tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82190272012-02-01T13:13:13.980+01:00but I digress . . .miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.comBlogger4261100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-36449957060774255082011-05-27T20:08:00.001+02:002011-05-27T20:09:32.290+02:00

In addition to being a homemaker (canning season is almost upon us! don’t forget to pack a lunch! thanks for taking out the trash! would you like a cup of tea?) I’m a typist, gamer, counselor, librarian, interpreter, and ministry leader: my free time has mostly been spent away from my computer. That is my excuse, anyway.Homemaking is rather a busy occupation and I have had to consciously set

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-75447023748457469972011-01-21T08:21:00.001+01:002011-01-21T08:33:13.937+01:00

I have not died or done anything drastic. (Sorry for the long absence.) I have, on the contrary, been living quite extraordinarily. It will doubtless be remembered by longtime readers that I used to be very ill with some kind of respiratory distress; the doctors did not agree on what it was but did at least agree that it was complicated, and made more difficult by mental stress and a variety of

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-64106652974802583272010-11-12T09:53:00.003+01:002010-11-12T10:01:21.092+01:00

This is a long, personal entry that has the words "feelings" and "emotions" in it, as well as using several bad analogies, and it does not end happily (though it does end hopefully). Consider yourself warned.Sometimes I think that “growing up” is a very hazy experience; I remember when learning to ride a bike my balance was always skewed, and now I feel like the physical environment that seemed

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-46082126282125194442010-10-20T22:17:00.009+02:002010-10-21T08:22:58.156+02:00

This first picture of my knitting on the left (the cobweb of dusty alpaca in the back) and my best friend's is the purple cardigan piece. Hers is the blue cup and mine is the white. She is my dear friend since childhood, and now we live in the same country! God is very good to me.And that is what I want to remember about the time in between my last entry and this one. In other news; I was in a

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-6755421116708390362010-07-29T07:47:00.004+02:002010-07-29T08:06:50.323+02:00

Sometimes I am absolutely delighted by my work. No matter that my life choices have been completely unorthodox (and yet somehow traditional?) and my future so uncertain as to test my faith! I am learning to wait on the Lord and live in the moment. This moment specifically being the one in which I made chocolate muffins in the middle of the night.Anybody who has had an even semi-fulfilled

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-16459510078068705322010-07-16T22:38:00.003+02:002010-07-16T22:40:59.414+02:00

I’m not going to go on an expository ramble on what it means to be faithful, not today. No, this is pretty much definitely a rant. It always bothered me that faithfulness was usually defined by its testing, trials, and breakages. I hope most people are familiar with the story of the prodigal son and his brother, and everyone knows at least one couple (or has seen a good dozen TV shows or films

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-50360284914776268282010-06-22T22:32:00.011+02:002010-06-23T01:40:30.080+02:00

I am enjoying, for the first time in a good dozen years, having a bit of garden of my own. My gardens are usually herb gardens because other people in my family like vegetable gardening more, and because I am more interested in herbs and their histories and possible uses. Besides, less pesty creatures and weeds tend to get around in herb gardens than in vegetable gardens. My corner is full of

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-26258208533306392512010-06-07T20:20:00.005+02:002010-06-07T20:32:01.466+02:00

SUCCESSYesterday a roomie came home from work early because a client cancelled, but it was a good thing because said roomie was not feeling well. And then the man of the house came home after a long work day and he usually needs a few minutes and some caffeine before he finds work to do on his next academic degree or major DIY project. With frozen cookie dough popped in the oven and a fortuitous

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-43413063362058978512010-05-25T03:34:00.007+02:002010-05-25T06:27:45.558+02:00

Spinning and KnittingLately, I have been taking stock of my yarn stash and getting a good feel for what it will all grow up to be. I am one of those people who like to plan ahead, more because I can do so in my leisure activities but not very much in my job (homemaking tends to run around everyone else's schedule since the job is primarily to take care of them). And this is part of my job, too--I

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-65841348998024707362010-05-08T05:10:00.012+02:002010-05-08T06:31:31.185+02:00

This entry will be full of bad photographs and excited gushing, so if you are allergic to either I recommend you go back to whatever you were doing.My family went to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival this year and there my parents gave to me the gift of a spinning wheel. I don't know if it makes much of a difference to most of you, but to me spinning is a way to relax even more so than knitting.

