Gillian Polack's Blog, page 172
July 9, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-07-10T13:13:00
Some people were chatting online about a book and delineated between the French family and the Jewish family. Did the French family not have any religious identity (in which case, fair enough)? Was the Jewish family doomed to spend so many generations in refugee camps that they lacked ethnic identity and national affiliation (in which case, tragic, but fair enough)? Or maybe the Jewish family denied any French heritage and conspired to bring down French society (not a Jewish thing to do, actually, but it's been suggested to me that I would be happier if I gave into my inner evil and joined the Great Jewish Conspiracy, so I must hazard it as a possibility)? Wait! It was probably a book about one family and the different nomenclature was making a point about who they were. No? Actually, no. The book was about two French families. The Jewish one was the least religious, for the other was devout Catholic. The reader wanted to distinguish between the Catholic and the Jewish French.
Next time someone does that, I'm going to ask if the family not assigned by religion is 'pataphysical, for 'pataphysics is the science of meaningless solutions. If that two-family description wasn't 'pataphysical, then it was anti-Semitic, and I choose to believe that the conversation was not being held by bigots.
Actually, the conversation wasn't being held by bigots. No-one had thought through what they were saying and they fell back on stereotypes. Those stereotypes feed into the bigotry though, for they give fuel to idiots who believe in Great Conspiracies and Jewish strangeness.
I still get the "You can be Australian or Jewish but not both" discussion. Only twice a year, but I get it. Almost every time it's because the person in conversation with me wants to assign people to categories and the categories don't reflect the reality. Just as the second family in the book was Jewish and French, I am Jewish and Australian, both in equal measure (more Australian when I vote, more Jewish when I argue that my nephew is a sea vegetable). And yet some people (this happens rather regularly) assume I speak 'Jewish' or Hebrew because I was born that way. In fact, my Latin is better than my Hebrew and I only read other Jewish languages (eg Ladino) because I am a Medievalist and so have languages. The non-English language I speak is French, of course, which reminds me of where I began.
I am in a bit more pain today than yesterday, but the swelling is diminishing. Alas, the pain means I'm grouchy and have almost no tolerance for other people being idiots. One idiot at a time, is today's rule. And today, that idiot is me.
Next time someone does that, I'm going to ask if the family not assigned by religion is 'pataphysical, for 'pataphysics is the science of meaningless solutions. If that two-family description wasn't 'pataphysical, then it was anti-Semitic, and I choose to believe that the conversation was not being held by bigots.
Actually, the conversation wasn't being held by bigots. No-one had thought through what they were saying and they fell back on stereotypes. Those stereotypes feed into the bigotry though, for they give fuel to idiots who believe in Great Conspiracies and Jewish strangeness.
I still get the "You can be Australian or Jewish but not both" discussion. Only twice a year, but I get it. Almost every time it's because the person in conversation with me wants to assign people to categories and the categories don't reflect the reality. Just as the second family in the book was Jewish and French, I am Jewish and Australian, both in equal measure (more Australian when I vote, more Jewish when I argue that my nephew is a sea vegetable). And yet some people (this happens rather regularly) assume I speak 'Jewish' or Hebrew because I was born that way. In fact, my Latin is better than my Hebrew and I only read other Jewish languages (eg Ladino) because I am a Medievalist and so have languages. The non-English language I speak is French, of course, which reminds me of where I began.
I am in a bit more pain today than yesterday, but the swelling is diminishing. Alas, the pain means I'm grouchy and have almost no tolerance for other people being idiots. One idiot at a time, is today's rule. And today, that idiot is me.
July 8, 2012
BiblioBuffet
My article this fortnight is about a new Perth press, Dragonfall. You can find it here: http://www.bibliobuffet.com/bookish-dreaming/1796-new-words-from-a-new-press-070812
I'm thinking of doing a slow series about individual small presses. If you know anyone who wants to be considered for it, then they should get me information and sample books and maybe be willing to answer a couple of email questions. They don't have to be Australian, but they do have to be under the radar (for whatever reason).
