All I have to do

I’m composing this in a state of mild exhaustion after having shoveled the driveway between two rounds of un-forecast snow in my area. I had to drive yesterday morning to do grocery shopping and I must drive tomorrow to spend the day with friends I haven’t seen since their wedding two summers ago, so today was the day the shoveling had to be done.

The driveway-snow is compacted in places where (a) I drove in and out of the driveway and (b) the FedEx truck came to drop off a package which the driver chucked on the porch. I never received notification of delivery. We just found it there in its white bubble-mailer under the snow.

But I’m happy to report that I have made steady progress on my research project

A few months ago, I spoke with a faculty member in the History Department to get more information about a course he teaches to history majors. For context, I told him that I was planning to write a biography.

“All you really have to do,” he said, “is read well-written biographies, then look at how they structured them.” Since then I have checked out several [more] biographies [than I already have]. I haven’t yet read his recommendation Traitor to His Class, the 825-page H. W. Brands biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but as I read other biographies I’m examining them with new eyes.

I’m trying to notice when a biographer uses imagination to set a scene to draw the reader in, and when they step back and lay down fact after fact. I’m paying more attention to how they source their information, and how they treat other writers on the same subject as collaborators rather than competitors. I’m learning that “shared from an unpublished manuscript” in the Notes section reveals a friendly relationship between fellow researchers, and I am encouraged to reach out to other writers instead of prioritizing a dash to the finish line ahead of them.

For the sake of the research project, this week I checked out books on SF writer John Wyndham and a few more texts on the history of mathematics. I’m about two-thirds of the way through the charming biography Hidden Wyndham: Life, Love, Letters by Amy Binns, and I am making notes as I go. I am impressed by her deft handling of the narrative, how she gently shares her opinions and speculations when appropriate, and how she uses research about other subjects (George Orwell’s wife, for example) to provide historical context for her own subject.

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The chapter I read yesterday spurred me to visit the Internet Speculative Fiction Database, which — as one might expect — is one of the most Amazing, Fantastic, and Startling rabbit-holes out there. I have visited the site before, but this time I saw more ways to explore and plunder cite it as part of my research. After resting up for a while, I’ll create an account and see what may be possible.

Also on my reading list are books about writing for an academic audience. I finished reading Elizabeth Rankin’s The Work of Writing: Insights and Strategies for Academics and Professionals and I’m now reading The Writer’s Diet: A Guide to Fit Prose by Helen Sword. Because I have so much else to read, I incorporate these books a chapter at a time, when I have time. Reading them in tiny chunks allows their lessons to resonate.

This evening I picked up the 1982 Gardner and Maier translation of Gilgamesh and read it straight through, consulting the notes only occasionally. After the text of the story is a 25-page section on the actual translation work that they did; I’ll pick it up on another day and see if it draws me in. (Not tonight, as I’m exhausted from helping to shovel the driveway. At least we got it done before the snow resumed.)

In all honesty, it will be good for me to know more about why Gardner and Maier made the translation and editing choices that they did before I go on to read someone else’s translation of the work.

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The next translation on my list is Gilgamesh: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell, published in 2004.

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After a third translation by David Ferry, in a copy delightfully annotated by what seems to have been a Milwaukee high school student, I’ll be looking for a way to view the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Darmok.” If you have any tips on where or how I can find this, please leave them in the comments. That should close out the Gilgamesh section, unless someone in my department suggests a translation or movie or art exhibit or interpretive dance I simply must experience before I move on to the Mahabharata.

Knitwise, I have no knitting to report. I have browsed the patterns in one of my knitting books and paged through my binder filled with miscellaneous patterns (i.e., for objects that are not scarves, socks, or sweaters, which have their own pattern-binders), but nothing has of yet struck my fancy.

Maybe I’m reluctant to cast on for something new because I have been doing so much reading and writing (and typing) lately. I can’t do the knitting while I do the other things, and right now those other things seem more important.

