Category Archives: academia

Serifer Madness

Posted on June 12, 2023 by JE

I know lots of people love the sans-serif type of font, but I hate its guts because it elides a significant distinction, between lower case L and upper case I, both appearing as the same glyph. For highly literate people … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, language, words, writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Fellowship of the Thing

Posted on May 20, 2023 by JE

Apologies for my relative silence on social media. I’m engaged on a lunatic plan to write a pair of novels over the summer, and I’ve made some significant progress. This evening I got north of 20,000 words on one (a … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, fantasy, language, Myth & Legend, social media, writing | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Cure for the Summertime Blues

Posted on May 8, 2023 by JE

I’ve been somewhat dreading my summer course without realizing why. Today, as I was starting to set it up, I figured that out. The last time I taught a full course online was during COVID lockdown, and the process is … Continue reading →

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Outline or Straight-Out Lying?

Posted on May 8, 2023 by JE

Whenever I’m writing anything substantial, there comes a moment where I look at the outline and am reminded of this old Sidney Harris cartoon. If it’s a fantasy novel, frequently what’s required is an actual miracle. Those are the easy … Continue reading →

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WTF?

Posted on May 6, 2023 by JE

I’m looking around online for editions of the Hrafnistumannasǫgur—which is a perfectly normal thing to do on Friday night; I don’t care what the kids down at the sock hop say—and I found a pretty decent edition for the third … Continue reading →

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Four Dead in Ohio

Posted on May 4, 2023 by JE

May 4, 1970

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Grades Are In…

Posted on April 30, 2023 by JE

and the doctor is out!

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Pointing Toward the End

Posted on April 29, 2023 by JE

Wearing my grading face (which strongly resembles Mung making the Sign of Mung).

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Joans Against the Moon Men

Posted on April 26, 2023 by JE

I misread a student’s handwriting and thought they had written “Prester Joan” (instead of “Prester John”). Now I can’t stop thinking of Prester Joan teaming up with Pope Joan to, I don’t know, conquer the moon or something. [edited to … Continue reading →

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IT’S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Posted on April 20, 2023 by JE

Thank God. This has been a rough semester (for personal more than academic reasons: my pancreas trying to kill me in January and Lennie’s death in April).

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