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-64830086722276208902010-05-05T06:44:00.001+02:002010-05-05T06:45:35.607+02:00

I shall today or tomorrow post about my new spinning wheel. Sorry for those who've been asking:)

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-64769920199517304682010-04-30T06:54:00.010+02:002010-04-30T07:38:16.657+02:00

Today was rather a big day for me. It was that part of the movie where the guy in the field goes back home, lays aside his plow, and looks at the sword above his mantlepiece with a thoughtful and foreboding look (which seems strange on an actor with such nefariously plucked eyebrows). Then you get a montage, of course, and some sweeping soundtracky bits, and the credits in an unsuitable typeface

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-67457041423952089312010-04-18T05:10:00.006+02:002010-04-18T06:21:46.717+02:00

Ever since we heard it the first time, my family has listened to Dylan Thomas' 'A Child's Christmas In Wales' every Christmas. That is the origin of the title quote. Here is its context:"Were there postmen then, too?""With sprinkling eyes and wind-cherried noses, on spread, frozen feet they crunched up to the doors and mittened on them manfully. But all that the children could hear was a ringing

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-65820326559755799412010-04-17T08:49:00.010+02:002010-04-17T10:24:02.690+02:00

It has been warm enough recently that I've taken to cleaning up my bit of garden and moving around some lawn furniture so as to be able to read out there like I did last summer. I am very fond of it indeed and even with the winter's past snow it has done exceedingly well. My little walled garden is very traditional and very plain but made to last, and to be useful to the cook, laundress, healer,

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-3234505969338462172010-04-10T05:51:00.011+02:002010-04-10T07:23:00.430+02:00

Baking Sourdough BreadI love the taste of sourdough bread, and I began to love it even more when I found out that it is this kind of yeast that the people I study would have used. A simple mixture of flour and water left to the devices of local airborne bacteria create a rising agent that, when fed with more ground-up grains and water and eventually baked to a solid, crunchy and chewy deliciously

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-91496707041244724532010-04-09T05:02:00.011+02:002010-04-09T06:30:34.772+02:00

It is funny how with some of my friends I know them for short periods of time and on a superficial basis--coworkers, classmates, churchmice, coffee addicts--and others I have known for years and through toil and trouble and long absences and stubborn phases (for these I have had to search under floorboards and behind boulders and in trees). These last are very singular, very much their own selves

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-20376187017786668222010-04-07T09:24:00.004+02:002010-04-07T09:45:06.060+02:00

Things about MayThe Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival looms ever nearer, and with it May Day (when I bake and assemble the first cream layer cake of the summer), and then my summer term begins with my first academic class in over a year. These are a lot of exciting things all in one month! This means that by my birthday I shall have a spinning wheel and be very fat and also have more Latin textbooks

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-62065143932788724092010-03-26T08:31:00.004+01:002010-03-26T08:35:43.086+01:00

On the 14th of March (3.14) I attended a pi party. Naturally, I brought pie. And as soon as I took it out of the oven, out came all the geeks with their cameras!! Turns out excellently for my blog pictures. At least three of the apples I peeled for this pie, I peeled in one long strip the ENTIRE APPLE. I should get some kind of award.

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-10895751860806576182010-03-23T05:28:00.011+01:002010-03-23T07:23:43.428+01:00

Some long-winded personal excusesI've been meaning to return to this blog for a long time but have had a difficult time being near my computer for any length of time without endangering it. Flour from cutting fat into pie pastry, dough from sticky rich doughnuts or sweet breakfast breads, mop slime, icky rags of goo from cleaning bathrooms, dustily dusty dust from the pharaohic collections under

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-44713014756658799492009-08-17T18:35:00.004+02:002009-08-17T18:41:44.392+02:00

My bedroom--the one ounce of space I have left to me, personally, in my little world and in which I jealously guard my favorite books and yarn skeins--is arranged so as to be the most restful place I can manage to construct for myself, and for my cat.This last clause means that in addition to my bed (my great grandmother’s wedding present from my great grandfather) and little rocking chair (

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-74170690254088177942009-08-07T00:04:00.006+02:002009-08-07T00:20:27.599+02:00

In the recent past, my hobbies have centered around homemaking activities; mostly cooking, household maintenance and craftwork. My work day begins an hour or two before the evening meal and lasts until about 4 a.m.--an odd schedule, but it seems to work out alright as we have people working at home who like quiet mornings, and leaving the dishes till morning is not really something to be done in

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-88931036076169002662009-07-23T07:44:00.002+02:002009-07-23T08:10:13.430+02:00

I am still within the first five months of being back in the United States of America after a long absence and find the ease of communication (I love the English language) refreshing, yet once I move beyond that in conversation I find little to which I feel kinship. I must have left some part of my mind behind. There are skills required to communicate in this culture which I have not retained.

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-87680380836267752972009-07-22T07:34:00.005+02:002009-07-22T07:47:12.526+02:00

Dishes done and porridge on the stove. It has been an air-conditioned day of celebration and general enjoyment in the social sphere (including the ubiquitous American mall) and I am now home. There is always a lot to do here, and I am content with it even though it sometimes feels overwhelming.My sister and I watched ‘Reclaiming The Blade’ tonight, which we won in a give-away on Twitter, and I

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-44734961006238948942009-07-21T09:48:00.004+02:002009-07-21T09:59:59.509+02:00

So today was a bit of a lazy day, but I still made my Monday evening worth the breath: the dishes are done, there is porridge on the stove for breakfast tomorrow; I made syrup (a simple syrup we use for lots of things, but mainly in iced tea and coffee drinks in the summer), and have also put a batch of yoghurt in the warmer (in preparation for making an Indian sweet cheese for dinner on Friday).