I'm thinking of doing a slow series about individual small presses. If you know anyone who wants to be considered for it, then they should get me information and sample books and maybe be willing to answer a couple of email questions. They don't have to be Australian, but they do have to be under the radar (for whatever reason).
gillpolack @ 2012-07-09T15:14:00
I'm being so good today. I've reduced my writing work (and the less I do the faster the inflammation on the right hand goes down) and am doing editing and reading (but only reading that doesn't require carrying things. I do lots of gentle movement, and every time I do this the pain diminishes and then I go nap and the pain goes down some more.
I think I was very lucky and my whole body got involved in the crash and slide across the floor. The number of overflexed muscles suggests this. I know a muscle that's been stretched just a bit much the wrong way from my dancing and a rather large number of my muscles have this feeling and are bouncing right back when give the right treatment - I'm one of those people who overflexing can feel like strain at first and can become strain if I keep abusing the body part, for my muscles are large and inflexible. Also the location of the muscles suggest this, and that I twisted very quickly following the initial fall. The pattern of bruising (now it's starting to emerge) and shows this: I'm bruised all on one side, but the muscles were pulling on both, and more on the lower part of the body than on the upper.
This means that I probably didn't entirely land on one section of my body after all, but almost did and twisted to save myself and, indeed, saved the worst from happening and managed to spread the impact over a much wider area by the time my weight came to bear. I say to my little finger (which is both itchy and sore and has some nice swelling and bruising in its vicinity), "Think of it this way, oh my little finger - dislocation wasn't the worst thing that could happen to you."
If I'm right with my new diagnosis then yesterday was my highest-pain day and today the second highest and from Wednesday or Thursday I may have to be careful carrying things but will basically be back to normal. The fact that I mainly want to sleep today and that the sleep actually reduces the wider pain suggests that I'm right. I love all the Pilates I used to do (when I was wealthier) and all those years of dancing. Not just for the body-understanding, but for the reflex that twisted me around and saved me from the more serious damage. To be honest, I was feeling as if I'd put my promise to CSFG above going to the hospital to be mended, but it turns out that I'm OK. Still, I really should have gone to the hospital. I associate hospitals with major life-threatening things, though.
I think I was very lucky and my whole body got involved in the crash and slide across the floor. The number of overflexed muscles suggests this. I know a muscle that's been stretched just a bit much the wrong way from my dancing and a rather large number of my muscles have this feeling and are bouncing right back when give the right treatment - I'm one of those people who overflexing can feel like strain at first and can become strain if I keep abusing the body part, for my muscles are large and inflexible. Also the location of the muscles suggest this, and that I twisted very quickly following the initial fall. The pattern of bruising (now it's starting to emerge) and shows this: I'm bruised all on one side, but the muscles were pulling on both, and more on the lower part of the body than on the upper.
This means that I probably didn't entirely land on one section of my body after all, but almost did and twisted to save myself and, indeed, saved the worst from happening and managed to spread the impact over a much wider area by the time my weight came to bear. I say to my little finger (which is both itchy and sore and has some nice swelling and bruising in its vicinity), "Think of it this way, oh my little finger - dislocation wasn't the worst thing that could happen to you."
If I'm right with my new diagnosis then yesterday was my highest-pain day and today the second highest and from Wednesday or Thursday I may have to be careful carrying things but will basically be back to normal. The fact that I mainly want to sleep today and that the sleep actually reduces the wider pain suggests that I'm right. I love all the Pilates I used to do (when I was wealthier) and all those years of dancing. Not just for the body-understanding, but for the reflex that twisted me around and saved me from the more serious damage. To be honest, I was feeling as if I'd put my promise to CSFG above going to the hospital to be mended, but it turns out that I'm OK. Still, I really should have gone to the hospital. I associate hospitals with major life-threatening things, though.
gillpolack @ 2012-07-09T09:33:00
I'm much better this morning. I still hurt, of course, but far far less. I shall rest lots today, but also apply liniment and make sure I can move.
