Miscellaney
It has been an interesting week. A very good
conference at my home institution has taken up a lot
of my and Patti's time, filling it with interesting
new people, much-missed old friends and fascinating
discussions.
And the birds have been active too. We had a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird come to one of our new creeping vines and an American Redstart at the feeder. Too bad on both occasions the camera was not within reach.
And I actually sat down a couple of times at the laptop to work on the Harry Potter Concordance. I'm near the beginning of The Goblet of Fire right now, which means Harry and his friends are at the Quidditch World Cup. Lots and lots of characters flit on and off stage here, many of whom never reappear but, for thoroughness' sake, I have to catalogue them all. I spent an hour and completed only four pages of the novel.
Whenever I'm conducting a mundane task (like cooking or doing dishes), I set up my portable DVD player and watch an episode of The Original Series (TOS) of Star Trek. I've watched the entire first season and eight episodes of the second so far. It's interesting to see the arc of different television series and how long it takes them to hit their stride. I think the latter half of the first and early part of the second seasons are by far the best of TOS: with the characters established and most of the technology settled, the stories are stronger and deeper.
I have also been watching out for quotes I can use in my "Star Trek on Women" film-clip montage and there is no shortage of stuff (note, these are paraphrases, not direct quotes):
1) "Brain and brain, what is brain!" from "Spock's Brain";
2) Kirk despairing about how his good female officers all leave the service once they find husbands in "Who Mourns for Adonais?";
3) The highly respected, very successful Federation peace envoy who finally admits that her life is empty without the love of a good man in "Metamorphosis"; and
4) Spock telling a visiting computer that Uhura is a woman, which explains why the computer finds her erratic and emotional.
I have to admit, when I start to line up the evidence like that, I wonder how I could possibly watch the show at all. And it was considered advanced in the 1960s.
Meanwhile, we have rain in the forecast for the next week so I may find myself with more indoor time to write or work on other creative projects. The lawn is going crazy but the garden is, for the most part, looking great.
And, of course, the US Men's Open Golf Tournament is on this weekend. Watching golf always makes me miss my Mom even more. We'd watch golf together and marvel at the greatness that is Tiger Woods or take shots at Phil Mickelson or just wonder at the beautiful weather. This is my first US Men's Open without her, the first of many other such firsts I'll have to endure.
And the birds have been active too. We had a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird come to one of our new creeping vines and an American Redstart at the feeder. Too bad on both occasions the camera was not within reach.
And I actually sat down a couple of times at the laptop to work on the Harry Potter Concordance. I'm near the beginning of The Goblet of Fire right now, which means Harry and his friends are at the Quidditch World Cup. Lots and lots of characters flit on and off stage here, many of whom never reappear but, for thoroughness' sake, I have to catalogue them all. I spent an hour and completed only four pages of the novel.
Whenever I'm conducting a mundane task (like cooking or doing dishes), I set up my portable DVD player and watch an episode of The Original Series (TOS) of Star Trek. I've watched the entire first season and eight episodes of the second so far. It's interesting to see the arc of different television series and how long it takes them to hit their stride. I think the latter half of the first and early part of the second seasons are by far the best of TOS: with the characters established and most of the technology settled, the stories are stronger and deeper.
I have also been watching out for quotes I can use in my "Star Trek on Women" film-clip montage and there is no shortage of stuff (note, these are paraphrases, not direct quotes):
1) "Brain and brain, what is brain!" from "Spock's Brain";
2) Kirk despairing about how his good female officers all leave the service once they find husbands in "Who Mourns for Adonais?";
3) The highly respected, very successful Federation peace envoy who finally admits that her life is empty without the love of a good man in "Metamorphosis"; and
4) Spock telling a visiting computer that Uhura is a woman, which explains why the computer finds her erratic and emotional.
I have to admit, when I start to line up the evidence like that, I wonder how I could possibly watch the show at all. And it was considered advanced in the 1960s.
Meanwhile, we have rain in the forecast for the next week so I may find myself with more indoor time to write or work on other creative projects. The lawn is going crazy but the garden is, for the most part, looking great.
And, of course, the US Men's Open Golf Tournament is on this weekend. Watching golf always makes me miss my Mom even more. We'd watch golf together and marvel at the greatness that is Tiger Woods or take shots at Phil Mickelson or just wonder at the beautiful weather. This is my first US Men's Open without her, the first of many other such firsts I'll have to endure.