Published in: on January 18, 2026 at 10:32 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Beyond the grey havens

Last week I watched all of the Lord of the Rings extended editions, which I had purchased one by one many years ago — from Walmart, if I recall correctly, which I might not. The second and third sets were still in the shrink wrap, and after unwrapping them I found that I had just missed out on an offer to purchase a custom slipcase for the three sets for only $5, by about twenty years. Oh well.

Obviously the movies could not have been completely faithful to the text of the books or they would still be playing. Over the course of the three films there were certainly parts that were left out entirely, parts that were tightened up a bit, and parts that were…curiously changed or added. But on the whole, I’m very glad that I included several of Tolkien’s works in my Impossible Read and included the Lord of the Rings movies after finally reading the books.

The next book in the Impossible Read is the Epic of Gilgamesh, and I have started reading the introduction to the translation done by John Gardner and John Maier in 1982 (which Gardner finished typing up just ten days before he died in a motorcycle accident). I have two more versions of Gilgamesh to tackle after that one, plus some YouTube material to provide any additional context I might desire by that point.

However. Marquette University happens to have the Tolkien Archives, and a visit there would be quite a way to commemorate all of my recent reading and viewing. So I’m looking into it.

I now have a good idea of how to organize the work of my research project. Then I happened to flip through the tiny notebook in which I’m recording my ideas, and I saw that I came to the exact same conclusion on November 19, 2025. I suppose that I have finally seconded my own motion and it’s okay to move forward with the plan. All in favor? The vote seems to be unanimous. Onward!

Part of my research work involves looking at the literary ancestors of the stories that my subject wrote, and I find myself in the genre of the adventure story. A few months ago I read King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard, and when I discovered that it was composed after Haggard read Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, well, then, I had to read Treasure Island. My memory suggests that I read it for the first (and only) time in my sixth grade reading group. I’m not sure if we read the original text or something more watered down, but one of my readers (B?) may remember. (All I remember with any clarity is Jim Hawkins hiding in the apple barrel.)

One of my department members highly recommended that I watch the 1990 TNT movie version, and a few weeks ago he ran into my office and tossed it onto my desk. I’m pleased to report that I finally watched it this afternoon. It’s very faithful to the text, and how could you find an actor with more gravitas to play Long John Silver than Charlton Heston? Jim Hawkins is played well by Christian Bale. I don’t know why he looks like Odo on the cover of the DVD.

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Of course, if Treasure Island has been screened, can Treasure Planet be far behind?

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I will have other adventure stories popping up later in the course of my Impossible Read, and at the moment it does feel like I’m double dipping. But some of these tales are more important to read a little sooner for the sake of the project.

Next up is a scholarly work from 1965 that will discuss Robert Louis Stevenson and his relationship to adventure stories. I will be reading that book while I read Gilgamesh and while I read books on academic writing and editing.

The new typewriter and some newly reinforced habits have been very helpful towards keeping my project on my desk as well as on my mind. One of my goals has been to type about two pages a day. This is helping me regain some of the muscle strength in my fingers (electronic keyboards make typing much easier than it used to be!), and I have found that once I have gotten started the thoughts seem to keep flowing. Best of all, no nearby pets have been annoyed by my typing, which helps me to be able to keep it up. I don’t know why I’m so often anxious about making too much noise, but I am. And I really have to get over that. After I do, my piano and my saxophone will finally get used again.

Knitwise, I have finished the Universal Scarf and even woven in the [two] yarn-ends. The original plan was to knit two of these scarves with the reclaimed yarn from the herringbone scarf project, creating fraternal twins. Now that I’m on the verge of casting on for the second scarf I am having second thoughts.

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What about a hat instead, to match the scarf? Or a pair of wrist warmers? I have about 88 grams of yarn to work with but my memory suggests that there are more balls of this same yarn and colorway somewhere in my stash. If I were to make something else with more of this yarn (probably 300 grams max), what could it be?

Published in: on January 4, 2026 at 9:10 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Down with…something

I’m a little under the weather this weekend, and will try my best to take it easy this week. But I just had to show you the (ahem) vintage typewriter that I recently acquired. It’s a late 1965 Royal Safari, probably celebrating its 60th birthday about now, and it’s hard to believe the good condition it’s in. The seller didn’t know anything about its history or its former owner, but it seems to have been used lightly, tucked back in its case and set aside for several decades, then put out as decor just long enough to attract some dust to the type basket. But it works perfectly.

