Jane

Never Ending Excitement!

2008-08-20T08:08:00.000-05:00

The riding snail from The Never Ending Story at Bavaria Film Studio!

Good morning, Munich!

2008-08-20T03:02:00.000-05:00

Beer for breakfast in Munich- mmm! (There was also Weisswurst & pretzels)

London!

2008-08-19T01:08:00.001-05:00

Arrived London after tedious flight (bad movies, poor food, screaming kids). Waiting for Jess at train, super early. At least arrived!

Bon voyage

2008-08-18T06:33:00.002-05:00

Alright, dear reader, yours truly is all packed and ready to go and, actually, about to leave for the airport. Assuming that AT&T did not fabricate things to me, there will (likely) be blogging from the trip via phone. Huzzah! Now, though, must drive to the airport as today am flying DC to Chicago, then Chicago to London. Tomorrow morning: a LOT of transport changes having, hopefully, slept at least 5 hours on the flight. Fingers crossed, dear reader, that Jess and I are able to successfully navigate ourselves to Munich! (This is a full day's travel -- we will need those crossed fingers!) Tata!

MOMENTOUS POST

2008-08-17T00:45:00.000-05:00

Dear reader! I have finished my translation! No more blogging about it, complaining about it! Now there will only be using the proceeds of it to do various things like a) finance the trip to Germany and b) pay off past credit card debt. Huzzah!

As it turned out, that chapter about ships that I was talking about before DID in fact involve pirates as there was a lengthy history of the role of military hospital ships in modern times, including in, apparently, maneuvers against north African pirate states. Awesome! The awesomeness of this, however, was severely tempered by lengthy lengthy discussions of horrible things Nazis were doing as well as a lot of quoted Nazi philosophy. It was just a bit much.

But now I am done. Huzzah, dear reader! Huzzah!

News unrelated to the conflict in Georgia

2008-08-16T22:35:00.000-05:00

Military penguin becomes a Sir <-- A video in which Norwegians knight a penguin.

Bookstore roundup

2008-08-16T18:56:00.000-05:00

Today went to Borders and, although really wanted to buy some things (some things that were on buy one get one half off sale), restrained myself to wait until same go down to one cent used so can get them for half the half-price (incl. shipping) from Amazon. Sigh. Will be very happy when grad student serfdom ends and can actually afford things like new books. What luxury! Eventually the dream will come true.

Meanwhile, have been making good progress on the translation, but this is boring and hopefully soon can tell you all about how I have FINISHED the TRANSLATION and never have to BLOG about it again. Yes! Meanwhile, nothing new there except a brief note that a) Nazis were sketchy from a moral standpoint and b) I'm really glad that I don't have kidney issues and, if I did, that I wouldn't be treated by Nazis. I suppose both good things.

That picture below taken (and blogged!) from my camera phone at lunch today with Katie. We had fabulous desserts, which neither of us could finish. But they were fabulous. And stuff. Hard to believe that the summer is already winding down. Tomorrow a day of laundry, packing, and then Monday -- off the Europe! Oy. Time to translate.

Dessert!

2008-08-16T13:39:00.000-05:00

Dessert!

Science Tattoo Emporium

2008-08-15T10:49:00.000-05:00

Science Tattoo Emporium <-- Collection of images of science tattoos! My favorite is the guy with the double helix standing next to James Watson. Also Orion is good. Pretty awesome. (Link from Kristin)

Masters of Strategy

2008-08-14T00:36:00.000-05:00

Vladimir Putin's mastery checkmates the West <-- a pretty smart take on the Georgia conflict and Russia's motivations from an op ed column in the London Times. This one puts a really interesting spin on things. (Compare to that Wash Post one below for more amusement)

Reasonable coverage

2008-08-13T23:04:00.000-05:00

An article that actually did a decent job of presenting what's going on without a particular bias on either side by a Western news source appeared in the Wall Street Journal (full text copied onto Russia Blog) today. Thought you all might be curious to read it... (although I somehow suspect that of all of you, dear readers, I am the one that cares the most about this issue).

Russia claims media bias

2008-08-13T17:14:00.000-05:00

Russia claims media bias <-- This article in Variety gives perhaps a more general overview of what's going on. It's so frustrating to have both sides reporting outlandish things and only parts of each part being true. Anyway, I am blogging this because I feel like it gives a good look at what's going on with both sides in terms of media biasing. But, really, who can know for sure?

Sarkozy-Medvedev Agreement

2008-08-13T17:04:00.000-05:00

Was just reading about this and am pleased to note that at least Sarkozy seems to be being sensible about the whole thing (much better than a lot of the Western news media/Western heads of state who took incorrect information and broadcast it as fact, adding pictures that didn't match what they said it was, ahem CNN). Glad that they have reached an agreement, that somebody with sense that was distant from the conflict stepped in to get the two leaders to agree to something, and that people now seem to be realizing that there was a lot of nonsense and false things being reported with people being quick to jump on the "Oh no! Russia is evil!" ship without really knowing the information about the situation.

