Category Archives: academia

No Maps of Hell

Posted on February 19, 2025 by JE

Saw the article below on Bluesky and felt the irritation that almost always accrues when scrolling through social media. But this irritation was really specific. Demanding a historically accurate version of a myth is like trying to find the zip … Continue reading →

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Mail Call

Posted on January 27, 2025 by JE

Looking forward to (re)reading the vintage paperbacks. The history book is more for figuring out how teaching will work in the future, now that everything old is new again. I already have a copy of Van Vogt’s The Book of … Continue reading →

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Kind of a Drag

Posted on January 10, 2025 by JE

Here’s the decoration for my office-door schedule this semester. In some ways I’m one of the volentes, in most ways I’m one of the nolentes, but am feeling the motion either way.

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There Are Limits

Posted on July 9, 2024 by JE

I’ve been watching through The Outer Limits (1963-1965), a show I have fond memories of from when I was a kid. Uff da. They’re mostly terrible so far. The best episode of the first five was 1.4 “The Man with … Continue reading →

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Actis Temporibus

Posted on January 1, 2024 by JE

For a few years I’ve had a Latin version of “Auld Lang Syne” on my Latin-for-the-holidays handout, but I’ve never been crazy about it. For one thing, it erases the repetitions in the original. For another, references to drinking have … Continue reading →

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Falcons in Flight Over the Great Black Swamp

Posted on August 21, 2023 by JE

Fall classes have commenced at Great Black Swamp University. The weather isn’t very autumnal yet, but maybe it will be by sometime in midwinter.

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Eldritch Lore of Lightning, Stars, and Magic

Posted on August 10, 2023 by JE

On Facebook, Michael Swanwick mentioned a historical (or maybe apocryphal) episode when the Pope invited Etruscan seers to use lightning magic to defend Rome against Alaric and his Ostrogoths. It’s a pretty good story, whether or not it’s actually history. … Continue reading →

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Rumba with the Rhomboi

Posted on June 23, 2023 by JE

This image of the Kylix of Durides and Calliades came up in my Mastodon newsfeed today. (The source wasn’t attributed, but see some more images here.)

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Facts About Fiction

Posted on June 22, 2023 by JE

Studies show that most studies don’t show what they show. Still, this is an interesting and well-sourced piece about the connections between reading and empathy. https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/reading-fiction-empathy-better-person/

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Slay Ride

Posted on June 14, 2023 by JE

The latest round of student papers gave me a chance to use one of my favorite cut-and-paste comments. The principal parts of this verb are: slay, slew, slain. “Bob slays monsters. Joan slew monsters. Hey, all my monsters have been … Continue reading →

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