashion) and a cheerfulness not often associated with a military historian. However, the subject matter is just not my usual fare, sadly, and I'm having trouble getting into it.
I'm also taking two political science courses. The first is called Political Theory and Empire. I'm taking it for a half credit because otherwise I would have way too much work, between thesis and my other classes. The class is great. It's being taught by a smart and spunky female professor whose specialty involves looking at the contradictions between the imperial/paternalistic politics of (often liberal) political philosophers and their grand theories of government. The class is small, only seven people, and the discussions are lively. My favorite person in it is a history major (who happens to be dating a friend of mine) and who provides incisive commentary alongside an incredible sense of style that might have been more appropriate in some bygone era (although her clothing is fairly awesome in the present, it certainly has an anachronistic quality to it). The class is so fabulous that we have gotten out up to half an hour late because the discussions were so passionate and interesting.
My final class (other than thesis) is a political science course designed as a "research seminar," or, at least that is what my professor calls it. The class, called "What is Freedom?" is meant to culminate in a term paper that answers that question by discussing a particular point of view on freedom of some theorist. I am, obviously, going to write my term paper on Plato. However, the course is also designed around making sure that we cover a number of different critical approaches to freedom and discuss and debate them in class. However, we are also required to do a lot of outside reading as "backgroung" not technically on the syllabus, which is kind of problematic because it means that the class takes up much more time than a normal class. The professor is great-- I'm partially taking her class in the hope that she will write me a graduate school recommendation when the time comes.
The only one I don't like so far is my Latin class on the civil war in Rome, reading Caesar and Lucan. The professor is a wonderful young woman with a sly sense of humor (and no sense of fashion) and a cheerfulness not often associated with a military historian. However, the subject matter is just not my usual fare, sadly, and I'm having trouble getting into it.
I'm also taking two political science courses. The first is called Political Theory and Empire. I'm taking it for a half credit because otherwise I would have way too much work, between thesis and my other classes. The class is great. It's being taught by a smart and spunky female professor whose specialty involves looking at the contradictions between the imperial/paternalistic politics of (often liberal) political philosophers and their grand theories of government. The class is small, only seven people, and the discussions are lively. My favorite person in it is a history major (who happens to be dating a friend of mine) and who provides incisive commentary alongside an incredible sense of style that might have been more appropriate in some bygone era (although her clothing is fairly awesome in the present, it certainly has an anachronistic quality to it). The class is so fabulous that we have gotten out up to half an hour late because the discussions were so passionate and interesting.
My final class (other than thesis) is a political science course designed as a "research seminar," or, at least that is what my professor calls it. The class, called "What is Freedom?" is meant to culminate in a term paper that answers that question by discussing a particular point of view on freedom of some theorist. I am, obviously, going to write my term paper on Plato. However, the course is also designed around making sure that we cover a number of different critical approaches to freedom and discuss and debate them in class. However, we are also required to do a lot of outside reading as "backgroung" not technically on the syllabus, which is kind of problematic because it means that the class takes up much more time than a normal class. The professor is great-- I'm partially taking her class in the hope that she will write me a graduate school recommendation when the time comes.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Conference Updates
I GOT IN! Sulpicia (III) daughter of Servius has been accepted to present the first completed chapter of her thesis at the Atlantic University Undergraduate History and the Classics Conference to be held at St. Thomas University! I am so excited! I have a lot of work to do before then, but I cannot wait.
I have a few more conferences to which I still must apply. Crossing my fingers...
I have a few more conferences to which I still must apply. Crossing my fingers...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Classics Conferences
I was a straight A student in high school. I was essentially the valedictorian, although they did not publish ranks or GPAs so they just called the award something else. I was the captain of the debate team and there were periods where I was ranked as high as 19th in the country on the national debate circuit (I did Lincoln-Douglas) and 5th in California. Although I had friends, I was a prude and a recluse. When I came to college, I broke loose. I got mono my first semester, I was involved in all sorts of drama, I took drugs and drank, I gained a huge amount of weight, and my GPA through the floor. Over the last two years, I have lost 60 lbs, stopped taking drugs, almost entirely stopped drinking (although I'll have a glass of wine with dinner now and again now that I'm 21), my GPA has skyrocketed, and I've boosted my confidence and energy level.