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-24638990792715833912009-07-12T04:50:00.002+02:002009-07-12T05:09:06.548+02:00

1. Penzey’s SpicesThis is a company that sells the best quality fresh spices and dried herbs as well as soup bases and basic tools for grinding spices, as well as keeping up a recipe book and magazine whatsit; I am most interested in the soup bases and unmixed spices. 2. Civil War Re-enactors’ MerchantsWilliam Booth sells knitting needles and sewing accoutrements of which I am enamored. A

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-34006798124407451652009-06-11T07:18:00.000+02:002009-06-11T07:27:32.832+02:00

Ok, so I moved back to the USA in March of this year, and have been having trouble keeping my blogs ever since: first it was little or no wifi, then it was household work (painting, sanding, heavy cleaning, yard work) and finally my computer started having problems charging and staying awake.In the mean time, you might be surprised to know how little my life has changed from one country to

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-34959141692567892322009-03-20T19:25:00.000+01:002009-03-20T19:44:30.742+01:00

Aside from my current interest in Morrissey, my life has continued on in its usual aimlessness. I have finished Travel in the Middle Ages and my third reading of the Aeneid (Dryden's translation this time), and am now on to Bischoff's Latin Palaeography and the Longfellow translation of Dante's Divina Commedia.[The Friendship Arch in D.C.'s "Chinatown", which is like every other part of downtown

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-44997580283483772562009-03-20T19:20:00.004+01:002009-03-20T19:33:30.169+01:00

My friends know that I rarely find myself fascinated with living authors or artists, or even interested in contemporary movements. (I'm about to tell you about an artist I really like right now.) This changed a little when I went to Paris a few years ago--something about the place reminded me that it is still possible to see artists as representatives of their art and admirable in their own right

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-80008996640880030512009-03-11T18:27:00.003+01:002009-03-11T18:31:51.374+01:00

Did you know they don't charge for long-distance calls in the U.S.? And that there are no roaming charges? And that with an iPhone 3G you can access the internet through the cell line? I didn't know any of this, but I have an iPhone now and am loving it. It has saved me from getting lost, losing family members, not having groceries, etc. etc. And I can check my email. The only big problem from my

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-69941423423495765942009-02-28T00:25:00.003+01:002009-02-28T00:32:26.625+01:00

My mother says that people like me build inside themselves a secret world which only they and precious few visitors can enter. The landscapes are detailed and complex, and peopled by imagination and memory (the former being the more prominent by far, according to her). I expect analysts would find a use for it as some kind of mental escape. Figures.[Clearly, Elanor does not think highly of their

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-61234025660968865582009-02-12T15:48:00.004+01:002009-02-12T23:58:07.085+01:00

The past few weeks have afforded me little time for anything but coping; when you have dust and mould allergies and the task at hand is to do the final cleaning of a mouldy, dusty house, things can get rather amusing. Then there are the social aspects of saying good-bye to the neighbourhood: though we have several weeks before us, we are already having last dinners and last meetings and last

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-9558657775880482712008-12-19T01:01:00.001+01:002008-12-19T01:10:11.265+01:00

I'm almost finished with the socks I'm knitting for my father, for Christmas. I shall then knit a hat for one of my dear friends here who has asked me for it (she never asks for anything so it is a special gift), and then I shall knit some socks for myself.Nearly all the machine-made socks I have presently are becoming swiftly holey. I don't want to buy any more; my conscience would have

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-60595214398491126642008-11-23T18:44:00.004+01:002008-11-23T20:04:08.781+01:00

Germany and England have afforded me some lovely purchases. And by "lovely" I mean "useful". So be warned! If you are not a homemaker or a medievalist-wannabe, some of the following pictures may be very domestic and possibly very nerdy.England first. I bought myself a book at the British Library (or a few books, but I'm not telling), which was a bit hectic but is one of my favourite places, . . .

