Did you know that at the University of Texas in Austin, right this minute, there is a man who enjoys the title "Superior Oil - Linward Shivers Professor of French?"

Because there is. There is also a Superior Oil - Linward Shivers Centennial Professor of Medieval Studies Emeritus for him to sip sherry with, should he choose.

OK, don't ever tell me that the music you listen to doesn't affect what you write. Usually I write my reports while listening to--well, a variety of things, but all composed in the last ten years. But today I'm working from my parents' house, far from my usual playlists, and I've cued up a cd of renaissance and medieval songs I loved in high ( Read more... )

Gosh, I wish someone would wander into my room and say "Sweetheart, it's 4 AM. What say you go to bed?" Maybe I should get married or something.

Today's headline: Scientists Create Cloak of Invisibility. Awesome. I read the article, and thought "I want a picture! Why no picture?" and then I realized. I want a picture of something not being visible?

But I do.

A month or so ago, my roommate and I were out for cocktails on what turned out to be an epic night. As the epic part started to really swing into gear, we decided it would be a fantastic idea to perform plays on the subway. We had reasons. Keen love for the city. For subway history. For narrative. Serial and episodic structures. Teenage ability ( Read more... )

(These are the (cough) notes I took during while listening to a speech so wildly dull I thought it must numb the speaker's teeth going out. Regret to state it didn't inspire the room itself to attack--but if it had, this is how it would have happened ( Read more... )

So I've been bicycling. Bicycling, I've decided, is where it's at ( Read more... )

Today I would like to post an Ode to the Shawl. I began with a green one, bought last year at an Indian dealer's across the street, and now I have several back-ups of sensuous materials and mighty durability, because it has come in so damn handy ( Read more... )

Off to give another speech--at Disneyworld this time. Bother, I forgot my camera. Means no pictures of me weaseling out of roller-coaster rides. (Many of my friends and relatives like amusement parks. Funfairs, carnivals, all those places. Me, I say if I ever want to be upside-down and queasy, I'll get drunk and practice standing on my head. ( Read more... )

Did you know that Edison electrocuted an elephant at Coney Island in order to prove that AC was more dangerous than DC?

The elephant was named "Topsy."