Finally, for the first time since I entered college, I feel I have a decent chance getting papers into classics conferences. I sent in my first abstract on the 21st of January. I sent it into The Atlantic University Undergraduate History and Classics Conference (although I'm out of region). They sent me a very nice and person note back letting me know that if I were accepted I would be allowed to present (and would be the first American to present) so long as I could find transport. It was incredibly flattering. I'm working on sending abstracts into UBC, Cornell, and Willamette (and possibly Bristol) in the next week or so. Wish me good luck!
Finally, for the first time since I entered college, I feel I have a decent chance getting papers into classics conferences. I sent in my first abstract on the 21st of January. I sent it into The Atlantic University Undergraduate History and Classics Conference (although I'm out of region). They sent me a very nice and person note back letting me know that if I were accepted I would be allowed to present (and would be the first American to present) so long as I could find transport. It was incredibly flattering. I'm working on sending abstracts into UBC, Cornell, and Willamette (and possibly Bristol) in the next week or so. Wish me good luck!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Industrial Apple Machine
Yesterday, as usual, I did not work at all on my thesis. This seems to be a continual trend, and one that has to change-- today.But that problem is for a few minutes from now.
Last night I watched The Band's Visit with Cerinthus and Ponticus (1). The movie was very quirky. With a bizarre and awkward sense of humor and an oddly limited color palette, the movie was unusual and well done.
Earlier that day, I had spent a long time on the phone with the bus company. I left a pair of gloves on the bus on Friday. They were beautiful black leather Alfani gloves, ruched at the wrists, lined with cashmere. Unfortunately, someone took them. It was my fault. I was tired and dehydrated. It was raining when I walked the mile to the bust stop. By the time I got on the bus, the gloves were soaked. I placed them on my lap to dry. Unfortunately, I ended up getting distracted reading my kindle and then talking to someone about my kindle. When I got up, I didn't remember the gloves and they fell off my lap. By the time I realized, I was already on the train to the ice skating rink. I called an emailed 4-5 times on Friday but the gloves were expensive and chic, so I figured that someone would have taken them. Cerinthus, my darling, sweet and generous as ever, decided to buy me a new pair. Unfortunately, they could not be bought online, however, after about 2 hours of phone calls, it turned out that they had a pair at our local Macy's. He went to buy them. I went to get groceries.
To thank him, I decided to make him an apple pie. Apple pie is my father's favorite dessert and I have been making it since as long as I can remember. Some of my jumbled early memories are of rolling dough with my little tiny rolling pin, while my mom used her gigantic glass rolling pin. Anyway, over the years I have become quite the expert at making apple pie. I noticed that everyone has their own preferences. My father likes hard tart granny-smith apples cut so thinly that they turn into tart apple sauce in the oven. Cerinthus likes some apple chunks, so the apples are slightly thicker, and he likes green apples that are tart but that are not granny smith and he prefers them to be locally grown. This particular pie had braeburn apples. Both my father and Cerinthus like almost no sugar inside the pie, and no sugar on top of the crust.
So I made an apple pie before running my first group on Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling. The group went well and the pie went well. Cerinthus had a piece of pie and thoroughly enjoyed it, which made me feel good. When Ponticus came over, Cerinthus had a second piece of pie, and Ponticus had one as well. Then, the two of them got into a discussion over the best way to core and peel apples. Ponticus and Cerinthus began designing a machine to do the task-- entirely run by either cranks or levers. They spent an hour discussing the interworkings of the machinery, the slicing mechanism-- whether blades or a wire, how to remove the core from the apple, etc. It was great. Listening to the interworkings of the engineering was fabulous. This is the reason I love my friends.
Last night I watched The Band's Visit with Cerinthus and Ponticus (1). The movie was very quirky. With a bizarre and awkward sense of humor and an oddly limited color palette, the movie was unusual and well done.