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-45932120511492913542008-10-30T18:28:00.009+01:002008-10-30T19:26:27.891+01:00

I am wearing socks that I knitted. Here is a picture of them.This is so exciting! It was the last New Year's Resolution from this year that I hadn't fulfilled. Very soon I am going to visit some friends with whom I will go shopping for more sock yarn, and also spelt flour (because I can't find any down here, and because Hildegard's abbey in Rudesheim sells it in large quantities).Speaking of

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-51661755175887029162008-09-08T12:23:00.001+02:002008-09-08T13:16:30.726+02:00

Mambrino has been performing marvelously, and growing more used to the Italian/American lifestyle by elongating slightly to become comfortably uneven. Already he has assisted the production of several plum cakes, numerous loaves of bread, and even a peach upside-down cake. I have not been doing much else but baking, lately, as mum has been cooking the actual meals. Here is a picture of the bottom

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-41497033316230818292008-09-01T15:13:00.000+02:002008-09-01T16:33:39.518+02:00

This is my new bowl. The family is tied between naming it Mambrino (after Don Quixote's fabulous helmet) and Garibaldi (the famous Italian general). I am in favour of Mambrino.The bread (currently presiding over the oven's inner chambers with pomp and propriety) is made with yoghurt, honey, almond flour, and a 12-grain mix (spelt, barley, wheat, oat, &c.) along with the usual staples.I was

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-8432193683612570382008-08-11T14:20:00.001+02:002008-08-11T14:40:45.162+02:00

This clip is an interview from a film I've been enjoying recently. Robert Downey Jr. is extremely bored and Val Kilmer a calming influence, and the two balance each other very nicely. Odd to find someone who could temper RDJr. and make Val laugh--I say this having procrastinated a great deal over the past week. Interesting dynamic, funny interview.Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is hilarious and awesome,

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-7260976706788037062008-08-09T13:29:00.001+02:002010-09-16T09:32:13.367+02:00

Anybody who has been reading this for more than a year knows I occasionally write snippets of fiction, but have never really been able to cobble together a story that really wants told. Most of the time I end up poking at my close-mouthed imagination and eventually going back to dishes and laundry. What bothers me now is that I thought I was quite finished writing scribbles that wanted written

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-9646663750927799382008-08-01T15:09:00.002+02:002008-08-01T15:36:53.293+02:00

I enjoy reading scholarly banter and bickering. There's a part of me thinks I could join in if it was interesting enough, or useful. I also admire very much the people who can do things well with their hands: it is a quieter life but probably a more useful one, in the end. I'm not as good at the latter but I admire it more than the former . . . my thesis supervisor (an Anglo-Saxonist of twinkly

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-92185430009997674562008-07-24T00:32:00.000+02:002008-07-24T01:13:56.696+02:00

There's a point in the film where--shock-of-all-horrors!--a very short and unhappy man is hiding in a large pantry near the below-stairs kitchen, eating jam out of a jar with a silver spoon. A maid arrives with some menial activity, is startled by the presence of the man sitting and eating jam in the dark, alone. He assures her he will be gone soon and please, not to be disturbed on his account.

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-88642276243188431742008-07-21T13:50:00.000+02:002008-12-13T07:10:00.246+01:00

Contrary to the tone of my recent entries, I do not spend all my time on the internet . . . this morning my cat was disturbed from her morning nap (usually sprawled on my lap with her furry little tummy exposed to the sky) by a courier ringing the doorbell.Now, my skill in Italian is much stronger in understanding than speaking, but this man could have been in films: I believe his cigarette may

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-3918631507034051002008-07-20T02:14:00.001+02:002008-07-20T02:15:58.458+02:00

Your result for How good of a Calvinball player are you?...Your Grade= A++ Amazing Calvinball knowledge and strategy! Amazing. You are part of the 2.1% of the population that landed in this category.* You are an expert at the game and its history, and you did incredibly well when it came to playing Calvinball strategically.This suggests that you definitely have a natural talent in

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-23660944086206905872008-07-20T01:49:00.003+02:002008-07-20T01:55:42.209+02:00

Your result for The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test...Outcast Genius83 % Nerd, 57% Geek, 61% DorkFor The Record:A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.You scored better than half in

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-62808693594633298462008-07-16T23:52:00.000+02:002008-07-16T23:54:27.529+02:00

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-55118347124334234562008-07-07T00:00:00.002+02:002008-07-07T00:09:50.193+02:00

TextLenten ys come with loue to toune, With blosmen ant with briddes roune, That al this blisse bryngeth. Dayeseyes in this dales, TranslationSpring has arrived, with love, With flowers, and with birdsong, Bringing all this joy. Daisies in the valleys, 5 Notes suete of nyhtegales, Vch foul

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-22275175836290291522008-07-04T21:14:00.001+02:002008-07-04T21:29:25.490+02:00

I found this in my "new videos!" link on YouTube and have spent the last few minutes watching it with one elbow on The Bread Bible and another in a bowl of watermelon juice . . . our feeble air conditioner has finally been hauled upstairs and plugged in, and this is the way I am celebrating the joys of summer. Happy 4th of July to my American friends:)

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-83898524038160793832008-07-03T00:34:00.000+02:002008-07-03T00:40:54.035+02:00