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(Seller photo.)

With regard to my research project, last week I hauled nine copies of the same book back to the library. Each book was pretty heavy; I should have weighed them all together before I took them back, but I didn’t think of it. The next phase of the project will be to analyze the data that I gained from examining these copies, and writing an article about what I found — and didn’t find.

This weekend I read a post on Quora that made me realize that my Impossible Read has what you might call an elephant in the room — an invisible elephant. James Joyce’s Ulysses. The original poster was complaining about Ulysses…well, what they actually wrote concluded with, “Can somebody convince me this is not garbage?”

The OP also claimed that Ulysses was their book club’s selection of the month and they were more than halfway through, both of which seem incredibly unlikely, so they are probably just an untruthful troll. But the respondent answered so thoughtfully that I decided to add the book to my reading list. (After all, it’s already impossible, so why not?) He also recommended picking up The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses, which sounds as if it will help me quite a bit. When I get there, in roughly a decade.

I’m not sure when I should read it or which edition I should look for, but I’m open to suggestions. Anyway, it’s on the list now.

Right now I am two-thirds of the way through The Return of the King, so there is some hope that I will be able to finish it this week and start watching the extended versions of the movies before the end of the year. I may or may not cap off this extended Tolkien segment with a visit to the Tolkien archives at sort-of-nearby Marquette University.

After that, I will be on to three versions of Gilgamesh.

Knitwise, progress on the Universal Scarf has been, admittedly, intermittent. But I have completed 50 repeats, which is 200 rows. It’s just 18 stitches wide, so it’s quickly growing in length. Here it is, so far, at 37 inches long.

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This is short, but I must stop now and get my rest. It’s time to sleep, perchance to dream.

Published in: on December 21, 2025 at 10:44 pm  Leave a Comment  
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That Was the Week That Was Beowulf

It’s been a fantastic and unprecedented week for The Impossible Read. Last Sunday, after watching a YouTube video on Beowulf from Overly Sarcastic Productions, I sat down and read the Seamus Heaney translation of Beowulf. On Wednesay evening I saw the work performed on campus in an exciting one-man show. On Thursday I read Bea Wolf, a child-themed graphic novel that was faithful to the spirit of the original work (thanks, Brick, for the referral). On Saturday I listened to an Old English recitation of selections from Beowulf, on a vinyl LP that had been the property of the English Department of UW-Whitewater. (I’m not sure who originally purchased it, or why.) On Sunday morning I watched the 2007 Robert Zemeckis film version of Beowulf.

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About this film much could be said, with generous usage of the word “interesting.” It was done in a “digitally enhanced live action” method that brought Polar Express to mind. If you were okay with Polar Express, this film shouldn’t bother you too much. If you didn’t like the look of Polar Express, I would advise you to pass on this film.

About a third of the way in, the plot took a turn that made me wonder if I had missed a critical plot point in Beowulf — which hardly seems likely, considering how many versions of it I’ve read, watched, or heard this week. But turn it did, and the result is, honestly, a story that is more palatable to the modern viewer. I think that the anticipated audience of the movie is the college student; the images look almost cartoonish but not quite; there are sexual situations not appropriate for small children; the horror and violence may be nightmare-inducing (we’ll see — I watched it this morning); Beowulf chooses to sleep naked in the mead-hall, and cinematographic hilarity ensues as various pieces of furniture conceal his “naughty bits” in scene after scene. We also see about every square centimeter of Angelina Jolie. Whether that’s a pro or a con is, frankly, up to you.

Beowulf is an old, old story. It is very straightforward, as is its hero. As I read it I kept waiting for the sudden plot twist, the hero’s weak point, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. They aren’t there. The villain is bad, the hero is good — end of story. The surprise is that there are no surprises. That is not what happens in Zemeckis’s movie. And I would love to know how they talked Crispin Glover into the role of Grendel.

