| (no subject) |
[Sep. 3rd, 2008|11:00 pm] |
so, im kind of a complete and total retard. and i feel really bad/am sorry about it.
in other news, the GOP should call themselves the party of ad hominem attacks and straw men.
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 25th, 2008|01:53 pm] |
So, I've realised that I actually haven't posted in a very long time, so I guess I'll put a little something up.
I'm in Cambridge (MA, not England) for the summer, starting work on my thesis and basically reading lots and lots. Kind of gets tedious at times, but it's what I want to be doing. Trying to look at the issue of social history through satire, which claims to be social commentary, though it tends to hyperbolize and border on the downright ridiculous at times. Reading lots of Lucian (he's not a Latin writer, and he postdates the other satirists, but his works are in the same vein as the others), which is fun, and trying to remember what little reading knowledge I have of French and Italian, since the most useful bibliography stuff is in those two languages. Well, and German. But I can't claim to know any German. Also started research assisting a professor in the department recently, which largely boils down to checking out books and making photocopies for him. Upside is that I get a key to the Classics department, and I can use the photocopiers there if I need them desperately. Very useful for not running up massive photocopy tabs on my ID card.
Also, I realized that I made a big fuss about the article I wrote a while back, but never posted a link to it: my article can be found here, and the main page of the journal can be found here. I also have another paper that got sent to a journal, but they're MISERABLE about even letting people know if their work got accepted, so I don't know what the deal is right now with that. I really liked that paper, too, and poured a lot of time and effort into it, including the revision, so I hope they take it (it was on marking ethnic identity through the choice of language on tombstones in Rome). Too bad they were supposed to tell me 3 MONTHS AGO what the deal is. |
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| article getting published!!! |
[Dec. 5th, 2007|10:54 pm] |
got an email today telling me. big thanks to everyone who read or otherwise helped!!! i know its only in an undergrad-run journal, but this is still kind of exciting for me, and im excited that everything got accepted. im considering offering to do more work (from a running things end) for the journal, and i already have another paper that im considering taking and expanding into an article-length discussion for the next issue (something which is actually more to my interests, at that).
in other news, im going to be helping to translate the classical club play. i figure it might be a lot of fun, and since a whole bunch of my friends are involved, it might be a decent thing to do and have some fun with. im suuuuuuch a classics geek its not even funny. and i love it.
fencings been going well lately too. well, mostly well, the team's been doing fine, and thats really what matters, though i feel like when we get back from the long exam break were seriously going to have to pick it up a bit to stay competitive in ivies. really, though, we have a good bunch of guys who all get along, and who all work together well, which is what matters most to me.
my body never really got over traveling this weekend, im still really exhausted and out of sync. hopefully some rest this weekend will help remedy that. |
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| Thesis Adviser! |
[Nov. 13th, 2007|10:32 pm] |
She's totally awesome. And she helped work on Gladiator. 'Nough said. Bio here; IMDB info here; her reading Ovid aloud here; her (incredible brief) Wikipedia article here; and her latest book here.
Yeah, I kind of like her. A lot. And I'm really happy that we're going to work together on my thesis. Which I'm slowly getting more and more excited for. But I think I should focus on passing this semester first. On that note, to Catullus!
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| article is done! |
[Aug. 31st, 2007|12:19 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  accomplished | ] |
at least, i think it is... i probably put enough work into it for it to be finished, anyway... anyone who wants to read the very nearly finalised draft, let me know! id be happy to know what you think.
paper abstract:
The Hellenistic kingdom of Bactria has held the imaginations of scholars for centuries, as a result of its Asian location and highly developed level of Greek culture. While there is little recorded history of Bactria, a rich treasury of coinage has been left, and it is primarily from these coins that our reconstructions of the history of the region derive. What is more, the coins are a tapestry on which the fascinating cultural exchange between East and West has been woven. This paper principally examines the iconography on the coinage of the major kings of Bactria from independence in ca. 235 BCE until the middle of the second century BCE (Diodotus I, Diodotus II, Euthydemus I, Demetrios I), as well as several of the later kings (Eucratides I, Heliocles) and attempts to explain the uses of specific images on the coinage, and their roles in the establishment of Bactria as an autonomous and legitimate Hellenistic kingdom. The paper also looks at the melding of Eastern and Western styles in one of the farthest outposts of Hellenism, and examines the products of the interactions of two of antiquities great civilizations. |
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| random stuff |
[Aug. 6th, 2007|01:59 pm] |
damn ive gotten lazy. instead of doing the work that i set out to accomplish this summer, ive discovered that i sit around and watch a lot of baseball. and fotball when its on. and tv-links. and stuff on stage6 (which is like a rich man's youtube, its so awesome). and playing around with the radio from the music genome project, which is really cool. if youre interested, check it out at pandora.com. i get the feeling that this has existed for a really long time, but im only just discovering it, so dont burst the bubble. if you create an account, though, let me know, we can share music and stations with each other...