I am highly disturbed by TJABC. Men talk about Austen, read her novels to their significant others, and proclaim her the best of writers and insightful. While I enjoy the banter about the books--I really do, even when I disagree with it--I really think the characterisation here is really off-kilter. The women seem to have their own personalities, but not the men. Very confusing.KKBB was hilarious

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-18757603465303228412008-06-18T00:56:00.000+02:002008-06-18T00:57:50.046+02:00

You Are MidnightYou are more than a little eccentric, and you're apt to keep very unusual habits.Whether you're a nightowl, living in a commune, or taking a vow of silence - you like to experiment with your lifestyle.Expressing your individuality is important to you, and you often lie awake in bed thinking about the world and your place in it.You enjoy staying home, but that doesn't mean you're a

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-59022881458739320812008-06-06T00:24:00.000+02:002008-12-13T07:10:00.729+01:00

But for some reason I am very fond of it. It holds many bookish memories for me, pleasant ones of solitude and sometimes of company. Lots about learning, but I never felt I learned enough. Which is why a PhD is in order, I suppose.

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-10574137633257977182008-06-03T00:33:00.000+02:002008-06-03T00:46:28.529+02:00

To console myself about the disadvantages of being such a peculiar personality, I like to imagine there are other young women who curl up with Latin workbooks and Jane Austen films on summer evenings when anything beyond the company of family and dearest friends seems overbearing. Much of the time I doubt many others of my demographic exist, but am further comforted by Ray Bradbury's astonishment

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-68309153609297615362008-05-31T00:48:00.000+02:002008-12-13T07:10:00.889+01:00

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-34081539189762358042008-05-29T14:25:00.000+02:002008-05-29T14:31:26.202+02:00

"A given text reduces the infinite or indefinite possibilities of a system to make up a closed universe. Finnegans Wake is certainly open to many interpretations, but it is sure that it will never provide you the demonstration of Fermat's theorem, or the complete bibliography of Woody Allen. This seems trivial, but the radical mistake of irresponsible deconstructionists was to believe that you

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-65802838584060645972008-05-28T22:46:00.002+02:002008-12-13T07:10:01.247+01:00

Well, not precisely. It is Mary right before Gabriel came to visit her with News, but it certainly looks like a very sleepy girl catching a few winks over a book that is quite interesting . . . but not interesting enough.I like the concept of the book of hours; a timekeeping system by way of a connection to eternity. Since the beginning of the year, I have tried to pray in the morning and in the

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-81335094099629078422008-05-26T12:43:00.004+02:002008-12-13T07:10:01.548+01:00

was a princess who lived in a large city a very long time ago. Katerina was taught to read when she was young, and she read voraciously for the rest of her life--her favourite books were on philosophy, and her favourite question was “Why?”.She was curious about the nature of the world and its people, and this got her into a lot of trouble. She soon came to the conclusion that there was a God, and

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-31827357260434000622008-05-24T15:58:00.004+02:002008-12-13T07:10:01.853+01:00

Most of the other miniatures and historiated initials in this book of saints are identified on the British Library’s captions with names and scenes of martyrdom. This one is labelled “Historiated initial 'I'(n) at the beginning of the passion of Eustace, with a seated monk eating pies being held in a large bowl by a devil”. The closest I can draw to explaining the connection to Eustace himself is

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-69666498707784369082008-05-22T15:06:00.000+02:002008-05-22T15:08:29.179+02:00

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-7974799815987521422008-05-21T00:32:00.002+02:002008-12-13T07:10:02.046+01:00

I love the British Library and its willingness to allow crazy enthusiasts to use their image databases. One day I will brush up my Latin and REALLY become dangerous to the general public.This is my favourite image that I've discovered today: a monk snaffling pies and the bowl held by a demon. The pies are traditionally shaped, though for some reason I can't yet get mine to stay in that shape

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-84588036181660167242008-05-20T00:49:00.000+02:002008-12-13T07:10:02.190+01:00

During the olden days of yore, when I was writing my graduate thesis, I studied quite a bit about medieval maidenhood. I can tell you why marriages were not made in infancy and that many medieval women could read, and had businesses of their own. It is something that one of the most popular saints in England during the Middle Ages was martyred because she proved her Christian beliefs against 50

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-19653864990864530362008-05-15T22:46:00.000+02:002008-05-15T23:54:45.014+02:00

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-34465439636827443472008-04-23T20:34:00.001+02:002008-04-23T20:34:55.919+02:00

I haven’t got the technical vocabulary for any of this, but I do spend too much time on the British Library web site and found a selection of images that might other wise have gone unnoticed . . . because of their obscurity. Never mind my geek points for this one. I’ve fulfilled my quota for the year already.The following links are to images from the British Library, and depict lecterns and

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-53965665207903753192008-04-19T02:37:00.000+02:002008-04-19T02:38:21.800+02:00

