In Which the Author is Given News and Makes Travel Plans

Some weeks ago (about six), I wrote a little paper on the aduentus Saxonum and submitted it for consideration to the National Undergraduate Literature Conference hosted by  Weber State University in Ogden, UT. I believe that I mentioned this before.  At any rate, while waiting for a decision, I wrestled with whether it was something I really wanted to do.  While some of this was, no doubt, a product of me preparing myself for rejection, I must admit that Ogden is not exactly my first choice for a destination vacation. Further, I’d also been experiencing a bit of aggravation because dilettante flights and hotels are not precisely inexpensive and although I enjoy a certain standard of living, the best adjectives to describe my mode of living are “genteel” and “impoverished.”

When I arrived home from school on Wednesday, I received a text message from my friend and colleague J. who had also submitted a paper to the conference advising me to check my email. So, I duly checked my email thinking it could be anything from an email cancelling classes owing to the snow advisories, something from one of the Powers that Are in the department, or goodness only knows what. Anyway, there, sitting in my inbox, was an unread email from Conference Management To (the name was truncated) with the subject line of 2011 National Undegraduate Literature Conference. Here is a blow-by-blow description of what occurred, viz.:

Me:  <opens email and begins to read> This doesn’t look too good, sounds rather like the boilerplate of a rejection letter. O hullo! What’s this? We are pleased to inform you that your submission was accepted. <leaps from chair and performs a buck-and-wing dance before legging it down the hall to the sitting room>

“I say, roommate! They’ve accepted my paper! I’m off to Ogden!”

<exit, stage left, while performing a species of pastoral dance>

I then contacted J. and began making travel arrangements. These were finalized in short order: aeroplane tickets purchased, hotel room reserved, registration to the conference completed, vegetarian option at the banquet chosen, and the cocktail service indicated as required. Some may wonder why I chose the vegetarian option when I’m clearly not a vegetarian. The answer is quite simple. Our options for the banquet were a rib eye steak, mahi mahi, or a vegetarian option. I’m not, at the best of times, inclined to giant slabs of meat and I distrust on principle the fish option in a landlocked state. Consequently, the only thing which didn’t strike me as potentially poisonous or likely to result in my requiring an immediate angioplasty (especially after I checked out the *ahem* unique restaurant where the banquet is being held) was the vegetarian option.

In Which the Author Discusses Vegetation and Shares a Poem

One of the more enjoyable aspects of spring is, of course, the budding of leaves on the trees and the return of flowers. The mater spends a considerable amount of time pottering in the garden bedding up things or messing about with bits of rock and suchlike. The results are pleasing and, living in an apartment in the middle of Seattle, I miss the clumps of irises and such.

Consequently, I’ve been given some thought to doing some container gardening on the apartment balcony. Yes, I know, it means one more thing for me to deal with, but it would be nice to have some flowers and things to enjoy. Plus, it’d be an excellent opportunity to grow a tomato plant or two, perhaps some salad greens, and herbs as well. Why buy them if you can grow them?

Plus, in the summer, since my apartment is west facing, it gets very, very warm. If I had a trellis with something on it to help block the sun, it’d probably cool things down. Pehaps I could write a poem, “This Clematis Trellis Bower My Prison” or something.

I know my friend Gitte (cf. Talk Nerdy to Me) has had some success with this. I shall have to confer with her. I also purchased a handy little book on container gardening that I’ll work with next month.

Here’s a poem for you to enjoy by Gerard Manley Hopkins:

God’s Grandeur

THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;	5
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;	10
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

In Which the Author Discusses Shoes

My good and dear friend, Amy, posted a delightful piece on her blog about my personal favorite source of shoes: John Fluevog.

Naturally, how could I not respond in kind? Besides, I’ve been posting primarily about academic topics lately and that, I’m sure, gets boring for everyone after a while. One has to live a little. 

I should explain that I’ve had a love affair with John Fluevog shoes since the early nineties when I was working at Hastings in Coeur d’Alene, ID. There I came across my first Fluevog catalogue (back then, they’d mail them to you twice a year) and instantly fell in love with the shoes. I bought my first pair soon afterward. I still have this pair and I still rock them periodically.

I’m going to begin with the ladies’ shoes (because they really get some fabulous shoes) and then turn my attention to the men’s for obvious reasons. Let’s get started, shall we?

I have a thing for heels, I really do. In fact, there’s a picture of me as a child wearing my sister’s heels. In literary circles, this is known as foreshadowing. Astute readers who came of age in the nineties will recognize this shoe as the one worn by the lovely Lady Miss Kier from Deee-Lite on the album World Clique. In celebration of forty years of Fluevogs, this gem was recently reissued.

