torn between not okay and maybe kind of cute (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} kalpurna) wrote,@ 2009-09-04 09:13:00 |
|
I will be home in three days. Do not bathe.
OH WOW, YOU GUYS, I JUST HEARD ABOUT THIS COOL INTERNET WEBSITE CALLED LIVE JOURNAL! I THINK IT IS A NEW THING, IDK, MAYBE I SHOULD TRY IT OUT.
So apparently there's some kind of... survey-related drama in fandom? Flist, I will be honest with you, I have skimmed the shit out of this one, and as far as I can tell some academics were stupid and failed, and apparently one or two responses to this were stupid and also failed, and I am willing to leave it at that as far as I am concerned. Please do tell me if there is something important I am missing.
Here is what I have been doing since the end of my two summer classes:
OH WOW, YOU GUYS, I JUST HEARD ABOUT THIS COOL INTERNET WEBSITE CALLED LIVE JOURNAL! I THINK IT IS A NEW THING, IDK, MAYBE I SHOULD TRY IT OUT.
So apparently there's some kind of... survey-related drama in fandom? Flist, I will be honest with you, I have skimmed the shit out of this one, and as far as I can tell some academics were stupid and failed, and apparently one or two responses to this were stupid and also failed, and I am willing to leave it at that as far as I am concerned. Please do tell me if there is something important I am missing.
Here is what I have been doing since the end of my two summer classes:
- Settling into a forty-hour day. I am seriously now sleeping twenty hours and staying awake twenty hours. I don't know that I can call this a good plan, but school doesn't start for a few weeks, so it is at least an experiment to try, and maybe it will prove useful if aliens come and take me to a planet with a long rotational period.
- Hanging out with thehoyden like it is my job, doing sweet things like riding on Ferris wheels and going to see Harry Potter exhibits and watching all of the TV. Yesssss.
- Listening to history podcasts! I would link these, but I don't understand the iTunes store, so I'm afraid you have to search if you're interested. I started with one on 12 Great Byzantine Emperors, which was fine except for the fact that a) there was quite a bit of not-so-stealth misogyny, which I can sometimes deal with, but not when you mess with Theo-fucking-dora*, and b) the guy doing it only (and I mean ONLY) cared about military history and expansionism. Good emperor = general who conquered shit. Bad emperor = let other dudes conquer some of his shit. WHAT DO YOU MEAN DOMESTIC POLICY OH WELL NOTHING TO SEE HERE LET'S MOVE ON.
THEN I embarked on Europe From Its Origins, which was a lot better and more nuanced, and which I found fascinating for filling in the bits of Western European history between <200 AD (which I know quite a bit about) and >1300 AD (which I know quite a bit about). The formation of Europe as a political entity was just really interesting. Although this guy was sometimes weirdly anti-Islamic in a way that bugged me, I can still recommend this if you, like me, don't know much about the topic.
And now I'm working my way through the Napoleon 101 Podcast, which is definitely the best so far, although it tends to get kind of rambly and self-referential, and although it comprises literally like sixty 75 minute episodes. I love listening to someone talk about history in a way that makes a coherent narrative, basically, and the people involved in this absolutely do that. Plus, Napoleon is super insanely fascinating. They have a big pro-Napoleon slant and are up-front about it, but man, I have to admit I like him a lot too. Sorry, all those millions of Regency romances I've read (and Naomi Novik, and Susanna Clarke, and Patrick O'Brian, and Tolstoy, and Thackeray, and Austen), I am no longer on your side. What was your damage, Britain? You should have stepped the fuck off Napoleon's grill and let him do his competent liberal thing. >:(
*I was going to link to an article about Theodora, but I can't seem to find one that adequately explains how awesome she was. She was a prostitute and was abused as a child, and the future emperor Justinian met her and not only fell head-over-heels in love with her, but immediately recognized her as his intellectual equal (and he was no slouch himself). He persuaded his uncle to change the law so that he could marry her, and had her crowned Empress (so co-ruler, not just wife). She saved his ass with awesome advice when he was about to be overthrown in a revolt, and throughout her reign instituted massive unprecedented reforms on behalf of the rights of women. She was funny and gorgeous and brilliant and principled. People said that she and Justinian faked disagreements to better manipulate their court because they were a badass tag team of smartness. What I am saying is: podcaster dude, please shut the fuck up about her "petty jealous nature" before I cut your face.