Speaking of Grendel, I have begun reading John Gardner’s novel Grendel to help close out this section of The Impossible Read. After I read Grendel and watch the “Heroes and Demons” episode of Star Trek: Voyager, I’ll be reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy before starting The Epic of Gilgamesh. John Gardner published a translation of this, too, which I thought would make a fine transition to the new work. I have read several of Gardner’s works related to the teaching of creative writing, but (until now) none of his creative work. It’s about time that I did.

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At home I’ve entered a period of transition, in which I’m finding that I am able to let go of many items that I don’t need. That makes it easier to see how to rearrange things so that they are finally in the right — or better — places.

Here’s a rare in-progress photo of a shelving unit that is transitioning from storage for random items to a kitchen pantry. At this point I have completed the top two shelves, and while much work remains to be done I think you can see where I’m going. Right now my pantry items are in several different locations and I’m looking forward to getting them back into the kitchen so it’s easier to use them. I did some baking today, and it necessitated several trips into the dining room and back again.

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On the top shelf you can see my current accumulation of Anchor Hocking Fire King glassware. On the next shelf are pasta-sauce jars containing rice, lentils, split peas, and various dried beans, as well as two different cuts of oatmeal. By the end of this week I should be able to complete the work on the rest of the shelves.

If the back of the shelf looks odd, it’s because there is actually a window behind where the shelving unit sits, and you can see through it to what I call the TV room; it’s an enclosed porch. When I have finished making over my “pantry” you won’t see it at all.

Knitwise, I’m in the final stretch of the knitting of the Licorice Blanket. This weekend I joined the third skein, knitted 14 more rows, and began the process of decreasing each row by one stitch (K2tog, YO, K2tog, K to end, turn and repeat until finished).

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The blanket-to-be is pretty wide (100 stitches wide of garter-stitch bulky yarn is pretty wide indeed, and could stretch to ‘pretty wider’), so I folded it in half for the beauty shot. It’s probably impossible to see where the decreases begin on the far end. Well, if I keep making progress like I have been (JINX!) I will soon have it off the needles. After all, there are 83 stitches on the needles right now… so, 80 rows to go? Each one shorter and faster than the one before?

After the knitting is done, I will have the cast-on end, the cast-off end, and four ends in the center to weave in. Then I suppose I should give the work a gentle cold-water wash and let it air dry. At that point I will do another photo shoot and take the final measurements.

Published in: on September 21, 2025 at 9:47 pm  Leave a Comment  
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What I did on my spring not-a-break

I was never the kind of student who went to Daytona Beach or Fort Lauderdale on spring break, back in the day. I went home to stay with my parents for the week, felt that it should be warmer than it was (in mid-March in Ohio), and went cycling before I really should have — and went back to school with a cold.

Now that I’m “all grown up” and working at a university, I don’t even get the break. I have a week of working in a largely silent and solitary office building. The fact that almost everyone else will be gone gives me the freedom to schedule appointments that would usually be a slight inconvenience to others.

MONDAY: Attended the Joints in Motion class at the local aquatic center in the morning; instructor suggested that we bring water bottles to prevent dehydration. Started membership application, but computer glitch prevented completion. Went online to buy a swim cap for use with long hair; bank immediately flagged this as spam. Told bank it was really me; delivery expected on Friday. Made a phone call regarding a car I’d like to donate to a local high school’s body shop program. Sent a message to a person on Facebook Marketplace who was giving away a typewriter desk that was sitting in their front yard. Made a phone call to have my Advance Auto Parts account reset. Got my hair trimmed for the first time in, what, three years? Maybe? Shopped at Aldi. Went home and made chicken salad. Facebook Marketplace person texted, “come and get it.” Went with Eldest to pick up the free typewriter desk, which juuuust fit in the car. Brought the desk home and moved it to the garage next to the other typewriter desk and the writing desk, both of which need to be cleaned, stripped, and refinished. Knitted on the KAL scarf. Started reading about the history of science fiction as background for my biography project.