Earlier that day, I had spent a long time on the phone with the bus company. I left a pair of gloves on the bus on Friday. They were beautiful black leather Alfani gloves, ruched at the wrists, lined with cashmere. Unfortunately, someone took them. It was my fault. I was tired and dehydrated. It was raining when I walked the mile to the bust stop. By the time I got on the bus, the gloves were soaked. I placed them on my lap to dry. Unfortunately, I ended up getting distracted reading my kindle and then talking to someone about my kindle. When I got up, I didn't remember the gloves and they fell off my lap. By the time I realized, I was already on the train to the ice skating rink. I called an emailed 4-5 times on Friday but the gloves were expensive and chic, so I figured that someone would have taken them. Cerinthus, my darling, sweet and generous as ever, decided to buy me a new pair. Unfortunately, they could not be bought online, however, after about 2 hours of phone calls, it turned out that they had a pair at our local Macy's. He went to buy them. I went to get groceries.
To thank him, I decided to make him an apple pie. Apple pie is my father's favorite dessert and I have been making it since as long as I can remember. Some of my jumbled early memories are of rolling dough with my little tiny rolling pin, while my mom used her gigantic glass rolling pin. Anyway, over the years I have become quite the expert at making apple pie. I noticed that everyone has their own preferences. My father likes hard tart granny-smith apples cut so thinly that they turn into tart apple sauce in the oven. Cerinthus likes some apple chunks, so the apples are slightly thicker, and he likes green apples that are tart but that are not granny smith and he prefers them to be locally grown. This particular pie had braeburn apples. Both my father and Cerinthus like almost no sugar inside the pie, and no sugar on top of the crust.
So I made an apple pie before running my first group on Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling. The group went well and the pie went well. Cerinthus had a piece of pie and thoroughly enjoyed it, which made me feel good. When Ponticus came over, Cerinthus had a second piece of pie, and Ponticus had one as well. Then, the two of them got into a discussion over the best way to core and peel apples. Ponticus and Cerinthus began designing a machine to do the task-- entirely run by either cranks or levers. They spent an hour discussing the interworkings of the machinery, the slicing mechanism-- whether blades or a wire, how to remove the core from the apple, etc. It was great. Listening to the interworkings of the engineering was fabulous. This is the reason I love my friends.
Endnotes
- Ponticus was an epic poet in Propertius' circle. Propertius mentions Ponticus in poem VII. Ponticus is the ultimate rival against love.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Pre-Semester
I've been up at school in my apartment for a few days. Cerinthus has been fabulously wonderful and sweet. My thesis-- not so much. I haven't gotten to work on it at all, partially due to time constraints, partially due to my own laziness.
Cerinthus is beginning an architectural blog at my urging. He met a woman on the train who asked him if he had a card yet (although he's still in college he's been working for something like 5 summers now for different architectural firms. He started as an assistant, but started doing design work). He didn't, so he gave the woman his name and email address. I suggested that he start a blog to show off some of his architectural designs and link to the type of architecture in which he is interested. I might post a link when he gets the blog up and running.
Since the beginning of this last semester, I have been running a study group on Heidegger on Friday nights. The study group is named Being and Conference, after the text Being and Time, the book which we are reading and discussing. The conference is fun and productive. We have even had a couple of professors make guest appearances. It's been really nice. This week I'm running a Kierkegaard conference on Fear and Trembling starting tomorrow. I'm worried about this because it is much more spiritual than Heidegger and seems like it might be more difficult to discuss.
Cerinthus is beginning an architectural blog at my urging. He met a woman on the train who asked him if he had a card yet (although he's still in college he's been working for something like 5 summers now for different architectural firms. He started as an assistant, but started doing design work). He didn't, so he gave the woman his name and email address. I suggested that he start a blog to show off some of his architectural designs and link to the type of architecture in which he is interested. I might post a link when he gets the blog up and running.
