Francesca Forrest's Blog, page 155

From Inside Higher Ed: "Social Theory Through Complaining"

wakanomori called my attention to this hilarious parodic course description by Kieran Healy in Inside Higher Ed: "Social Theory Through Complaining."

The course description notes that

You are required to attend under protest, write a paper that’s a total waste of your time, and complain constantly. Passive-aggressive silence will not be sufficient for credit.

The course schedule gets off to a good start in week one with "Introduction: This Has Nothing to Do with My Research Interests" and inclu...

What happened here?

Death to all zombies via a bullet to the brain!
What giant mosquitos do lurk in the woods after a rainstorm!
The curious tale of a woodpecker who mistook Asakiyume's face for a tree.
When a tree limb falls in the forest, and you go to pull it out of the path, does it fight back?
The reader explains--in comments.

osprey_archer on Clockwork

osprey_archer reviews the book Clockwork here , and it's a terrific, thoughtful entry, even if, like me, you haven't read the book in question. I love her contrasting of clockwork and steam power:

Clockwork is not propelled by electricity or steam but seems to go of itself. It is the technology of fairy tales ... Steam seems to conquer time and chance, to bend nature to our will; clockwork only counts, remorselessly, and reminds us that time and chance happen to us all.

(Visit her entry to comme...

Durfee's roses

I went back for my last shot before my trip (on AUGUST 2! So excited!) and once again passed the lovely roses by the Durfee Conservatory... and this time I had my camera!









And maybe you'd like to take a look into the conservatory itself?

Today is the day to talk about Readercon

This entry is just about panels and readings. It doesn't talk about two of the most wonderful parts of the con, which was getting to meet people I've always wanted to meet and getting to talk at some length with a few people I've always wanted to talk to (nor does it talk about the people I wish I'd managed to talk to more--always my biggest regret at Readercon).

Claire Cooney and Caitlyn Paxson's workshop on performing your work

This was fascinating. I was only able to attend the first part of...

mugwort tea and kite patch

mugwort tea

A cool drink for a hot day, an infusion of mugwort leaves. Mugwort grows so tall, pale and silvery on one side, olive green on the other; I just pick the tips, pretending I'm harvesting tea. Well, it will be a tea of sorts.

It has a scent like chrysanthemum and pine. Here's leftovers from the first batch:



It looks like rich pond scum doesn't it? But it's delicious and cooling.

kite patch

This is an amazingly innovative idea for a fighting mosquito-born diseases like malaria, dengue fev...

a couple of random thoughts on Pacific Rim

I rarely want to go see a film in theaters, and if you told me three weeks ago I'd *want* to go see a mecha-versus-monster movie, I'd have given you my best attempt at a raised eyebrow, but the combination of the ninja girl and Little Springtime **both** enthusing over it, sovay 's thoughts on it, and intertribal 's endorsement on FB got me to buy a ticket.

And it was every bit as excellent as they said, and the key things they said that brought me to the table were true, and satisfying.


The ninj...

zongzi and flowers

One day I will post about Readercon but today is [still] not that day.

Yesterday, with the help of many Youtube videos, I made zongzi. And when cucumberseed mentioned feeding the fishes, I even read up on the legend surrounding zongzi, so I would know what he was talking about.

I was happy with them! I made a cilantro-and-lemon sauce to have with them because they were very rich and a bit oily, and the cilantro-and-lemon was a bright, tart complement.

Photos ♫

all wrapped up and balancing o...

Excellent tale by CSE Cooney, with maybe a reference to another tale, but maybe not, maybe it's just

... the story as it is.

Friends, csecooney has written a lovely set of vignettes about Danaus incendiarius, and--in a wonderful development for Strange Horizons (where the story resides), it is illustrated!

It has her breathtaking imagination and her humor:

[The cigar] smelled heavenly, if heaven was a forest fire

Check it out: "Ten Cigars"

(Also it's very short, if that's a further spur)

And then, come and chat about it if you feel like it. (But I will be away from my computer for the next few ho...

Pencils

When I was in first grade, they gave us all big, round blue pencils with no erasers on them. I liked the blue pencils; I liked them especially when they were sharpened. They made nice, dark lines.

This one is not sharpened. Picture taken from pencilsnmore.com


What I really liked, though, were the slim, hexagonal yellow pencils that grown-ups used. They said competence and maturity to me. I liked these ones, because of the bright red stripe on the little metal cap that holds the eraser:

Image fro...