TUESDAY: After three months of waiting, went to a specialty health clinic for an appointment with a specialty doctor — who, for apparently the first time in his career, did not show up to work. Made new appointment for late May. Had a work meeting about a campus process that nobody in the meeting completely understood; progress was probably made. Went home and ate chicken salad. Knitted on the KAL scarf. Did more reading about the history of science fiction and added several books to the reading list for my Impossible Read.

WEDNESDAY: Went to swim class and brought water bottle. Finished membership application and got key card. Left water bottle on floor of locker room. Rescheduled planned lunch with a friend to check out the plants at the hardware store, because hardware store did not have plants in yet. Rescheduled for next Monday. Consulted the manual for my Hermes Model 8; reset left and right margins, learned how to set tabs, and fixed a loose spring. Typed some file folder labels on the Hermes. Ate chicken salad sandwich for lunch. Went home and knitted on the KAL scarf. Read more about the history of science fiction and added a few more books to the Impossible Read.

THURSDAY: Took the car to my mechanic for an oil change. Waited while air filters arrived from the parts store and were installed. Asked for a quote on getting the other car repaired with a new engine and transmission. At chicken salad sandwich for lunch. Went grocery shopping after work. While Goodwill shopping, found an authentic Scrabble coffee mug. Went home; knitted on the KAL scarf. Read some more about the history of science fiction.

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Reader, I bought it.

FRIDAY: Drove to work in a heavy thunderstorm. Swim class was cancelled due to lightning. Retrieved water bottle from lost and found bin at the aquatic center. At work, took a “30 minute” online training module covering accounting basics. After an hour, I learned why I would make a lousy accountant. Ate the last of the chicken salad. Visited the archives to compile information on Math Department course inventories from 1973 through 1997. Long-hair swim cap did not arrive. Knitted on the KAL scarf.

SATURDAY: Donated used jars and bottles to the thrift store. Dropped off one of my saxophones for repairs to the octave key assembly. Visited the local Jo-Ann’s; bought some lovely yarn and a pair of US6 straight needles when what I really needed was a set of US8 circulars. Got home, helped make stew, took nap. Started laundry. Long-hair swim cap did not arrive. Logged in to Ravelry and found patterns (cowl and ponytail-friendly headband) to use for the yarn I bought at Jo-Ann’s. Knitted on KAL scarf. Read through the end of Chapter 9 in The Bright Sword. Finished reading text from the first volume (of three) from the history of science fiction.

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Reader, I left it there.

SUNDAY: Overslept; woke at 7 to the sound of violent thunderstorm and dog whimpering outside bedroom door (having gotten around barricade at entrance to kitchen). Sat with dog until thunderstorm abated at 8:30. Took dog for a walk. Knitted on KAL scarf. Read through Chapter 11 in The Bright Sword. More storms passed through; comforted dog. Did online research for biography, using California Newspapers Digital Archive. Knitted on the KAL scarf some more. Took nap. Made copies of genealogy charts to use for logging family information of biography subject. Finished laundry. Started writing blog post….

Adding all those new books to the Impossible Read list really fired me up to get going again on The Bright Sword. When I left off after the third chapter, I had read about 6 percent of the book. Now I’m sitting at 24 percent complete. It’s a fun and quirky book, and I’m enjoying the read. I’m not sure how traditionalists would feel about it. Then again, they have probably already read the Malory. This ain’t Malory.

After seeing how poorly I predicted the future after my first weekend with Bright Sword, I won’t repeat the error. But I’m eager to see how the book goes, and I’m looking forward to ending the Arthurian segment of the Impossible Read and heading on (or back, really) to the Epic of Gilgamesh.

I suppose that you might like to see the free typewriter desk? The weather was not entirely hospitable this weekend and I lacked conditions for a proper photo shoot. But here is what I took from inside my garage.

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The long legs made it both tricky and just barely possible to load the desk into the Forester.
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Close-up of one of the brass locks, which lack keys.

I’d like to make this desk my primary writing desk after I get it all cleaned up. Don’t tell my other writing desks that they’re not number one (and two) any more.