Since the beginning of this last semester, I have been running a study group on Heidegger on Friday nights. The study group is named Being and Conference, after the text Being and Time, the book which we are reading and discussing. The conference is fun and productive. We have even had a couple of professors make guest appearances. It's been really nice. This week I'm running a Kierkegaard conference on Fear and Trembling starting tomorrow. I'm worried about this because it is much more spiritual than Heidegger and seems like it might be more difficult to discuss.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
In the daily mail
Cerinthus and I returned to school yesterday. Classes do not resume for a long while, but we get to spend the next week enjoying life in the apartment with work preparing for the semester (I must, of course, spend a lot of time working on my thesis), but not the same hustle and bustle of classes. We have been enjoying each others company as well as catching up on news, reading, grocery shopping, etc. Things are a little bit strange because Cerinthus got a haircut while he was home. It used to be quite long-- he wore sideburns and a ponytail (his hair was down to his shoulders). Now, it is quite short-- not a buzz cut or the like, but still only an inch-and-a-half or so long. He looks so incredibly different, especially because he also got a pair of glasses (he regularly wears contacts and he still does, but the glasses are for days when his allergies act up, etc) and is rather hard to accustom myself to it. However, it is lovely to see him again and to be back.
Today, being our first full day back, we went to check the mail. Although I was expecting one package, I ended up with four. One of them turned out to actually be for Cerinthus-- Acomdata repaired the harddrive that I accidently broke and sent it back to him. Oddly enough they sent him no warning. It was, however, a wonderful surprise and we now have another terabite of backup for pictures, movies, and music, which will be quite nice (and I don't feel so bad for accidentally messing it up, although they could not recover any of the data). A second package should have arrived before I left school-- it was some tea and a new head for my toothbrush from my lovely mother. Very nice and useful, even though it was late.
The last two items were orders from amazon.com. The first were the figure skate guards I bought for Cerinthus and me. Mine are silver glitz and his are red glitz. They are guard dog skate guards and I found they fairly easy to put together. We will probably go skating tomorrow, so I will get to test them out for real, but I like them so far.
The last package was the most exciting of all. I am actually using it right now. In the big amazon box was my Dell Inspiron 11z. YAY. I have had the same computer for the last 5 years. It was a fabulous laptop-- a Dell Inspiron 700m. It still works perfectly well, but because I am in the middle of my thesis, my wonderful parents decided that they should buy me a new laptop so that I would have it in case my old laptop crashed. I feel very sad, somehow, abandoning it, but I am glad to have a lighter, faster, more powerful laptop with a much bigger harddrive.
The one thing that I am having a real trouble with is Windows 7. It is too much like a Mac operating system. I understand the beauty of Mac operating systems but they just do not work for me. I do not love Windows operating systems either, but there was something less graphic and more manual about them that I appreciated which Windows 7 does not seem to have. I will have to continue using it and then evaluate it again.
Today, being our first full day back, we went to check the mail. Although I was expecting one package, I ended up with four. One of them turned out to actually be for Cerinthus-- Acomdata repaired the harddrive that I accidently broke and sent it back to him. Oddly enough they sent him no warning. It was, however, a wonderful surprise and we now have another terabite of backup for pictures, movies, and music, which will be quite nice (and I don't feel so bad for accidentally messing it up, although they could not recover any of the data). A second package should have arrived before I left school-- it was some tea and a new head for my toothbrush from my lovely mother. Very nice and useful, even though it was late.
The last two items were orders from amazon.com. The first were the figure skate guards I bought for Cerinthus and me. Mine are silver glitz and his are red glitz. They are guard dog skate guards and I found they fairly easy to put together. We will probably go skating tomorrow, so I will get to test them out for real, but I like them so far.
The last package was the most exciting of all. I am actually using it right now. In the big amazon box was my Dell Inspiron 11z. YAY. I have had the same computer for the last 5 years. It was a fabulous laptop-- a Dell Inspiron 700m. It still works perfectly well, but because I am in the middle of my thesis, my wonderful parents decided that they should buy me a new laptop so that I would have it in case my old laptop crashed. I feel very sad, somehow, abandoning it, but I am glad to have a lighter, faster, more powerful laptop with a much bigger harddrive.
The one thing that I am having a real trouble with is Windows 7. It is too much like a Mac operating system. I understand the beauty of Mac operating systems but they just do not work for me. I do not love Windows operating systems either, but there was something less graphic and more manual about them that I appreciated which Windows 7 does not seem to have. I will have to continue using it and then evaluate it again.
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