For some hilarity in this regard, check out Putin Makes his Move, an op ed that appeared in the Wash Post yesterday by Robert Kagan in which he compares Medvedev/Putin sending troops to South Ossetia to Hitler invading Czechoslovakia. He also does some fun making up/ignoring historical facts to make the Nazi invasion and the build up to it fit more closely with the events that he's basically, as far as I can tell, made up or seriously embellished about the Russia-Georgia conflict. Come on, seriously? This sort of journalistic irresponsibility really makes me steamed.

Finally!

2008-08-13T01:50:00.000-05:00

Too Many Arguments, Not Enough Facts <-- I have not been blogging about the Georgia-Russia conflict in South Ossetia on here because, frankly, I don't have all the facts and I feel ill-qualified to make a decisive opinion one way or the other. Also because the American/Western media seems to be having a field day pointing fingers without checking their facts or even bothering to get an opinion other than the highly propagandistic Georgian press conferences (given in English for the convenience of the Western media, btw). Handy, no? Anyway. The whole thing makes me so steamed I can barely watch coverage of it and have been reading a broad spectrum of reports, Russian, European, and sometimes American (the New York Times had a semi-reasonable article on the situation yesterday). But THIS POST (same as link above) on Russia Blog is about the most sensible thing I've read yet. Yeah, it doesn't have answers, but the questions it poses are important ones and should maybe be considered by various people (ahem "We are all Georgians" McCain) before they go picking sides and making half-assed resolutions about what Ought to Be Done. Good grief.

ER revisited (note: not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach)

2008-08-12T23:38:00.000-05:00

Spent my day taking care of my sister, who had a tonsillectomy yesterday. This involved crushing vicodin using medieval herbalist tools (mortar, pestle), funneling it into a small bottle, mixing it with water. Also cleaning up vomit, filling hot water bottles and other things to help with general icky feelings, making some good mac and cheese and, later, inspecting same in its regurgitated state to make sure blood level was "normal". Also a quick jaunt to CVS to get a new prescription of antibiotics filled after she coughed up the first 2 doses. Fun! After an afternoon of this, my sister got very dehydrated and was unable to keep down antibiotics, nausea meds, or vicodin. In intense pain, we drove her to the ER, where she got blood drawn, vomited up green things (allegedly just bile, but I seriously doubt bile is that radioactive green color -- it resembled ectoplasm more than anything else... watery ectoplasm), got an IV drip (pictured below) and, eventually, was released after having also had drips of new pain killers and nausea meds, the type that are liquid or dissolve under your tongue, so no need to swallow. A stop at an obliging 24 hour CVS later and we were good to go home. Oy. What a day. Suffice to say, no translation got done today. Am hoping for a better feeling sister and more productive translation experience tomorrow.

ER (not the tv show)

2008-08-12T21:05:00.000-05:00

My evening in a single pic (that's my sister with her IV fluid drip).

Herculaneum bits

2008-08-11T13:29:00.000-05:00

In search of Western civilisation's lost classics <-- Article about work to conserve and discover scrolls at the buried Villa de Papyri near Herculaneum. I thought this was interesting, which is why I'm posting it. Also because it sort of speaks to the other end of the spectrum of academic life than the previous post. Yes, there are issues with bureaucracy, students-as-consumers, people viewing education as a commodity and/or sadly not taking theirs seriously. But, on the other hand, there are things like this. Amazing discoveries (related, granted, in rather melodramatic tones: "If the Villa of the Papyri were to contribute nothing more to the 21st century than the taming of consumption, it might help save the planet as well as the soul.") and exciting knowledge waiting to be unlocked! Maybe I'm being melodramatic.

Anyway, as regards the student with the honor violation at Mr. J's-- yeah, Mr. J's does have a strict honor code and, yeah, a lot of schools don't or don't take theirs seriously. As technology and the internet becomes more and more a tool that students have at their fingertips constantly (literally -- I can now access wikipedia from my phone), plagiarism becomes an issue more and more (as does students not understanding that quoting verbatim without using quotes or citing sources, even if it is factual information, is plagiarism). The saddest part about this is that students aren't taught any better and that a lot of people don't seem to care. Anyway. I stand by my initial judgment: good for Mr J's for upholding the honor code, and shame on the American media for blowing this out of proportion.

Ye Olde Honor Code

2008-08-11T11:03:00.000-05:00

Student kicked off ship in Greece for plagiarism <-- Now that's justice. Although, admittedly, it sounds kind of ludicrous here. Still. I'm pleased that they continue to be serious about their honor code. So much of academia seems to be about getting cheaters by and not dealing with them.

Weekend reduxor, Confessional

2008-08-11T00:40:00.000-05:00

Spent the weekend not doing much -- just sort of hanging out and socializing. This was a nice change from the translation frenzy that I have been experiencing.