Knitwise, I arranged with a friend that we would meet a daily goal of two rows of knitting. I’m pleased to say that Carla and I met the challenge. Of course, when you make yourself knit two rows it gets easier to knit four or six.

The knitalong scarf now measures 30 inches in all. I still have quite a way to go, but meeting the daily goals lets me see the steady progress I am making.

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I have a little itch to start another project, but I really want to see this one through. I also don’t want to do something that will wreck my hands for the knitting I need to do for this one. The first two rows are a little painful, but then my hands warm up and the next 2-4 rows are easier. Then it starts to hurt again.

I enjoyed searching Ravelry for pattern ideas for the yarn that I picked up from Jo-Ann’s. Which might be the last yarn I ever buy at Jo-Ann’s.

Ring the bell — school’s back in! At least, it will be in tomorrow and we’ll start the twisting, plunging roller coaster ride to the end of the spring semester. Buckle up!

Published in: on March 30, 2025 at 8:08 pm  Comments (1)  
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Falling into place

The seasons are changing here in Wisconsin, and everything seems to be happening all at once. Midterms, deadlines, big meetings, homecoming games, harvest, hunting seasons, and fall holidays are converging. These last few warm (or warm enough) days with clear skies have brought out every classic car in three counties just to drive around for the last time before spring turns warm (it certainly doesn’t start that way). In the last week I have seen three Maseratis. In Jefferson County.

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Some of the trees on campus are absolutely shameless with their color displays. They’ll probably get even more brazen before they lose their leaves entirely. At that point we’ll all have to bundle up to move across campus — except for the two random undergrads who will somehow make it through the entire winter season wearing shorts. I don’t know how they do it.

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This week I got caught up on a few things and met some deadlines with HOURS to spare. HOURS, I tell you! That might just be the way of the world if I keep taking classes for the rest of my life: always another deadline coming up. But if I can pour on the work for the course — two more papers and an in-class presentation, unless I’m missing something — I can shift my focus to the scholarly writing projects I need to start.

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I have taken a deep breath and resumed making progress on the Impossible Read, even though I’m not looking forward to seeing what happens to everyone in King Arthur’s court in excruciating detail. Finish this book, watch some movies, read two more Arthurian books, and then I’ll be able to move to the next set of books. The Mahabharata seems to be up next but I don’t actually have my own copy. If it’s not next in the historical sequence, the next book will be the Epic of Gilgamesh. (If you can help me figure this out, please leave a comment!)

I have also acquired another electronic typewriter from my friend CJ, though I haven’t taken any photos of it yet. It’s a Smith-Corona Memory Correct model manufactured sometime in the 1990s, making it my youngest typewriter.

Most of the typewriter records that are being kept and consulted have to do with manual and electric typewriters rather than anything electronic, which is not perceived as having any sort of character or individuality. On the other hand, they might be fine machines for someone who was raised on computers and isn’t yet ready to step so far back in time. If they can find an unused supply of Smith-Corona “H” carbon cartridges and correction ribbons somewhere, good luck to them.

Knitwise, at least I’m thinking about knitting. It’s not that I lack for yarn, needles, or patterns at the moment. It’s more a matter of lacking time and attention span. But soon and very soon, it will get cold enough for me to actually cast on for something to help keep me warm.

Published in: on October 20, 2024 at 9:41 pm  Leave a Comment  
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I don’t feel tardy

No new typewriters here, and not much more finished knitting. But I have been doing quite a lot of reading.

I recently finished reading a book called Black Walnut, which is part of the research for my story called (at the moment) Black Walnut. At least that was its title when it was my NaNoWriMo project in 2014. Of course, what one bit of research shows you is how many other bits of research you need to do. And some of those will be pretty big bits.

It has taken me ten years to realize that one of the main characters in my story that is named after a tree is the tree after which the story is named. I sure hope that I will live long enough to figure out who the rest of the characters are. So far I have it narrowed down to nine or ten people, not counting the tree. And a bear. And at least one ghost; do ghosts count as people or not?

