A new faculty member faces his demons
Category Archives: From the museum
A Philistine Reads About Art
I’ve read too many fantasy books about artists recently and it has left me with a tendency to slam things down on the table and shout ‘Bullshit!’ at intervals, which was not a good way to begin mandatory inservice at … Continue reading
The Secret Life of Flies by Erica McAlister
Before there were robotics nerds or computer nerds or science-fiction nerds there were natural history nerds, and this book is for them. It’s that modern rarity, a popular science book that might have been written in 1940; the most advanced … Continue reading
Posted in From the museum, reading, real life
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Politics needs the Cladistic Revolution
This was a big issue in my previous life in the world of systematics. The field was in a huge paradigm war between people who classified dead fish based on shared evolutionary novelties (the cladists) and people who classified based … Continue reading
Posted in all right already!, From the museum, real life
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Mrs Tiggy-Winkle
As I got dressed yesterday, hiking my skirt up to the only point at which it will still fit around my torso, I realized that I have entered the Mrs Tiggy-Winkle stage of couture. Then I thought, I could do … Continue reading
Posted in art
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Dr. Mutter’s Marvels
When the Human Anatomy & Physiology Society met in Philadelphia, a highlight was our visit to the famous Mutter Museum of anatomical curiosities – not a Ripley’s sort of museum, but a collection of study specimens maintained by the College … Continue reading
Posted in book review, From the museum, reading
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Legends of Russia by Kseniya Simonova
I don’t know Russian legends, but I know what I like. This video’s amazing both for her artistry and the confidence with which she destroys and recreates her art. I like a book to do this as well – replacing … Continue reading
How to Identify Ents
In Tolkien’s books, young or youngish ents are mentioned. Where I live, though, the ents are obviously a later stage in the life of trees. You only find them in a mature forest that is not well manicured. An ent-woods … Continue reading
Posted in bestiary, talking trees
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In which five people outwit one bird
I’ve remarked before that the way to see owls is to go out without either binoculars or camera. Ignoring my own advice, my friend Elaine Bergstrom and I went out to Seminary Woods, fully armed with cameras, to listen to … Continue reading
Posted in art, bestiary, Elaine Bergstrom, it takes a village, real life
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Smashword Update
For anyone who missed my previous announcement, Kindling is available on Smashwords for $0.99. I’m still waiting for them to resolve their issues with Amazon, but if nothing happens in the next week I’ll look into publishing it there as … Continue reading
Posted in art, publication, real life, writing
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A New Year’s Procession
Here’s the Procession of the Sardar, by Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov. My father had a 45 rpm record with this on one side and Valse Triste on the other. I listened to it endlessly, especially in those cold after-christmas months when … Continue reading
Posted in From the museum, music
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