Category Archives: Uncategorized

Since it was rainy, windy, and about 40 degrees today in New Britain, and since A was out of town (at a conference! in California! chatting up Helen Mirren in a security line at LAX!), the Little Man and I … Continue reading →

Chelsea House has a new series of reference works aimed at the secondary-ed and undergraduate markets. Called “Bloom’s Classical Critical Views,” they publish contemporary perspectives on 19thC writers (i.e., reviews that are out of copyright). For each review, the volume … Continue reading →

I have a feature-length review + interview today in PopMatters with Michel Faber about his new book of short stories, Vanilla Bright Like Eminem.  Victorianists who read this blog will recognize Faber as the author of the neo-Victorian novel, The … Continue reading →

Everyone likes to know what their former students are up to, right? One of my former MA students went off to a top-twenty doctoral program this year, apparently to spend her time staging action-figure battles with her officemates. The evidence: … Continue reading →

I wonder why PopMatters decided to run my review of the BBC Count Dracula DVD *today* . . . ?  (Just kidding: The boy’s been hopped-up on anticipated candy for a week.) A preview: By playing Dracula, not as a … Continue reading →

In last week’s New Yorker, Steven Martin has an essay that purports to describe his early years in comedy.  (The fulltext isn’t online, though there’s an abstract.)  When he recalls his early years in standup, he discusses how he’d deal … Continue reading →

CNN has a story about a company that will, for a fee, give you official-looking notes explaining why you missed work: Feeling like playing hooky, but nervous about getting caught? The Excused Absence Network has got your back. For about … Continue reading →

Can anyone in higher ed imagine deploying one of these nifty tokens at a meeting of any standing committee ?  Or, for example, at the faculty senate? — It’s off-topic, but I’m a little concerned about my classes tomorrow, since … Continue reading →

Today was the last day of the local U-6 soccer league‘s fall season.  We’ve had a great time–the Little Man played, A was a “Soccer Mom” (which is an official title in this league, and not just a quasi-mythical demographic), … Continue reading →

How could you not love this reading list? Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures & Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes Rider Haggard. King Solomon’s Mines; Allan Quatermain; She (Published as a single volume) Alan Moore & Kevin O’Neill, The League of Extraordinary … Continue reading →