Elisabeth.Carnell.Com

But not too busy to Laugh Out Loud:

LOLmanuscripts

(laughed so hard I cried, I did - oh noes!)

3066

(About 150 less than last year, but given the gas prices and recession fun times here and in surrounded states it was pretty much what we expected.)

Ah, the rest-of-Congress post I forgot to publish before I left town for a few days. Brilliant I am, oh yes:

Friday, and my hopes that all crises could be kept to Wednesday and Thursday have been dashed. *snarl*

On a happier note, I not only snuck off campus for a wonderfully chatty and baba gannouj-filled lunch, I actually got away from Reception long enough to attend Societas Magica’s Divine Names session (and it was fantastic!) I attended a couple of late-evening receptions and, oh frabjous day, I managed to track down a fair number of friends and co-conspirators I still had not connected with.

Saturday held my aforementioned afternoon of session presiding. The general session was interesting, the three papers very different but all leading to interesting questions and all have the potential for continuing discussion on their respective areas. The Weblogs session was engaging and filled with a lot of post-papers discussion and questions (and the lion’s share of the discussion, that of anonymous v. non-anonymous blogging and gendered voices, not only took us past the session ending-time, but has helped generate the topic for next year’s weblogs session proposal). I will be further blogging this, so that’s all for now.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday (cue monster truck commercial). Sunday is really a series of unfortunate moments in time…I’m up way too late at the dance (I always stay ’til the bitter end, alas) so I get way too little sleep, and am way too wiped (both physically and mentally) to properly offer farewell to my compatriots. And I’m packing up the mobile-institute and processing payroll and other bits of paperwork well into the afternoon. Later I get to rent a car at the airport, drive my sorry behind to St. Louis, and spend the next few days witnessing what should prove to be an outstanding dissertation defense and watching my friend process with the other SLU graduate school graduates and stand to be hooded. (there is a list of two people who could get me in a car for a road-trip the last day of Congress, and she’s one of them). I’ll also be an interloper, by sheer proximity, to the English Department’s Shippey retirement fest. And since I currently have almost voice left, I doubt I’ll be doing more than croaking for the next few days (apologies in advance.)

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, good night. See you all next year - same time, same channel.

Ah, the Congress.

First day is (nearly) complete – the last sessions are happening as I type. I’ve made it through the traditional afternoon/evening of All Hell Breaks Loose, followed by All Hell Breaks Loose II: A New Day. It’s good to get the completely insane and utterly unexpected crises out of the way early, it makes those following crises that much more enjoyable for their mundanity.

I miss many folks I had hoped I’d be seeing (but were waylaid by a variety of last-minute Dire Events), but have seen many others wander past my central vantage point, and I look forward to seeing those Johnny-come-latelies who couldn’t be arsed to get here before late Friday (insert put-upon sigh here.) I managed to get out late last night to be social (woo! No, seriously – I usually end up eating alone if I need to utilize the cafeteria, so social is definitely worthy of a woo!)

I, of course, don’t have much opportunity to see sessions until tomorrow when things are calm enough that I’m not too afeared of leaving my intrepid grad. students alone with only the information binders to keep them company. I’m looking forward to a Societas Magica session tomorrow afternoon (Divine Names and Traditions of Use). I’m still on duty as Terry Jones is giving his paper, alas (his last paper overlapped my own session, much to my chagrin – I have terrible luck), and I’m hemming and hawing over whether I want to poke my head in at the evening medieval video gaming extravaganza MEMO has scheduled – but the real fun is Saturday afternoon, when I’m chairing Medievalists in Cyberspace followed by the session I co-organized with the wonderful Shana Worthen, Weblogs and the Academy: Professional and Community Outreach through Internet Presence (here’s hoping I’m reasonably cogent, I passed crazy yesterday morning!) (Especially since I’m blogging them! Take notes, woman!)

More commentary this weekend – later, taters.

(Yes, this is real and untouched. I took it myself probably 12-13 years ago — I’m pretty sure it was the corner of Rose St. and either Cedar St. or Walnut St. I think it explains Kalamazoo rather succinctly. Once I get this whole new-blog-host thing figured out and have a little time [ha ha] I’ll make it the backdrop to this blog.)

Yes, I’ll be blogging (choruses of ‘effing, finally!!’ not appreciated, you grumblers!) the Congress, apparently I’m also blogging some of the cyber sessions for the Literature Compass Blog, and other bits and bobs that need to be addressed.

Oh, yeah, and that Coordinator thing I do. Silly me.

2nd Cambridge Centre for the study of Western Esotericism Conference to be held on Saturday 11th October 2008 in the Unitarian Memorial Church in Cambridge CB1 1JW  UK

WESTERN ESOTERICISM & THE ARTS

Artists in the literary, musical and visual fields have long been influenced by and involved with esoteric teachings and practices, some of these connections are well known, Botticelli and astrology, Mozart and Freemasonry, Yeats and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, but many remain less known or hidden, so that the extent and importance of these influences tends to have been underestimated or unrecognised.