The sprains are mostly only strains and the bruising is only 15% of my body and the finger that was dislocated is healing nicely. This is so much better than it felt yesterday! I rather suspect that 12 hours of sitting-down work (on the bookinnaday) was not the right way to handle it. The snackfood we ate, however was good. I don't normally eat much sweet stuff at all and my body really needed it yesterday.
All in all, good result, even though it means a lot of time out today and tomorrow. If anyone wants updates, just say, otherwise I shall return to my normal reporting unless there's something astonishing to exclaim about on the bruise or muscle front. (I might try to see my chiro next week, for I rather suspect I twisted myself in ways I was not designed to twist. I need to wait until the bruising is past its worse and the strains are gone.)
The sprains are mostly only strains and the bruising is only 15% of my body and the finger that was dislocated is healing nicely. This is so much better than it felt yesterday! I rather suspect that 12 hours of sitting-down work (on the bookinnaday) was not the right way to handle it. The snackfood we ate, however was good. I don't normally eat much sweet stuff at all and my body really needed it yesterday.
All in all, good result, even though it means a lot of time out today and tomorrow. If anyone wants updates, just say, otherwise I shall return to my normal reporting unless there's something astonishing to exclaim about on the bruise or muscle front. (I might try to see my chiro next week, for I rather suspect I twisted myself in ways I was not designed to twist. I need to wait until the bruising is past its worse and the strains are gone.)
gillpolack @ 2012-07-08T21:21:00
I'm awake and alert and the book is finished, but I hurt somewhat, and not for the usual reasons. I managed to take a tumble just before I left home. It's the same time of month (ie full blown PMT) as last time this happened, and the changes in body weight and shape are probably the culprit this time as well. This time I did more damage, though.
I dislocated a finger (I had the common sense to put it back in its socket while I was still in shock - I wouldn't have dreamed I had that much common sense on seeing a sadly twisted digit) and the friend picking me up used to be a nurse, and checked that there were no clear breaks anywhere and bound the finger to the next one for me. She checked my shoulder and we kept an eye on everything during the day and we are agreed that I was very, very lucky. No evidence of breaks emerged, but a couple of minor sprains (my shoulder, my groin and etc). I'm going to have some truly awesome bruising. I have to wear my down dressing gown instead of a coat for a few days (and did today) for I can (just) get the dressing gown on but can get a coat on, nor any tight clothing.
Right now I hurt a fair amount, but did the book in a day thing regardless. No doubt I shall hurt more over the next few days. It's the joy of being a Gillian. Other people get uneventful lives but I, obviously, am not capable of it.
I shall be over all but the final mending when I teach next, and I have far more control over my workload than I had a week ago, so it could have been much worse, in so many ways, but it wasn't. The big thing is that the circulation in the dislocated finger is perfectly normal. This was the finger I broke when I was a kid and it's very strange to have it bound again - but to have it broken again would have been even stranger.
I ought to tell you about the 12 hour marathon of charity book-writing, but right now I'm wondering what colour all the bruises will be this time.
I dislocated a finger (I had the common sense to put it back in its socket while I was still in shock - I wouldn't have dreamed I had that much common sense on seeing a sadly twisted digit) and the friend picking me up used to be a nurse, and checked that there were no clear breaks anywhere and bound the finger to the next one for me. She checked my shoulder and we kept an eye on everything during the day and we are agreed that I was very, very lucky. No evidence of breaks emerged, but a couple of minor sprains (my shoulder, my groin and etc). I'm going to have some truly awesome bruising. I have to wear my down dressing gown instead of a coat for a few days (and did today) for I can (just) get the dressing gown on but can get a coat on, nor any tight clothing.
Right now I hurt a fair amount, but did the book in a day thing regardless. No doubt I shall hurt more over the next few days. It's the joy of being a Gillian. Other people get uneventful lives but I, obviously, am not capable of it.
I shall be over all but the final mending when I teach next, and I have far more control over my workload than I had a week ago, so it could have been much worse, in so many ways, but it wasn't. The big thing is that the circulation in the dislocated finger is perfectly normal. This was the finger I broke when I was a kid and it's very strange to have it bound again - but to have it broken again would have been even stranger.
