What is history?

I'm in Grading Jail. And I've been procrastinating, so it's off to solitary for me tomorrow...

In the mean time, I ROFLMAO'd to Shit My Students Write. Did you know that "Through out history there have been various events that took place to shape the world in which we live in today"? Srsly!

(h/t More or Less Bunk)

Guess the Connections

Am I the only one who plays "Guess the connections" on LinkedIn? When I see a "you may know this person" and it shows the people we have in common in our Networks, I always try to guess who they are. Sometimes I'm right; sometimes I'm surprised. Surely I'm not alone. Right?

Declarative Voice! Okay?

This rolled through my Facebook feed this afternoon, and I am entranced.

The animation is beautiful, I have a love of fonts, and the poem is really quite wonderful.

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Exposure to sawdust...

... inevitable.

Just saw a job posting online for a dendrochronology [tree-ring dating] tech position at Cornell. Pretty standard stuff... educational requirements, etc. etc. And then, what they're *really* looking for:

"Very detailed visual acuity and concentration required, as is the ability to lift 20 lbs. Limited exposure to chemicals, although bleach is often used to discourage micro-floral growth on wet wood samples. Exposure to sawdust inevitable."

Translation: must have good eyesight, be moderately fit, not have ADHD, not mind the smell of bleach, and not be allergic to sawdust.

Next thing I'll see is an ad for an archaeologist that says "Exposure to dirt inevitable!" A good giggle for a snowy Friday.

Out of Grading Jail and Yay! Sun!

I just submitted my final grades for the semester, and am hereby liberated (temporarily) from Grading Jail (I have an approximately 3-week pass).

Happy lunar eclipse of a full moon on the winter solstice, all (yep, I'm totally setting my alarm). The ride to the darkest night of the year has been, well, dark. I am looking forward to welcoming back the sun.

Click here for some Ear Candy

Roller Derby

The Philthy Britches (in black) say hello to the Broad Street Butchers (in red), July 10, 2010

Home from the Roller Derby. Damn but the arena was sweltering! Had a blast... if anyone is interested, I heard that the only banked track in the East will soon be completed. Very old school; roadtrip!!!

Ready to race! (Philthy Britches vs. Broad Street Butchers) July 10, 2010

Out of my way! Heavy metal hookers (in lime green) vs. Charm City Speed Regime, July 10, 2010

And they're off! (Philthy Britches vs. Broad Street Butchers), July 10, 2010

RBOC

Some random randomness for the middle of this thankfully short week of too hot:

• I spent some time in a bridal store today. It was about half an hour. It was freaky and surreal. I've never spent time in a bridal store before, even though I'm almost 40. I do so have friends! Just not the marrying kind :) For the record, I think I need a drink to recover. All that polyester, shoddily made to survive a single wearing, for outrageous prices, and officious, hovering staff (well, except for the woman on the phone explaining to someone that, whoops, her dress WASN'T in). It was an alien place, and I am skeeved.
• It drives me bonkers when various groups are identified as ethnic groups, but white Western culture is never included in that category. Oh HAI! White "been here since forever" Americans ALSO constitute an ethnicity! It's like defining women by how they're not men; ethnicities get defined by how they differ from "the norm."
  
• I have poison ivy ON MY FACE. Granted, there are places that are soooooo very much worse to have it, but I was hoping to actually go out in public this weekend.
• I'm gearing up for grad school applications. Total Impostor Syndrome kicking in. What if they don't like me?!?!?!?! I will suck it up and cope, but holy roller coaster. I am very thankful to all the bloggy friends I read who have offered up suggestions on how not to apply to grad school, what to ask, who to ask, etc. etc. I will very likely bleg at some point in the near future for application letter feedbacks! In the mean time, I've scheduled my GRE for soon.
• I have an article coming out very soon on a ritual concealment. I am excited!
• If the stars align, I will be going to the Roller Derby for the first time this weekend. I will endeavor to arm myself with my camera!
  

That is all.

New Toy

I just bought a new digital camera. I've had my Olympus D-460 Zoom forever and a day now. The photos are still pretty good, and fine for work stuff, but I've noticed the quality starting to deteriorate. The colors are off, and at 1.3 megapixels, grainy for any sort of zooming in. The D-460 will be moving to my car to continue service as a work camera.

I just received a shiny new Kodak EasyShare Z915. One of the big office box stores just had a ridiculous sale on it; originally $199, they had it for $120. My test photo of my computer screen came out all fish-eyed and weird, but that may be because I'm practically sitting on it. I am looking forward to taking the camera out for a spin and putting it through its paces.

Sleep Away May : Pix!

Interior arch, Wiawaka, May 31, 2010

May has been busy, what with the online course, garage sales, regular work, etc. etc. But I've also managed to sneak away a couple of weekends.

Dance camp morning, May 1, 2010

At the beginning of the month, I went to a dance camp. It's a sleep away, where, for the entire weekend, you eat, sleep, and dance. I had a total blast. Only one picture from there; I was too busy dancing (or sleeping) for much more. The water was just cold enough that it felt good on my feet, but too cold to jump in.