“I love Mondays.” First of all, what person in their right mind would trust the guy who said that?“If you’d done the right thing, you’d be feeling better about this.” If doing the right thing were comfortable, we’d do it more often.“You like it! I knew you would.” Oooooh, dear.“I’m fine.” HA.“If they have to say to trust them, it is obvious that they are not worth trusting.” Pot calls the kettle

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-69250028297912529522008-04-15T12:40:00.001+02:002008-04-15T12:44:16.944+02:00

“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-89915379077296037142008-04-09T00:39:00.000+02:002008-04-09T00:40:55.002+02:00

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-58103822098502552012008-04-02T02:02:00.001+02:002008-04-02T02:02:36.222+02:00

Today is the day on which many a medieval love-vision or historical tale begins: April is here. The world is opening up, the zodiacal signs are apparently all frolicking in their set order, and the earth itself is breathing in time to the music of the spheres--humanity was set in a system of thought that knew neither Darwinism nor Jean Jacque Rousseau but a complex system of detailed constructs

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-81994343502766387852008-03-29T23:45:00.001+01:002008-12-13T07:10:02.326+01:00

I have just burnt to a charred carcass the makings of chicken stock. I had browned the chicken bones, done the whole thing with fresh herbs and vegetables and stepped next door to watch a movie, setting the pot on the lowest heat and hoping it would get hot enough to simmer while I was gone . . . and simmer it most certainly did. To cinders. Ah, well. I am now airing out the kitchen before I go

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-56596307739888308442008-03-25T23:46:00.000+01:002008-03-25T23:47:21.336+01:00

Like most men I know, my father is not the most attentive to appearances. I consider this a good thing since I’m not so big on appearances, myself, but his affection then manifests itself in odd ways, such as telling me I look pretty when I am standing in front of a tray of warm molasses cookies whose recipe I have yet to divulge to its adoring fans. (My costume on this occasion is a ratty

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-77860136389660666782008-03-20T16:56:00.000+01:002008-03-20T16:57:12.585+01:00

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-80905375513386877912008-03-19T02:00:00.001+01:002008-03-19T02:00:36.346+01:00

Recently, a lot of my married friends are confiding in me that they once thought they’d never find another person who could love them for what they are and now look at them and their happy marriages. I believe it is a veiled way of saying that they hope I find somebody one day and may also be a vague way of referring to their concern that I may secretly be a mutant.While this is very sweet of

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-23580731776966659742008-03-08T20:52:00.000+01:002008-12-13T07:10:02.563+01:00

Notice the fine detail around the ragout with parsley-parmesan roll and wooden bowl & spoon (see the link on the right menu). One would almost think the student in question ended up eating like this quite a bit, though I would guess her favourite food to eat out of this particular bowl would be oatmeal with a dollop of home-made sour cherry jam on top.The book pictured is The Lindisfarne Gospels:

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-88129850773153814792008-03-08T16:44:00.001+01:002008-03-08T18:07:02.544+01:00

I bought three new songs on iTunes and feel very smug about it: they are labelled under Shira Kammen’s album Almanac but they are sung by John Fleagle, who only put out one album before he died. His name does not appear in connection to Kammen’s album, though from having read a little about them I know they respected each other.My inhaler is making my heartbeat go all funky, but I haven’t really

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-52310243250972263602008-03-02T18:16:00.000+01:002008-03-02T18:24:27.748+01:00

One of my new favourite films. The story, plot, acting, soundtrack, cinematography and especially the symbolism were fascinating. I'm very impressed. The trailer may look weird but you should check it out.

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-36630412935448705882008-02-28T11:02:00.000+01:002008-02-28T11:03:10.826+01:00

I’m about to go away for the weekend, which will horrify my cat but hopefully be good for my allergies. The area of the country I’ll be travelling in is one of my favourites, and I look forward to the time to pray and think.Something inside me is not quite right--if I were talking about it in physical terms I would say that my depth perception is failing, or that my heart is beating off-pattern.

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-55932670989709383662008-02-25T12:53:00.001+01:002008-02-25T12:53:50.705+01:00

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-37041503499151297602008-02-21T03:41:00.001+01:002008-02-21T03:45:45.647+01:00

“How and why did one person invest so much sustained effort into producing such an encyclopaedic masterpiece? What was the artist-scribe’s life like? What must it have been like to try to claw back enough time and energy to undertake this body-racking, muscle-aching, eye-straining task in a hut somewhere on the seaboard of north-west Europe with the wind and the rain and the distraction of a

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-54760269877786376432008-02-20T00:27:00.001+01:002008-02-20T00:27:46.408+01:00

The only time I’ve ever felt like this I was also feeling poor and powerless and lonely, so it was all very confusing and I’m not sure what it all meant. I tried to write a poem like this one--in form rather than content--but it sounded sallow and surreal: it sounded hinged. The fact that love hopes at all times and also trusts at all times is a difficult thing to understand for those of us who