I ought to tell you about the 12 hour marathon of charity book-writing, but right now I'm wondering what colour all the bruises will be this time.
July 7, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-07-08T07:08:00
I'm torn between posting a weather report (cold and clear) and a coffee report (over 2 litres made, one Turkish and one expresso with milk: I'm currently drinking the bit that didn't fit into my thermos flasks ie a rather good combo of Turkish with heated milk). I'm up at an unholy hour for me because today is the write-a-book-in-a-day charity event for the CSFG team. I suspect we're not as good at the fundraising side of things as we were when we at school and could combine enthusiasm with cuteness, but we still have the enthusiasm. I'm hoping that we've had a few sponsors. We'll see.
I was supposed to be backup scanner girl, but my scanner is so very old that we couldn't get drivers to fit anyone's laptops. Now I'm backup camera girl, for my camera works with my netbook. I also have the wherewith to transfer material from one machine to the next, and 10,000 books of elibrary, just in case. The coffee is just in case, too. Also the bag of figs and the box of fine chocolate. As is the editing I didn't quite finish yesterday (not quite finish? I got precisely halfway - those open doors door their toll, physically. It hasn't quite hit this morning because my body is pretty positive that being up at this hour on a Sunday is just a bad dream, but it will.).
I'm not awake yet, but I'm alert. It'll have to do.
If I'm even halfway awake or alert on the far side, I'll report in. Don't count on it, though. And now I must get dressed, for we get our writing brief at dawn (in fifteen minutes) and I get picked up in half an hour and in an hour we all assemble and hope that Ross (who is key guy ) hasn't slept in, for it's -5 outside and we don't want to be hanging about. I don't know what time the Centre will actually warm up today, so I am taking my big coat. I'm very tempted to take my down dressing gown. (I now wonder if I'm the only one who has taught in that room in July on a Sunday and if, therefore, I'll be the only one who knows that it's bitterly cold at first? Hmm. I shall pack a few handwarmers, in case.)
I was supposed to be backup scanner girl, but my scanner is so very old that we couldn't get drivers to fit anyone's laptops. Now I'm backup camera girl, for my camera works with my netbook. I also have the wherewith to transfer material from one machine to the next, and 10,000 books of elibrary, just in case. The coffee is just in case, too. Also the bag of figs and the box of fine chocolate. As is the editing I didn't quite finish yesterday (not quite finish? I got precisely halfway - those open doors door their toll, physically. It hasn't quite hit this morning because my body is pretty positive that being up at this hour on a Sunday is just a bad dream, but it will.).
I'm not awake yet, but I'm alert. It'll have to do.
If I'm even halfway awake or alert on the far side, I'll report in. Don't count on it, though. And now I must get dressed, for we get our writing brief at dawn (in fifteen minutes) and I get picked up in half an hour and in an hour we all assemble and hope that Ross (who is key guy ) hasn't slept in, for it's -5 outside and we don't want to be hanging about. I don't know what time the Centre will actually warm up today, so I am taking my big coat. I'm very tempted to take my down dressing gown. (I now wonder if I'm the only one who has taught in that room in July on a Sunday and if, therefore, I'll be the only one who knows that it's bitterly cold at first? Hmm. I shall pack a few handwarmers, in case.)
gillpolack @ 2012-07-07T18:03:00
My new neighbours aren't going to like me. I dealt with the door being mostly open until it hit 5 degrees outside and my third asthma attack (and a bit of a fever) and then I wrote them a note apologising for shutting the door and explaining that I was getting asthma attacks when the door was left open for more than a few minutes. I then closed the door. I signed the note, so they can tackle me if this causes a problem. It shouldn't. The moving van is almost empty and the backing and forthing finished an hour ago. They were just leaving the door open in case. Also, they could prop the door very slightly open for getting in and out - leaving it wide to the night air in winter isn't actually necessary now that the worst of the furniture is moved.
I bet they leave the door open again, though, for some people just cannot survive without doors left wide open. We'll see.