Last week I also managed to acquire two trunk sections of black walnut for a total of $2. At first they were going to be $2 each, but when I started babbling about how I would look to them as inspiration while I wrote my book about black walnuts, I think the seller took pity on me. And he possibly didn’t want to hear about my book. Anyway, I now have these pieces of wood in my garage until I figure out how I’d like to have them cut. The smaller one is a crotch section, including the base of a branch where it grew from the trunk. I think it would be interesting to see that piece in vertical cross-section. The larger — and much heavier — piece might be good to have cut into discs that I can count the rings. Anything that doesn’t help with story inspiration can be added to a friend’s campfire on a cold winter’s night at deer camp. Maybe they’d take the leftover logs in trade for some venison.

I’m also reading a book of essays by Ursula LeGuin; one more section of ten pieces and I will have finished the book. Not only does she write in a clear and colorful and evocative way, she also writes about writing and about words in a special way. And she mentions other writers who would be worth reading, if only I had more time or were willing to let some talent jump to the top of the TBR pillar.

My current book of poetry, which I’m still going through one poem at a time, is a translated collection of woks by Rilke. I’m reading the poem in the original German first, listening for the sound-alikes or sound-similars, like Traum for dream, before peeking at the English part of the layout.

I also started reading a book called The Typewriter Revolution, and I’m trying to decide how revolutionary I ought to be. In my own house, I’d like to be revolutionary enough to resume the typing habit that I began when I was house-sitting last week. With an eye towards rehoming a large desk that supports a desktop PC whose operating system will go unsupported in the next two years, I’m thinking about moving in a wooden desk and topping it with a manual typewriter that’s in shape to be used every day (or night, probably). Why not use a machine that never needs an update?

I’ll be working on the desk situation all week, waiting out the heat wave before I do any literal heavy lifting.

Knitwise, I’m on part Five of Seven for the Secret Knitting Project. Just as I was beginning to realize that the deadline to finish the project was going to be one that I couldn’t possibly meet, let alone beat, the deadline itself vaporized. It hasn’t been reestablished yet, but I’m trying to push myself as if it were coming up soon. Of course, if I delay the knitting long enough, other events and tasks will surely step in to provide the necessary urgency.

I can’t show you a picture of my work yet, and I dare not start on any other knitting while I must work on this project, so you’ll have to take my word for it that I’m making progress. It’s really five and a half parts done out of seven parts.

I realize that this is short, and also a day late. Please accept it with my apologies; one must get one’s sleep before pressing on.

Published in: on June 17, 2024 at 8:48 pm  Leave a Comment  
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The Improbable Read: Dialing back the big plan

One or two of you may be starting to wonder whatever happened to my Impossible Read project. To be honest, it’s still sitting in a tote bag next to my Comfy Green Chair in my home library.

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I have been very frustrated at running out of time before being able to sit down and work on the project. Eventually I realized that this was happening because I took an admittedly very very long book list and converted it into an extremely time-consuming project. Not only was I planning to read some of the greatest books of all time, but I was also going to create a series of books filled with my own thoughts and annotations. And not only that, but the physical space necessary for working on these notebooks wasn’t even anywhere in my own house.

So I am setting aside the idea of creating a multi-volume artifact for myself. Instead I have a new plan, and I hope that you are sitting down as you read this. You’re simply not going to believe it.

I’m just going to read the books.

You heard me.

I will just read the books, and then watch the movies. I have plenty of other places where I can write about my reactions to the texts — in my morning freewriting, in my evening journaling, and here in my weekly blog posts. It’s even possible that as I work on my two primary writing projects, the great works and my thoughts about them may spill over into the writing I do there. (That’s kind of the point — to finally read these books and be influenced by them in my thought and my expression. To be edified, and to be improved.)

So hang on, Wart! I’ll be back soon to enjoy all of your adventures with Merlyn. I’ll just try not to be taking notes at the same time.

This weekend, for the Impossible Improbable Read-ing list, I found a very good used copy of Grendel by John Gardner. (I’m frustrated that I had to buy it at all, because I recognize the cover but cannot find the copy that I surely already own. ANYWAY.) Then I splurged on a new unabridged copy of The Tale of Genji, translated by Royall Tyler. Evidently this edition was originally published in 2003. It’s more than a thousand pages long and includes exquisite line drawings, a timeline, and a glossary. It’s full of helpful notes to the reader (hooray!) and it’s printed on paper that is soft to the touch (a high clay content?) and makes you want to just sit and pet it.