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-78744165952649227172008-02-10T21:58:00.000+01:002008-02-10T21:59:01.281+01:00

THE ILLITERATEBy William MeredithTouching your goodness, I am like a manWho turns a letter over in his handAnd you might think that this was because the handWas unfamiliar but, truth is, the manHas never had a letter from anyone;And now he is both afraid of what it meansAnd ashamed because he has no other meansTo find out what it says than to ask someone.His uncle could have left the farm to him,

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-57368404814433290982008-02-10T18:23:00.000+01:002008-02-10T18:24:27.952+01:00

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-31131527232691185722008-02-08T17:36:00.001+01:002008-02-08T17:36:52.874+01:00

I don’t quite get why people get warm fuzzy realisations or dramatic revelations from their fathers in movies. Probably because I have a healthy relationship with my father . . . but having a conversation in which we talked about Arian and Pelagian heresies, grad school papers and mutual neighbourhood ogres brought up the subject of my career, which is depressing and left me very downcast. So now

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-2760017862863490872008-02-05T10:00:00.000+01:002008-02-05T10:01:02.663+01:00

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-73149203200809571352008-01-29T15:09:00.000+01:002008-01-29T15:12:33.046+01:00

SUMMA THEOLOGICA: HomeSt. Thomas Aquinas' entire masterpiece, in an easy-to-use format ORB: The Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies K-12 Medieval Studies ::Medieval England::An encyclopaedia of aspects in Medieval England covering many aspects of Medieval England starting with 1066 and the Battle of Hastings. Medieval England was an era of great change and this section

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-51071479113268108522008-01-21T01:24:00.000+01:002008-01-21T01:25:45.000+01:00

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-89172422195294937962008-01-07T13:09:00.000+01:002008-01-07T13:18:42.963+01:00

Today, the hills around my house are covered in mist, and there’s been a light rainfall all about the village since about 9. It’s cool outside, but not too cold; I expect it will be dark around 4 or 5 this afternoon and then it will be too chilly for my comfort.This is one of the first times the cats have really gone out on a rainy day since the early fall. They come back in with a light dew on

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-5967399590498337692007-12-31T00:42:00.000+01:002007-12-31T00:45:27.200+01:00

NSFW, and not kid-safe. Not conservative-safe. Still very sweet and funny.

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-28450409126789056322007-12-29T19:27:00.000+01:002007-12-29T19:33:02.865+01:00

Post-holiday let-down has always been a speciality of mine; somehow I manage to get sick and have a lot of un-procrastinated tedious things to do all at once. Luckily I have some awesome new books to keep me in my imagination and out of pessimism. Here is a clip from one of them:"The liturgy is the public worship of the church. The very word liturgy is from the Greek [unintelligible symbols I'm

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-36488185700885121032007-08-17T02:02:00.000+02:002010-09-16T09:28:40.270+02:00

He said something complimentary in a language she didn't understand and then continued delicately mincing his way through what appeared to be an ordinary trifle. "And how did you like Paris?" He said it condescendingly, with the self-assured air of a smart traveller. "Umm. It was interesting." Considering that she had spent all but her first stormy day inside her hotel room curled up in foetal

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-54246445519156019442007-07-16T13:54:00.000+02:002007-07-16T13:56:19.018+02:00

You're Watership Down!by Richard AdamsThough many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you'reactually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink theirassumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'dbe recognized as such if you weren't always talking about

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-31471899724198538602007-07-11T13:26:00.000+02:002007-07-11T13:45:47.268+02:00

Mainly they place in a kindly light that style of courage--cold courage, 'moral courage', two-o'clock-in-the-morning courage--which our age is most prepared to venerate. (Shippey's The Road to Middle-Earth, 79)True, true.The right side remains right even if it has no ultimate hope at all. In a sense this Northern mythology asks more of men, even makes more of them, than does Christianity, for it

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-694674836058743972007-06-21T12:25:00.000+02:002007-06-21T13:48:30.150+02:00

'Even though you're a big strong girl,The best made plans are your open hands.'(Deb Talan's Big Strong Girl)I like this song. In fact, there's a lot of stuff by her that I like. Comfort is another favourite.I love my life here. It is right that I went away to begin growing up and away, I think, and right that I came here to start the process. There's a lot of things I'd like to put into words

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-83076722516600511402007-06-15T05:39:00.000+02:002007-06-15T05:40:18.351+02:00

I am at 1000 words in four hours and feeling a bit suspiciously confident. This is scary. I can basically trace some of my surefire flaws (the ones I always have to edit later rather than in progress). I know where my conclusion is headed.Dude. This is the weirdest feeling. And I know LOTR so well that finding references is not hard . . . and the weird bits that don't quite make sense for the