It must be tough on them, moving in during midwinter with so little daylight and so little warmth. That's why I only closed the door earlier when there was no van around and no-one moving things in and out: I was trying not to inconvenience anyone. I've dealt with it all day (and it was not a good day, breathing wise), but now it's night and my limits have been reached. Also, my heater's limits have been reached. It cannot keep a room warm when cold air is pouring in at such a rate. By 'at such a rate' I mean that the temperature outside has dropped a full degree while I have been typing this note. It will be zero degrees outside in an hour.
ETA: It's 6.30 pm, 2 degrees outside, my note has been taken from the door and the door is closed. Hopefully I'll get more work done this evening than I managed this afternoon!
I bet they leave the door open again, though, for some people just cannot survive without doors left wide open. We'll see.
It must be tough on them, moving in during midwinter with so little daylight and so little warmth. That's why I only closed the door earlier when there was no van around and no-one moving things in and out: I was trying not to inconvenience anyone. I've dealt with it all day (and it was not a good day, breathing wise), but now it's night and my limits have been reached. Also, my heater's limits have been reached. It cannot keep a room warm when cold air is pouring in at such a rate. By 'at such a rate' I mean that the temperature outside has dropped a full degree while I have been typing this note. It will be zero degrees outside in an hour.
ETA: It's 6.30 pm, 2 degrees outside, my note has been taken from the door and the door is closed. Hopefully I'll get more work done this evening than I managed this afternoon!
July 6, 2012
gillpolack @ 2012-07-07T16:36:00
Line editing is slow and concentrated. Only small changes so far, which is good. My time travel novel is not a fast-paced creature, but it moves. Also, my characters make appalling jokes. Not the classy variety that I make, but really, really bad jokes. If a publisher accepts it, I might have to issue a public apology.
I have new neighbours and every time they left the door open to move more furniture in this arvo, I had another asthma attack. Finally they left the door open for three hours, so I took a rest break followed by 20 more pages of the editing (nearly half way through!) followed by another rest break and I avoided breathlessness (to a degree). I just closed the door (no blokes moving things in sight) and my flat will finally warm up a little and have a stable temperature. The new neighbours will have their comeuppance when it gets cold tonight, for they left that door open for a half a day, so the stairwell has no warmth and the upper flats are not as protected against the cold as mine. My comeuppance (though what I did to earn it is a mystery) is that I'm now all kinds of sneezy. I have resorted to poppyseed almond and lemon cake, for I found it in the freezer and it obviously needs finishing. The principle with freezer food this week is that if I can't remember when I put it in, then I must eat it quickly.
And now, back to editing. In forty more pages I may be allowed more cake. In 100 pages I get ginger and mushroom noodles with onion and other things. In 150 pages...I'll be finished!
I have new neighbours and every time they left the door open to move more furniture in this arvo, I had another asthma attack. Finally they left the door open for three hours, so I took a rest break followed by 20 more pages of the editing (nearly half way through!) followed by another rest break and I avoided breathlessness (to a degree). I just closed the door (no blokes moving things in sight) and my flat will finally warm up a little and have a stable temperature. The new neighbours will have their comeuppance when it gets cold tonight, for they left that door open for a half a day, so the stairwell has no warmth and the upper flats are not as protected against the cold as mine. My comeuppance (though what I did to earn it is a mystery) is that I'm now all kinds of sneezy. I have resorted to poppyseed almond and lemon cake, for I found it in the freezer and it obviously needs finishing. The principle with freezer food this week is that if I can't remember when I put it in, then I must eat it quickly.
And now, back to editing. In forty more pages I may be allowed more cake. In 100 pages I get ginger and mushroom noodles with onion and other things. In 150 pages...I'll be finished!
gillpolack @ 2012-07-07T11:51:00
My computer is so slow today that I did some of the paper editing while it was deciding how to work. One of my scientists ticked every single mention of scientific work that looked right and I marvelled at those ticks: when I finish this project I need to write that book about writing history into fiction and how people see the Middle Ages and what writers can do to get things right without spending a lifetime researching. If I did it for science (which I dropped in year 10) then my principles may well be effective.