Lake George shoreline, May 31, 2010

And, I've just returned home from a women's retreat up at Lake George, New York where I helped with their season-opening preparations. There were almost 40 of us there pitching in; a great time, and a stunning property. Georgia O'Keefe stayed there when she was a student. Opened in 1903, Wiawaka is the only remaining operational women's retreat center begun during the early twentieth-century women's rights movement. If you need to recharge your batteries, this is the place.

Upstairs Bathroom, Wiawaka, May 31, 2010


Labyrinth, Wiawaka, May 31, 2010

Remains of a springhouse, Wiawaka, May 31, 2010

Treefall, Wiawaka, May 31, 2010

OMG Maps! Strange Maps!

I love maps. And I love strangeness. So imagine my delight to discover the blog, "Strange Maps."

If you liked the Great Soda Divide, or you find yourself constantly referring to the map of strange lands printed on the inside cover of your fantasy fiction to figure out where the characters are, or if you like to look at familiar things in new and interesting ways...

... then check out Strange Maps. I am so totally hooked.


In honor of cool maps, I give you a detail of the c. 1639 "Manatus" map, zoomed in on Manhattan. Probably done by Vinckeboons; I love his Delaware River map as well.

Detail, from the Stony Brook University website. The original is at the Library of Congress -- search the Digital Map Collections for Manatvs.

Still alive...

Holy crap, it's been 18 days since I last posted. Needless to say, much is going on. The cold is gone, the deadline is now past (it made a lovely whooshing sound on its way by) and the project is now overdue. At least it's overdue on an internal deadline, and not a to-the-client deadline, though that is starting to become an issue. Some very, very cool stuff in this report, though. It has been very challenging to work through and to write, but very rewarding. There are bits and bobs to mull over here; I'll get to it.

In the rest of life... well, 'tis a roller-coaster. One minute I'm feeling very tall and together (h/t Clio); the next, the rug is gone and I'm free-falling. In an unpleasant sort of way. Much change is afoot; I may post more about it in the future. This is one of those "you can't go over, under, or around it, you must go THROUGH it" situations, and it does feel a lot like a brick wall sometimes. To those who've listened to me kvetch, or asked how I've been... truly, you've been more support than I can properly describe.

While I continue to pull myself together (or hold myself together, depending on the moment), here are some links:

Tired of Tea Party shenannigans in the media 24/7? Bully Bloggers presents The Cocktail Party, "a barstool-roots movement for left wing urban homosexuals and the people who love us." Sign me up! When do I get my membership card and copy of the agenda?

The University of Pennsylvania museum has an "Anthropologists in the Making" summer camp. How cool is that? They're hiring counselors.

The Promise is a multi-media presentation of the Civil Rights movement from the New Yorker. I was captivated.

Old is the New New posts a blog entry about Kymaerica, an alternate public history project that makes Places out of no-wheres, and Significant Events out of thin air. If you think historical markers are a little silly and irrelevant (or even if you think they're an important part of Public History and Public Memory), have a look.

And finally, a Food and Drink in Archaeology Conference. In April. In England. Add it to my list of conferences I'd love to attend, but won't be! Hopefully they post papers on the 'net, or publish a proceedings.


PS: I applied for the jobs. To quote the fine folks at the lottery, "if you don't play, you can't win." I'll worry about taking/not taking said jobs if they ask me if I want them :)

A Scientific Breakthrough in Feelings

"Every Lady Scientist Who Ever Did Anything (until recently)" By Kate Beaton

I love Kate Beaton. Smart, funny, and talented, she goes right to the heart of the funny in history. Even when it isn't really funny. (Yes, I'm one of those people who laughs at what apparently everyone else thinks are inappropriate moments.)

Rosalind Franklin produced much of the data used by Watson and Crick in identifying the double-helix formation of DNA, and apparently had actually beaten them to the punch. Watson and Crick got the Nobel. Rosalind got disappeared until the late 1960s, when Watson published his memoir acknowledging her major contributions. Rosalind died young; she was only 37 when she passed away.

Unfortunately, crap like this is not limited to the pure sciences. Nor is the practice dead, I'm afraid (though things are definitely better than they were).

Scenery and History

View of Cayuga Lake, taken near the Taughannock Falls Overlook, December 29.

I am home from the Great White North (which I cannot type without thinking of Bob and Doug McKenzie (those tuque-wearing hosers!) and hearing the theme song in my head...). I stopped, both on the way up and on the way back, at one of my favorite places, Taughannock Falls near Ithaca. What a difference a few days makes! For other pix of the falls posted on the blog, clicky here and here (it might just need it's own label...).

Taughannock Falls, December 24th. The rime really was blue.


Taughannock Falls, December 29. Misty!


Ice Flow, December 29.


Ice Falls, December 29

I also have two drunken photos of one of the last hand-operated elevators (and perhaps the first to be electrified) in the City of Toronto. The photos are not drunken, but I pretty much was. Yay for old friends, wine, and walking to the bar so no-one had to drive. Boo for digital cameras that don't compensate for inebriated users.