The Munster Black

Now this shoe is also a delightful number.  It’s evocative of the twenties and thirties which instantly increases its appeal to me. The line of the heel, the suede with patent trim! Simply too marvelous!

The Lanciano

 For the last of the ladies’ shoes, I shall now turn my attention to a pair of serious heels that are best described as delicious. Superb heels coupled with a high boot — What’s not to love?

The Gaga Boot

Righto. That’s enough from the ladies’ side of things.

So, gents, are you looking for a dress shoe that isn’t boring but won’t alarm the antediluvians on the board of directors or the give the tenure committee fits? Well, look no further. John has the shoe for you.

This delicious shoe is a classic. It is a particular favorite of mine and I yearn to add it to my collection of Fluevogs.

211 Carall Street

I really dislike wearing trainers. I think they’re generally ugly. Really, who designs them? Sure, you can run six miles up a mountain and not get a blister, but why would you wear them on a daily basis? Why wear unattractive shoes all the time? To solve the problem of casual and comfortable, here are these delightful numbers.

Future Angles – Will

Need to be a bit dressier, but not so dressy you’ll look out of place? These are my go to shoes for most situations and I always get complimented on them. In fact, I’m wearing mine today.

The Michael

 

I hope you’ve loved this little tour of the joy that is Fluevog. Remember, my birthday is a little over a month away. Gift certificates are always welcome. Or rush down and buy your own pair. Just remember:

 Don’t Delay, Fluevog Today!

In Which the Author Discusses Progress and Introduces New Links

It’s been a productive afternoon at the Suzzallo. It’s been blessedly quiet in here today. I think that this is due, in part, to the panem et circenses of the Super Bowl. I may also be entirely mistaken. At any rate, it has been conducive to thought and productivity. I’ve finished writing the essay for the English department scholarship application, written a thank you letter to the donors whose generous donation to the College of Arts and Sciences funded my grant, and I’ve made headway with regard to the glosses on Gildas identified by Grosjean. They provide support to my argument and I’m glad I spent the time re-reading his article. This was rather more difficult than reading articles by Lapidge or Dumville because it has not been translated yet and my command of French has grown rather rusty. Nevermind that my French teacher never taught me highly technical terms related to textual and manuscript studies. I’ll have to email him and tell him that he was very remiss in his duties.

Now I need to work on identifying the variants of the glosses to see what avenues they open up for me to explore. However, before I begin that, I’d like to draw your attention to several links to the right. I’ve added a few links, namely “Bright Confusion” and “Gazelles on Crack.” Both are written by friends and I trust you will enjoy them.

Right, back to work I go.

In Which the Author Surveys His Calendar and Makes Remarks

A brief survey of my calendar this week:

Important Things to Do this Week

Sunday — Work at the Suzzallo (finish scholarship application essay, write thank you note to donors who gave the money for my grant, continue examination of the variants of the lemmata, work on my article, write abstract for symposium)

Monday — Meet with the Good Doctor (present findings on variants thus far, show continuation of the article work, discuss my symposium topic/abstract), write brief response essay for my Classics course.

Tuesday — On campus late (until 9pm) for classes. During break, attend abstract writing session.

Wednesday — Mary Gates reception. UW Regents Bill Gates, Sr. and Kristi Gates Blake (elder sister of Bill Gates, Jr.) will be there. This should be rather fun.

Thursday — Same as Tuesday, but without the abstract writing session.

Friday — Definitely time for a cocktail!

Saturday — Work at the Suzzallo (continue examining variants, writing, etc.)

Fortunately, the library is open today until 10pm, so I should be able to get quite a lot of work done. It shouldn’t take me long to finish writing my scholarship essay and the thank you note; therefore, I’ll have plenty of time to chug through the variant glosses and add the six glosses which were identified by Grosjean as originating in the DEB to my material.

On a side note, a previous owner of Wealhþeow had adorned her with a University of Wisconsin (?!) window sticker and license plate holder. These things have been bugging the hell out of me since I brought Wealhþeow home. Yesterday, I finally got round to removing the window sticker and replacing it with a nice University of Washington sticker. The license plater holder is coming off today and a new UW one will replace it.

Yes. I know. Be quiet, you.

I have to admit that my conversation with the divisional dean last week really cheered me quite considerably. I’ve been rather disconsolate about the idea of leaving UW for grad school. Yes, I know we’re getting our budget cut to the quick by the vulgarians in Olympia, but I’ve really had such a positive experience here and I would love to keep working with the Good Doctor and other members of the professorate here. Anyway, if I’m high enough on the acceptance list, I may be able to get decent(ish) funding for UW. Here’s hoping!