Papers are invited which look at Western Esotericism and the Arts, from a variety of academic and practitioner disciplines. Please send an email of your abstract in a hundred words to Dr Sophia Wellbeloved: sophia@gurdjieff-books.net

See further details at www.ccwe.wordpress.com

Deadline for papers 31st  JULY 2008.

CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Reverend Dr Malcolm Guite, Chaplain of Girton College Cambridge, is both poet and priest.

His paper will trace the hidden course and some of the sources of the stream of “esoteric” thought and imagery which flows, so often unnoticed through western arts, and in particular will look at literature.

(The Cambridge Centre for the study of Western Esotericism is independent of any academic or esoteric communities, the co-ordinators share an interest in the need for a wider dialogue between scholars and practitioners in the field of Western Esotericism and in the establishment of a secular space in which an interdisciplinary network can thrive.)

Call for Papers for the 34th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Medieval Association, to be held on the campus of Saint Louis University in downtown Saint Louis from October 2-4, 2008, and co-hosted by Saint Louis University and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville:

http://www.siue.edu/babel/SEMA2008CallForPapers.htm

Winter is icumin in
Lhude sing Goddamn,
Raineth drop and staineth slop,
And how the wind doth ramm!
Sing; Goddamn.
Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us,
An ague hath my ham
Damn you, Sing, Goddamn.
Goddamn, Goddamn, ’tis why I am,
So ‘gainst the winter’s balm.
Sing goddamn, damn, sing goddamn,
Sing goddamn, sing goddamn, DAMM

-Ezra Pound (1915)

(and if you’re squinting at the screen wondering why this looks familiar)

head, meet desk.
repeat.

Life has been rather more distracting than usual the last several months - many, many appointments…we’ve run the gauntlet of neuropsych and genetic testing for Miss Emma. Results from the genetic testing are still outstanding - yet before us is the ever-so-enjoyable Large Battle With School for appropriate services and IEP. Heck, getting them to switch her from SPD to OHI looks to be akin to the invasion at Normandy. Things aren’t looking good, in any case - we’ve been hearing results we’d strongly suspected, certainly, but even so it’s not news any parent wants to hear.

For the discussion of Things Which Keep Me Sane we find ourselves at the studio. Last night was the unloading (of the salt kiln) - and it was a grand ugh moment. Not ugh as in it was really effing cold, although it was can’t-feel-my-fingers cold, but ugh as in ‘why the hell do most of the pieces look like total shite?’

I must say that the weather has been thirteen shades of foul for weeks, so Sunday (in the rain, wading through ice water up past our ankles as we clutched, hunched-over, freshly-wadded pieces to our chests (in an attempt to keep them dry) through the back area to reach the kiln. For hours. Fuck.) we finally, finally loaded for the first time this term - I mention this because although we weren’t arse-deep in blizzard it was colder than a witch’s tit in a brass brassiere Monday when the kiln was lit (with difficulty, mind) and salted. So it was run to cone 9 - but because we’re having burner issues and then the cold..well, it’s clear that the top and area in front of the bricked-in opening reached 9, the rear and center certainly did not because a lot came out looking like under-cooked crap. *siiigh*

I have two pieces that just need to go again, but are otherwise fine, and two bowls that were lined in a glaze that was somehow Tremendously Not Right, and so I need to re-glaze and run them again. I threw some tenmoku in one (the other I have to dremel first, as there is schmutz in the bottom - it appears that there was some exploding wadding, probably the pancakes between the shelves and the support bricks, not under pieces) and popped it back on the cart (given the number of pieces that require re-fire I imagine we’ll be able to re-load very soon…probably not this weekend, but hope ever springeth eternal.) I had used that same glaze a plate, as well, and before I left last night I sprayed the offending surface with some malcolm davis shino - we’ll see what happens.

I have some other pieces to glaze that I just pulled off the bisque shelves, and I glazed (high-fire, not wanting to wait on the salt kiln) a bowl last night for the Empty Bowls project - I have been much better about being on top of things this year, in past years I had issues with getting pieces through the process in time to make the donation (and if I can get a second glazed in the next couple of days I may have two to donate - we’ll see, in theory I should be able to get in this weekend, at least for a little while, as I need to throw a stoneware cassarole for my sister and fuss with trimming pieces I threw last week). Small bowls move really fast - so what I have sitting are bowls too large and non-bowls. One of these days I need to photograph the lot and get my etsy back up and humming - after some bizarre server hiccough made all of my listings go bye-bye I simply haven’t had time to re-list what I have already photographed, much less goof around with the things I’ve been schlepping home from last term.

Other life-bits go on as usual: resident elderly is the same as ever, office follies continue apace (I should note that the Program has been online for a while, and printed Programs are due from the printer any moment so will leave Kalamazoo in batches forthwith. So for godssake don’t call me about not having received yours, yet!), and the superhero in our midst is making fantastic progress with reading, writing, and all other things kindergarten.