1. We’re in Round 3 of Canadian Wildfire Summer here in Wisconsin and once again the air has been filmy and tasting of metal. Meanwhile most of southern Europe is going to be in the 40s C this week (over 100F for my fellow Americans) – Sicily may reach 50C which is 122F and would be an all-time European record – and the three hottest days ever recorded on Earth all happened last week. You know, folks, I think it’s time for all the climate change deniers to shut up and go home.
2. I have spent the last couple of weeks putting together primary source document packets for my Western Civ II class discussions, and let me tell you that when you look for documents on colonialism you find yourself on all sorts of websites that require a thorough eye-bleaching when you’re done. Don’t even get me started on the documents for the assignment on Fascism.
3. Today’s game: How Many Watchlists Has The Historian Gotten Himself Onto This Time?
4. We went to see the new Wes Anderson movie (Asteroid City) this week and now I know what a Wes Anderson movie is. Apparently this is a piece of cultural lore that is supposed to come preloaded these days. It seems to involve an all-star cast, a carefully studied stillness, a sense of humor as dry as the desert this movie was set in, and a saturated color palette. It was a good movie.
5. My next home project is to replace the switch for the kitchen light, since it now flops about uselessly and that’s my job around here and there can be only one. Despite three decades of working in theatrical lighting, I’m not that great with electricity – all my lighting expertise is predicated on having power to start with – so if it all goes pear-shaped I won’t be surprised. But I may end up with a working light out of the deal, so there’s that.
6. Aaaaaaaand it did not turn out well. Not only does the light switch still not work, but a) neither does the other switch on the same circuit now, and b) it turns out that the kitchen light is on the same breaker as my office, two rooms away, which means that my computer had a hard crash and took the better part of half an hour to reboot. At least this time it didn’t wipe my backup drive. Now you know why I like to pay professionals to maintain my home.
7. While on the subject of computers, I probably need to upgrade pretty much everything electronic in my life, as all of those things are coming to the end of (or have already past and are living on borrowed time and patchwork) their useful lifespans. Upgrading electronic things is expensive, however, so this may not happen on any particular schedule.
8. Sometimes you just know a picture is going to turn out well.
2. I have spent the last couple of weeks putting together primary source document packets for my Western Civ II class discussions, and let me tell you that when you look for documents on colonialism you find yourself on all sorts of websites that require a thorough eye-bleaching when you’re done. Don’t even get me started on the documents for the assignment on Fascism.
3. Today’s game: How Many Watchlists Has The Historian Gotten Himself Onto This Time?
4. We went to see the new Wes Anderson movie (Asteroid City) this week and now I know what a Wes Anderson movie is. Apparently this is a piece of cultural lore that is supposed to come preloaded these days. It seems to involve an all-star cast, a carefully studied stillness, a sense of humor as dry as the desert this movie was set in, and a saturated color palette. It was a good movie.
5. My next home project is to replace the switch for the kitchen light, since it now flops about uselessly and that’s my job around here and there can be only one. Despite three decades of working in theatrical lighting, I’m not that great with electricity – all my lighting expertise is predicated on having power to start with – so if it all goes pear-shaped I won’t be surprised. But I may end up with a working light out of the deal, so there’s that.
6. Aaaaaaaand it did not turn out well. Not only does the light switch still not work, but a) neither does the other switch on the same circuit now, and b) it turns out that the kitchen light is on the same breaker as my office, two rooms away, which means that my computer had a hard crash and took the better part of half an hour to reboot. At least this time it didn’t wipe my backup drive. Now you know why I like to pay professionals to maintain my home.
7. While on the subject of computers, I probably need to upgrade pretty much everything electronic in my life, as all of those things are coming to the end of (or have already past and are living on borrowed time and patchwork) their useful lifespans. Upgrading electronic things is expensive, however, so this may not happen on any particular schedule.
8. Sometimes you just know a picture is going to turn out well.
9. I am actively trying to avoid paying attention to the news these days, as there is very little win for me otherwise. I should get back to it at some point, but every time I turn over that rock the same vermin scuttle out from underneath and it is disheartening to realize that they haven’t been removed from civilization – preferably on a rail – and stashed somewhere without communication equipment or transportation back. Someday.
10. We made paella last night, and it was tasty, though Oliver did warn us that most paella recipes are designed to feed an entire Spanish family so we will have all sorts of leftovers. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
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