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Nov. 1st, 2008 08:31 pmI'm just taking a breather. In a minute I might make dinner. Today has been a little bit non-stop.
I taught, and I did a little bit of housework (which reminds me, did I leave that load of washing in the machine two days ago - oops - I'd better run it through again - never put a load of washing on just before you go out to teach!), and I made an emergency run to the chemist, and Griff dropped by to solve two of the three household breakdowns of this week, and I read some more of the submissions for Masques, and I finished reading a book (all about tractors in the Ukraine - I loved it).
I found out that my new grand-niece weighs 312 kg (new fathers should never txt crucial information, appears to be the moral of this story) and caught up on some backlogs of various stuffs and things of not much note.
Boswell's voyage to Scotland* fits in this 'things of not much note', but is actually of interest *and* note. It fell onto my stack of must-read books and I'm finally getting back to it. Boswell's travels were done after Bonnie Prince Charlie's little attempt to upset the British establishment and he tells a bunch of anecdotes. What he also does is show just how complex society was. He was welcome everywhere because he was (the name is a dead giveaway) Scottish with English inclinations and his companion was welcome everywhere either from politeness or because he was so famous.
Who they speak to and what they see is so very different to DK Broster's challenged society of the same period. Mind you, a part of this is because Boswell was really terribly naive. He and Mr Dictionary (who I really should call Dr Dictionary, because Boswell makes a point of talking about his doctorate/s) went round analysing things and telling everyone how they may better lead their lives. It's like a pair of young undergraduates who have learned to think but not to appreciate.
I shall be finished with the book today, I think and yes, it is part of my lending library. The Medieval stuff is only readable in situ, but this one may be borrowed by friends of sound mind who possess suitable senses of humour. It would be very good reading for anyone working on a New Ceres tale, now I think on it.
*lots of travel time today = lots of reading time
I taught, and I did a little bit of housework (which reminds me, did I leave that load of washing in the machine two days ago - oops - I'd better run it through again - never put a load of washing on just before you go out to teach!), and I made an emergency run to the chemist, and Griff dropped by to solve two of the three household breakdowns of this week, and I read some more of the submissions for Masques, and I finished reading a book (all about tractors in the Ukraine - I loved it).
I found out that my new grand-niece weighs 312 kg (new fathers should never txt crucial information, appears to be the moral of this story) and caught up on some backlogs of various stuffs and things of not much note.
Boswell's voyage to Scotland* fits in this 'things of not much note', but is actually of interest *and* note. It fell onto my stack of must-read books and I'm finally getting back to it. Boswell's travels were done after Bonnie Prince Charlie's little attempt to upset the British establishment and he tells a bunch of anecdotes. What he also does is show just how complex society was. He was welcome everywhere because he was (the name is a dead giveaway) Scottish with English inclinations and his companion was welcome everywhere either from politeness or because he was so famous.
Who they speak to and what they see is so very different to DK Broster's challenged society of the same period. Mind you, a part of this is because Boswell was really terribly naive. He and Mr Dictionary (who I really should call Dr Dictionary, because Boswell makes a point of talking about his doctorate/s) went round analysing things and telling everyone how they may better lead their lives. It's like a pair of young undergraduates who have learned to think but not to appreciate.
I shall be finished with the book today, I think and yes, it is part of my lending library. The Medieval stuff is only readable in situ, but this one may be borrowed by friends of sound mind who possess suitable senses of humour. It would be very good reading for anyone working on a New Ceres tale, now I think on it.
*lots of travel time today = lots of reading time