oh. and my sleep cycles are a mess. but thats not such a surprise. at least, to me. i also stopped working out as much as i had been. that was a bit more of a surprise.
going to texas for 10 days starting tomorrow. get back 17 August, in ny until 8 September, when i move in for the year. MIGHT go to the cape somewhere in there before school with a friend, but not quite sure about that. just so you know where im going to be for a while.
need to start working on my article soon in order to get it done by the deadline (31 August). Maybe I'll post a summary or something of what im writing on. its really pretty interesting stuff... comment if you want to hear about it! |
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| oh man |
[Jun. 6th, 2007|02:13 pm] |
this is hysterical: http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/with_all_due_respect_i_choose?utm_source=onion_rss_daily. I love the onion. soooooo much.
also, this is amazing too, but in a much more terrifying way: DICKENS WORLD!!! I mean, the idea of a place where you can walk around with really sketchy Victorian figures and street urchins is kind of cool, I guess... but really, a theme park? Am I the only one that is just disturbed by the idea of a theme park modeled after Charles Dickens? I mean, Dumas World might have been cool, or even Orwell world (though it would really really dystopian - but who wouldn't want to go into the Room 101 attraction, honestly, its only the most terrifying thing in the world). Maybe its just because I really don't like Dickens and his I-get-paid-by-the-letter-so-I-need-to-make-this-book-as-long-and-repetitive-as-possible style that I can't see why people would build this place, let alone go to it. I just hope it doesn't lead to, you know, Austen World. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jun. 6th, 2007|12:35 am] |
ive been home a week now. and i can safely say that ive done next to nothing, but only just barely. got to see some people like ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) killingjoeand
fisherama and prufrockpapaya, which was nice, and i watched lots of soccer, and worked out a bit yesterday (and i hurt like hell from it... ), and all of that has been nice for the most part. being lazy is awesome.
but only to a point. what i really want to do is academic stuff, for which i need to email one of my professors and discuss before he falls off the face of the earth. itll be fun work, i think, but something that most people wouldnt really care about... although some people might find it interesting. i mean, come on, its thucydides! who doesnt absolutely adore thucydides! [looks at imbrilim]. since im not doing anything else, i think this is a good idea. i hope this is a good idea. hopefully itll give me focus while im home and loosen the screws in my head any further...
i need to email people. i should go do that. since, you know, i keep getting distracted, but i have the time now... :) |
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| this is going to sound crazy... |
[May. 5th, 2007|04:49 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | work | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  chipper | ] |
but im sitting here preparing a presentation, and it dawned on me. once i put the due date out of my head, i really really really enjoy doing work. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 30th, 2007|11:13 pm] |
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we soooooooo lost the rooming lottery. what the hell. |
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| congrats ms pfoho 2007! |
[Apr. 30th, 2007|12:23 am] |
you are indeed one sexy, sexy lady. and talented.
the ms. pfoho pageant was awesome. especially when sam got a quasi-lap dance. and then the house master got a... more full, if clothed, lap dance. unfortunately, that particular lady did not win the pageant. instead, they gave it to the "granny" who did a rendition of "Like a Virgin". i mean, it was good, but it didnt involve giving the house master a lap dance. the japanese exchange student was also funny, particularly the response to: if going to antarctica with the house masters, what do you bring? well, of course you bring book with happy ending, and you give happy ending to master. :)
that was a blast.
quick poll, since people have already started suggesting it: should i enter next year?
EDIT: In case its not apparent, Ms. Pfoho is a drag pageant. |
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| im kind of bored |
[Apr. 18th, 2007|02:43 pm] |
and avoiding writing a paper, so i started looking back over some things that i had written in a previous life. and i stumbled upon this essay i had written on love. now, i knew that when i had written it i had been very impressed with plato, and with the symposium, as well as with enlightenment rationalism for one reason or another, but i suppose at the time it just didnt occur to me that i was essentially paraphrasing plato, with some slight elements of rationalism tossed in. i look at this now and i think, god, i was hopelessly idealistic then... but it is also leading me to the conclusion that i dont think ive ever had an original constructive thought. on anything. or, for that matter, that there is a modicum of critical thought locked away somewhere in the recesses of my psyche.
even now, despite enjoying my time here, i wonder why they saw fit to let me in here in the first place... |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 14th, 2007|11:32 am] |
i was kinda bummed last night. but then i got up this morning and lifted. and now things are much better. or im too tired to notice that im bummed.
but working out release endorphins (just like sex), and endorphins make you happy, so i must be happy, right? |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 12th, 2007|10:37 pm] |
things have been good lately. busy, but good. except for the really high fever i had last night. that was scary, and not good. in general, though, things have been good. and a lot of things have been going my way, with the exception of the job in greece. but...
ive been having this lingering feeling lately that something is missing. and i cant quite shake the feeling. because... |
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