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-82381213092845996812007-06-12T16:09:00.000+02:002007-06-12T16:34:29.824+02:00

I tried to speak up and say what I wanted and needed today, but it didn't really get heard or noticed. I got tired, so I stopped trying. Prolly not that great of an idea, the whole giving-up thing. People at home know me better and care for me more efficiently--right now I feel as if I am very hard to get to know.It is not fun, being cryptic or whatever it is that separates me from other people

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-57685720521492242622007-06-08T13:26:00.001+02:002007-06-08T13:26:46.728+02:00

In response to Amanda's comment on my post (http://anstruther.blogspot.com/2006/09/love-will-set-you-free-right.html), may I offer my thanks for her response. I meant the song lyrics to express emotion, and I do agree that truth is very important. I think truth and love are very closely intertwined.

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-40293831770377191402007-05-16T14:30:00.000+02:002007-05-16T14:41:04.594+02:00

Behold, I am a graduate student. I drink my morning cappuccino (iced, because the weather is warmer now) from an empty jar that once held Loyd Grossman's recipe of Tikka Masala. A large percentage of my flatmates eat chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. I ask questions that you can't find answers to on the internet but only in some old dusty books, some of which have last been read before the

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-30646814588990130672007-04-28T16:42:00.000+02:002007-04-28T16:43:03.516+02:00

I'm just back from the market, getting milk, eggs and some brown bread to go with the vegetable soup tonight. And some apples to core and stuff with toasted nuts and honeyed dried fruits and then bake with whisky butter on top.Perhaps I was made for living at home, quietly. Cooking simple meals and doing simple housework seems good to me. On the other hand, my life has been so adventurous that it

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-78173968558025561542007-04-28T16:39:00.000+02:002007-04-28T16:42:29.335+02:00

I mean that I am sceptical of practice rather than theory. Love seems to be alright in books and in ideas, but when real people get their grubby little hands on it, makes the whole thing real and lopsided. Love is no fairytale, nor ever was it. That is what I mean.Not that I mind it, of course:)

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-55981571678560756162007-04-18T14:49:00.000+02:002007-04-18T14:50:13.152+02:00

I'm putting this together to prove to myself that I am only sceptical of living men, not love. Because I got teased again, last night, and I don't understand why I am so different. Again.http://anstruther.blogspot.com/2007/01/looseleaf-chai-talkin-bout-luv-courtly.htmlhttp://anstruther.blogspot.com/2007/01/what-you-see-is-reflection-of-way-you.htmlhttp://anstruther.blogspot.com/2006/12/

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-55978791792818981962007-04-15T01:56:00.001+02:002007-04-15T01:56:48.925+02:00

You Are 56% NerdyYou may be a bit surprised with this score, but your more of a closet nerd than an actual nerd.Stop denying your inner nerd! You're truly dorkier than you think.How Nerdy Are You?

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-49487330349844880622007-04-11T10:42:00.001+02:002007-04-11T10:42:55.831+02:00

There are blossoms on flowers, new and bright and fresh--like lightning. There are fragile new leaves, children from gnarled branches of ancient trees. It hurts to look at it all in context; like some unveiled banner of a very powerful cause. I guess rebirth is a powerful cause. Easter is.The grass is lively and soft and very, very bright. I took off my shoes the other day in the park, and stood

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-64724058618737237772007-03-08T02:02:00.001+01:002007-03-08T02:02:57.313+01:00

I've been thinking, lately, about a monastery in which I spent three days. It was a restful time I spent with my sisters, praying and talking quietly, thinking about things. They had home-made jams and whole wheat bread, and libraries full of books that were new 30 years ago, windows that looked out on sunny California, so luscious under the smog.The monks that were resident there had travelled

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-82775850313908901172007-03-03T19:03:00.000+01:002007-03-03T19:10:21.748+01:00

I'm in a bit of a muddle, not wanting to write. It rarely happens, you know--as evidenced by my multiple blogs and regular upkeep of them--but right now is the 3/4-way mark of my time in Ireland, and ergo it is also the hardest. My morale is at a predictable low.And don't even MENTION thesis topics. Thesis bad.Anyway, I have been reading Gaudy Night bits and pieces again--mostly the bits with

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8219027.post-52488182187877469742007-02-27T22:00:00.000+01:002007-02-27T22:07:43.454+01:00

One of the nicest smells to come across as a surprise, other than flowers and bookdust, is pipe smoke. Cherry or vanilla is best. My great-uncle used to smoke a pipe. I remember that he had stubble on his face; lighter than his hair and my skin was very fair. I was a toddler the last time I saw him.My brother-in-law smokes a pipe, sometimes, except that he doesn't like it when we all crowd behind

miss rikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101606515560992568noreply@blogger.com1