I finished admiring ticks and scribbling notes and went to check the desktop and it was still being a pain. I then opened the netbook and that threat worked. Part of this is the cold, but part of this is that the computer is so old that there simply isn't enough virtual memory. as long as I don't ask too much of it, it's fine, but not asking too much of it slows my life down. As we all know, I simply adore my life on fast forward, so...
Actually, the problem is getting the work done in the day, for sitting down at a computer for two extra hours simply because the computer is slow doesn't help the health stuff. Today it's taken me an hour and a half to get through the initial ten minutes of work that start my day.
I suspect you'll hear this a lot on cold days when things are just a bit frustrating. And at least my life isn't boring. On that note, time for a cuppa and for 20 more pages of paper editing.
I finished admiring ticks and scribbling notes and went to check the desktop and it was still being a pain. I then opened the netbook and that threat worked. Part of this is the cold, but part of this is that the computer is so old that there simply isn't enough virtual memory. as long as I don't ask too much of it, it's fine, but not asking too much of it slows my life down. As we all know, I simply adore my life on fast forward, so...
Actually, the problem is getting the work done in the day, for sitting down at a computer for two extra hours simply because the computer is slow doesn't help the health stuff. Today it's taken me an hour and a half to get through the initial ten minutes of work that start my day.
I suspect you'll hear this a lot on cold days when things are just a bit frustrating. And at least my life isn't boring. On that note, time for a cuppa and for 20 more pages of paper editing.
gillpolack @ 2012-07-07T00:08:00
I have fixed all but the very last few footnotes in my dissertation. Those last few depend on a revision of that chapter, so I can leave them tonight without guilt. Unless I want to feel guilt, being Jewish and all.
Alas, I finished work too late for G&S, for footnotes are slow, but there is tomorrow. Tomorrow is editing of novel and also all the writing I didn't get done today, so I might fit Pinafore in between. No, I *will* fit it in between tasks, for I need breaks and singing and dancing.
I'd forgotten what long, long complex nests of tasks there are at this stage of a big scholarly project. My systems are not as good as they once were. This is partly because someone lost me some of my reference cards, last year, trying to be helpful, but also because one really does have to think quite differently for a novel to an academic thingie. Doing both at once interrelated was a lot of fun (and I may well try it again, for it meant I learned in spades), but it was hard to systematise. The bottom line was that when it came to a choice between noting things for scholarly apparatus and writing a better novel, it turns out that I focus on the novel. My systems worked perfectly when I focussed on library research for the dissertation (well, until cards got lost). Anyhow, this makes the fiddly things very fiddly indeed when one is looking at the exit sign and wondering it it's achievable. It is. I'm very glad I had that tough training as an undergrad, though - this is the time it really, really pays off.
And now my hard work pays off for I am entitled to one night's sleep. Voucher not transferrable.
Alas, I finished work too late for G&S, for footnotes are slow, but there is tomorrow. Tomorrow is editing of novel and also all the writing I didn't get done today, so I might fit Pinafore in between. No, I *will* fit it in between tasks, for I need breaks and singing and dancing.
I'd forgotten what long, long complex nests of tasks there are at this stage of a big scholarly project. My systems are not as good as they once were. This is partly because someone lost me some of my reference cards, last year, trying to be helpful, but also because one really does have to think quite differently for a novel to an academic thingie. Doing both at once interrelated was a lot of fun (and I may well try it again, for it meant I learned in spades), but it was hard to systematise. The bottom line was that when it came to a choice between noting things for scholarly apparatus and writing a better novel, it turns out that I focus on the novel. My systems worked perfectly when I focussed on library research for the dissertation (well, until cards got lost). Anyhow, this makes the fiddly things very fiddly indeed when one is looking at the exit sign and wondering it it's achievable. It is. I'm very glad I had that tough training as an undergrad, though - this is the time it really, really pays off.
And now my hard work pays off for I am entitled to one night's sleep. Voucher not transferrable.