I suppose, since most of you who read this and actually know me know this anyway, that I ought to mention that I've been in Virginia all summer. Basically, I've been hiding out. No one much knew I was here and, because of that, I was able to get a lot of work done. Plus, my parents have several key elements including home cooked meals, central air conditioning, and a DVR that records HGTV shows so I can watch them in the middle of the night. Since I usually live off of take out, frozen food, sandwiches and salads and since my apartment in Chicago lacks both central air and HGTV, I figured this was a much better deal. But, anyway, my secret is out now. I am emerging from underground (I figure that picture of Jason and Sarah at dinner last night sort of confirmed it anyway), but think I did a pretty good job of concealing my whereabouts for two months. Not too shabby.

Anyway, since I explained that on here, now I can tell you what a lovely weekend I had. I spent Saturday catching up with Cobi on a long walk we had, then went to Rosemary's Thyme for fabulous food with Jason and Sarah. Then today had a lengthy chatty lunch with Kristin and Caryn. It was nice to be social after a somewhat limited existence this summer. Although, the quiet has been nice too. As has the family bonding time.

Now have one last week to get translations done and nurse my sister through her tonsillectomy and then am off to Europe for 10 days. Exciting! I am counting the days until this trip. It should be really excellent. For one, I am meeting up with Jess and it's been awhile. For two, I am meeting up with a lot of old friends, who I rarely see. And for three, the meetings are taking place in Germany, a place I love that has fabulous food and castles! What could be better? OH yes. There is the added bonus that I'm going to a wedding of a good friend AND it is within 30 mins of Jane Austen's cottage at Chawton, so there will be not only dressy dancing and joy, but also Jane. Huzzah, dear reader!

Proof

2008-08-09T19:27:00.000-05:00

Proving phone is awesome!

Boredom

2008-08-08T14:26:00.000-05:00

This is what boredom looks like... Now back to work!

Perfect

2008-08-08T14:20:00.001-05:00

Today perfect summer weather: sunshine with clouds, temps in the upper 70s with a bit of a breeze making it comfortable, and a really nice non-humid air quality. I've got my window open and my music playing, and it's actually making this translation go a bit faster. Well, maybe not. The current chapter I am doing, for those who are curious, is about different types of special holding hospitals. The guy who wrote it, former Nazi medic and really dry academic that he is, clearly has some grammatical issues going on. He often writes grammatically wrong sentences, which makes my rendering into English pretty poor. Do I fix his grammar (often it is something like "The hospital either had to report to the army high command on alternating Thursdays," so impossible to fix), or do I let my translation suck? My solution is to ignore the grammar and my own unease at making an unsatisfactory translation in an effort to get done faster. I'm almost 100% sure that NO ONE will read this when I am done with it. Awesome!

Things I would rather be doing than translating this boring and poorly written dreck (in no particular order):
- working on my JASNA outfit
- reading my Pelevin novel
- working on my Karamzin paper for December
- organizing my iTunes
- working on the DVD to video project
- reading up on San Francisco for the December conference
- watching the Bob Woodruff Primetime special on China and its global links that was on earlier this week that I haven't had time to watch yet
- working on my romance novel
- reading for my dissertation
- power walking
- replying to emails
- reading my new issue of Jane Austen's Regency World that arrived 2 days ago that I haven't had time to read yet
- reading the scholarly journals that have appeared this summer that I haven't had time to read yet
- playing Diner Dash 2 on my new phone
- working on my teaching portfolio
....

Yeah, that's a long list. Even chapter 10 (about hospital ships! maybe there will be pirates!) looks better than this horrible chapter 9 mess.

Pages done: 4
Pages to be done: 10

Onward!

A new tactic

2008-08-08T00:57:00.003-05:00

Since I seem to be unable to get work done during the day of late, my new tactic for getting this translation (yes, still translating! although had a major breakthrough two days ago as finished the stupid chapter 8 notes -- a big deal on this project!) pushed out of the way is to caffeinate myself and spend my insomniac hours productively working. Then take naps during the day. We shall see if this works. I have my doubts, but, I figure, nothing ventured nothing gained. More soon, assuming there is more to write :-)

A little weirdness on this Thursday

2008-08-07T14:34:00.000-05:00

Annals of Crime: The Chameleon <-- Strange article in The New Yorker about a really shady character and his many talents. Seriously, it must be read to be believed, and even then I don't believe it fully. Enjoy!

Recent accomplishments

2008-08-06T21:59:00.000-05:00

The translation is still not done. It is sort of the all-consuming thing in my life right now. I did finish the horrid notes. And commenced with the 9th chapter. So that's something. The next two weeks are definitely fully devoted to that. With a little sewing on the side. As for the sewing project, my chemise is cut out and pinned together. Part of it is sewn. I have a sneaking suspicion that the sizing is not accurate to the measurements, but I figure it is underclothes so I can just rip and resew if there are Issues. Better to figure this out before cutting the pretty fabric, I think!

No other real news from here. There's sewing, there's translation, and, soon, there will be a Karamzin paper. We'll just see how it all goes. Hard to believe how quickly this summer is flying by. I'm not sure I'm ready for the fall to start yet.