Update
The new in brief:
-Yesterday was one year since my accident. To commemorate it, last night after our lecture/departmental dinner, Matthieu and I went to Target and I brought home the new member of the family.
I haven't figured out what to name it yet. I was happily planning to go through my life with Bucephalus II, III, IV, etc -- but it doesn't seem quite so auspicious anymore. I think I need something new.
Rocinante is my immediate impulse, but I could try to find something a little more Celtic. Rhiannon is maybe too Welsh-specific (and it's the name of a Welsh friend); Epona is maybe too geeky? And if Epona is too geeky, Sleipnir is right out. Svaðilfari is tempting, but it means "unlucky traveler" and I don't think I need any more bad luck, thank you very much. Macha, maybe? Llamrei? Any suggestions?
Anyway, I haven't taken it out yet. In fact, it's still in its wrappings. But it's been a year, my orthopedic surgeon encouraged me yesterday morning to start riding again (to strengthen the muscle that'll fix some of my knee pain), my physical therapist is all for it -- so it's about time to get back in the saddle, as it were. I'm probably not going to commute to class any more unless I can find a route that avoids the Washington/Kirkland St, but still -- there are parks, there are bike trails, there are nice wide roads with bike lanes. I need to get over how spooked this accident made me.
But anyway, in further celebration of my not being dead, Matthieu and I are meeting Aled and Ekin, who's back in town from Istanbul this week, for dinner tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing them -- we don't get to see Aled anywhere near enough, and I haven't seen Ekin since last summer. I miss them both.
-In other news, it's the end of the semester. OMG. I'm currently writing papers on cedar-bark woven hats of the Nootka people and cross-dressing in Old Norse sagas, and preparing for a huge, terrifying Old Irish exam. And I have less than 2 weeks. Doable, but still -- Yipe.
-I've been compiling my reading list for the last week. It seems like every time I meet with someone to talk about it, they say the same thing: "This list is very ambitious. This is a long, long list. This is a lot of books. Add the follow 15 texts." So far, only one professor has been kind enough to say, "You know, if we're prioritizing, let's give you this book, and then you can cross that one out."
The good news is that they seem to like the structure of it. Reading lists in our department are generally divided into 5 sections according to the students' interests ("Medieval Irish Law," "The Medieval Welsh Manuscript Tradition," "Prophetic Poetry in the Celtic Countries," etc), and mine are Medieval Irish and Welsh History and Literature (that one usually occupies almost all of the reading list), Gaelic Literature in its National Context (Gaelic, Scots, and Scottish English; Irish and Anglo-Irish), The Celtic Countries and Romanticism in the European Long 19th Century (Ossian, Iolo Morganwg, Celtic Twilight, the Barzaz-Breiz), Celtic Folklore in an International Context (folklore from Celtic countries, folklore it can be compared to, and folkloristics/anthropological theory), and Sociolinguistics and Language Planning and Policy. I'll post it and/or email it to those who want it once I've gotten a couple more people's input (it's still very much a rough draft). Prof. McKenna said she was really looking forward to my exam, which I think is good :) I'm actually kind of looking forward to doing the reading, terror notwithstanding.
I think that's about the news I've got; I'm going to do some reading about the cultural/religious significance of cedar in the NW Coast First Nations. Hope y'all are doing well!
-Yesterday was one year since my accident. To commemorate it, last night after our lecture/departmental dinner, Matthieu and I went to Target and I brought home the new member of the family.
I haven't figured out what to name it yet. I was happily planning to go through my life with Bucephalus II, III, IV, etc -- but it doesn't seem quite so auspicious anymore. I think I need something new.
Rocinante is my immediate impulse, but I could try to find something a little more Celtic. Rhiannon is maybe too Welsh-specific (and it's the name of a Welsh friend); Epona is maybe too geeky? And if Epona is too geeky, Sleipnir is right out. Svaðilfari is tempting, but it means "unlucky traveler" and I don't think I need any more bad luck, thank you very much. Macha, maybe? Llamrei? Any suggestions?
Anyway, I haven't taken it out yet. In fact, it's still in its wrappings. But it's been a year, my orthopedic surgeon encouraged me yesterday morning to start riding again (to strengthen the muscle that'll fix some of my knee pain), my physical therapist is all for it -- so it's about time to get back in the saddle, as it were. I'm probably not going to commute to class any more unless I can find a route that avoids the Washington/Kirkland St, but still -- there are parks, there are bike trails, there are nice wide roads with bike lanes. I need to get over how spooked this accident made me.
But anyway, in further celebration of my not being dead, Matthieu and I are meeting Aled and Ekin, who's back in town from Istanbul this week, for dinner tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing them -- we don't get to see Aled anywhere near enough, and I haven't seen Ekin since last summer. I miss them both.
-In other news, it's the end of the semester. OMG. I'm currently writing papers on cedar-bark woven hats of the Nootka people and cross-dressing in Old Norse sagas, and preparing for a huge, terrifying Old Irish exam. And I have less than 2 weeks. Doable, but still -- Yipe.
-I've been compiling my reading list for the last week. It seems like every time I meet with someone to talk about it, they say the same thing: "This list is very ambitious. This is a long, long list. This is a lot of books. Add the follow 15 texts." So far, only one professor has been kind enough to say, "You know, if we're prioritizing, let's give you this book, and then you can cross that one out."
The good news is that they seem to like the structure of it. Reading lists in our department are generally divided into 5 sections according to the students' interests ("Medieval Irish Law," "The Medieval Welsh Manuscript Tradition," "Prophetic Poetry in the Celtic Countries," etc), and mine are Medieval Irish and Welsh History and Literature (that one usually occupies almost all of the reading list), Gaelic Literature in its National Context (Gaelic, Scots, and Scottish English; Irish and Anglo-Irish), The Celtic Countries and Romanticism in the European Long 19th Century (Ossian, Iolo Morganwg, Celtic Twilight, the Barzaz-Breiz), Celtic Folklore in an International Context (folklore from Celtic countries, folklore it can be compared to, and folkloristics/anthropological theory), and Sociolinguistics and Language Planning and Policy. I'll post it and/or email it to those who want it once I've gotten a couple more people's input (it's still very much a rough draft). Prof. McKenna said she was really looking forward to my exam, which I think is good :) I'm actually kind of looking forward to doing the reading, terror notwithstanding.
I think that's about the news I've got; I'm going to do some reading about the cultural/religious significance of cedar in the NW Coast First Nations. Hope y'all are doing well!