The Elevator at the Gladstone, December 28.

Elevator controls, Gladstone Hotel, December 28.

The elevator is even cooler than it looks; the ironwork is really amazing (hand-wrought, twisted, and in a basket-weave, with embellishments). We got a ride in it, which was a treat! To visit it, hit the Gladstone on Queen Street West. And don't forget to check out the very cool gargoyles on the exterior of the building. They have great food, too... including poutine. Alas, the kitchen was closed, so we didn't get to enjoy.

Almost Done!

I am in grading jail... though it *is* only 20 essays. Then I give my final exam at... wait for it... 7pm, Wednesday, December 23. Nice, yes? I will be returning essays that night, and be happy to see the backs of them. Then I put my butt, my ungraded finals, and assorted holiday presents in the car, and high-tail it North of the Border for holiday dinner on the 24th and a few days with old friends and family. Thankfully I can submit my grades online while I'm up there!

Good holidays to all, if I don't manage to post before then.

PS: Current vice: Hell's Kitchen, via my new nemesis, Hulu.

Margaret Atwood and The Science Scouts

Yes, I am aware that the title sounds like some horrible composition class attempt at B-movie science fiction... if there were composition classes that actually covered that, that is.

But... it is true. Margaret Freaking Atwood (who I completely adore in a total Geek Fandom way, and who my sisters freaking MET, and I am still jealous...) consulted, via Twitter, on the creation of a Science Scout badge.

I'm not sure which makes me happier... the fact that Margaret Atwood twitters, consults on Internet silliness, or that Science Scouts has a batch of new badges out...

Unfortunately, I cannot claim any of the new badges. :(

For the historians, though, I leave you a link to Margaret Atwood's poem, The Loneliness of the Military Historian. It's not just military dead bodies that get you dis-invited to dinner; archaeological dead bodies and researching dead bodies also qualify.

And... I must also leave you with Margaret Atwood's Goalie School. Yes, goalie. As in hockey. Look, just watch it, ok??

I do not knit...

I cannot knit. My mother tried to show me when I was young; I ended up with an oddly shaped bundle of knots that could not even pretend at being a scarf. I *do* do other needlework, but that's irrelevant. Because there are people who can not only knit a pair of socks simultaneously (as in, one process = 1 pair of socks, not two separate sock-making incidents = 1 pair of socks)... but will share how they do such magic, and recommend quantities of chocolate as part of the process.

I was agog. And now I want stripy socks. And chocolate.

h/t a stitch in time (nice sox, btw!)

Diversion

Just back from some away-time in a different part of upstate New York than before. Adirondacks, this time, which is gorgeous, even when October turns to November. While I sort my photos and compose my text for the more geeky historical archaeology-themed "what I did this weekend" post, here is a little diversion.

Lets call the chipmunk Waldo. Can you find hir?

Hint: You can click on the picture to embiggen.

Ah, Those Wacky Resurrection Men!

Trained in History, Kate Beaton creates comics based on historical events and people. Sometimes, she takes liberties. Sometimes, she doesn't have to. Always hilarious. I love her stuff; she's in my blogroll over there as Hark, A Vagrant! As much as I'm dying to post images of her fantastic "History is Serious" shirt, and to her Ben Franklin flying a kite shirt, I will content myself with links. Because this post is about Resurrection Men.

I posted earlier about resurrection men acquiring recently-dead bodies for use in anatomy classes. When freshly-dead bodies were not forthcoming, some resurrectionists resorted to a DIY approach, and became murderers. Kate Beaton posted a comic recently recounting the exploits of Burke and Hare, infamous providers of cadavers who weren't quite dead when Burke and Hare first met them. In her post, Kate links to the following, which was entirely too good not to share:




Edited to make the YouTube thingy not quite so enormous.

Mail Delay

I came home to a small package in the mail. "Return to Sender" stamped on it. "WTF?" I thought, "I haven't mailed anything like this in the last few weeks..." Checked return address; yep, mine. Looked at the date on the postage meter stamp. Looked again. December 17, 2001. TWO THOUSAND AND ONE! Hello, like, almost 8 years ago? And it turns up undeliverable... NOW?

Just for fun, I entered the Delivery Confirmation number into the post office website. Below is the entire roster of information:

• Arrival at Post Office, August 27, 2009, 6:47 am, FORT WORTH, TX 76107
• Undeliverable as Addressed, August 27, 2009, 8:06 am, FORT WORTH, TX 76107

Where on earth has this packet been? I hope it went somewhere interesting for the last 8 years, and wasn't jammed in some machine that whole time.

Perhaps it is a message; that even where you think you know where something's been the last 8 years, it can be lost. And maybe even returned to you, even though the intended recipient went without.

Torture is not funny.

Torture is absolutely not funny. And it is a horrible thing when you become what you once despised.

However.

This "leaked torture memo" posted over at Progressive Historians is VERY funny. I laughed my [redacted] off.