I marked these titles as “owned” in my Google Sheet, then scanned down the list to what I would next need to acquire. There are several books in a whole time period that I need to find — but they were written in the late 1600s and the 1700s. Before I even get to that point, I will have read The Once and Future King, The Mists of Avalon, The Epic of Gilgamesh, Beowulf, Grendel, The Tale of Genji, The Arabian Nights, The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales (in Middle English), Orlando Furioso, Don Quixote, and Salman Rushdie’s novel Quichotte. I have no idea what that cumulative page count even looks like (and I think it will go better for me if I don’t work it out in advance; I will log them in the spreadsheet as I finish each book [I have already created the formula]). There are also movies planned for viewing at the end of each segment, and those (so far) are The Sword in the Stone, Monty Python’s The Holy Grail, Beowulf, Aladdin, and Man of la Mancha (okay, I do need a DVD of this).

It may be two-three more years before I reach Oroonoko by Aphra Behn or Pamela by Samuel Richardson. But if you do see a nice used copy, could you let me know about it?

On to the Primary Projects mentioned above.

For Black Walnut (the fiction project), I continue to collect and listen to bluegrass music. I’m reading mostly about the early years because that’s the timeframe that will impact my characters, and I’m doing a little side research into the bluegrass radio shows of the 1950s and 1960s, particularly in the Ohio-Appalachia area. In the last few days I managed to pick up a used DVD of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a CD of the soundtrack, and a CD of live music from the groups on the soundtrack. I also snagged CDs by Mac Wiseman, Alison Krauss, and Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. From the reading I’m doing, I am starting to recognize the names of key bluegrass musicians. Some of these names may or may not sneak their way into the manuscript when I’m writing again. (I also promised an archivist that I would name a character after him, and I have absolutely no problem with that.)

I can see now how thin and underdeveloped my original storyline was. I’m reminding myself that it was a NaNoWriMo project from 2014 and that it didn’t have to be any better than it was. I wrote 22,500 words in 30 days and it was okay. But now I want to meet the characters and their parents and grandparents, get to know them, get to know the time and the region, and find the big story that’s worth telling. Every so often I get a glimpse of it.

For the Development of Mathematics project (doesn’t that sound thrilling?), I have catalogued almost every annotation in the copy of the book held by my own university’s library. When I’m done with that, the logical next step is to do the same for the other copies in the University of Wisconsin System libraries. The catch is that Inter-Library Loan operates by choosing a copy at random from the system holdings. I’m in consultation with a research librarian and our library director as to how to tweak that system so that I efficiently receive each copy in the system for evaluation and possible cataloguing. That phase will start in June so that I will have the maximum possible time with the books.

Another thing I need to do for this project is to brainstorm until I understand what the core project actually is, then what are the possible spin-off projects. That was something I had hoped to tackle this weekend, but plans changed and that’s been postponed until next weekend.

Knitwise, this week I did put in a few sessions of work on the Habit-Forming Scarf. This evening it measures 15 inches from the cast-on edge, and the remainder of the skein weight 51 grams (out of 100). This backs up my calculations from last week about getting 30 inches out of each skein. Hooray, my scarf is now 25 percent complete.

I’m going to have to normalize adding a couple of inches every couple of days if I want to get out of “slog” territory.

And with that in mind, it might be nice to have a small and colorful project to do on the side, to keep me motivated to work on something so long and grey (although certainly elegant and sophisticated).

My friend Nicole recently crocheted an office plant for me, and my friend Mary sent me a link to some crochet patterns published by the U.S. National Park Service. Here is one for a halibut. Here is another for a walleye. There are some fun patterns out there, including one (somewhere; I don’t have a link) for a crocheted Scottish thistle. It’s time to go stashbusting and color this place UP.

Published in: on April 7, 2024 at 7:16 pm  Leave a Comment  
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