Amber's (scaifea) Thread #10

Hey, everybody!

I'm Amber, a one-time Classics professor, turned stay-at-home parent/lady of leisure, turned part-time library assistant, turned once again Classics professor. I spend my free time sewing, writing, knitting, baking, and, of course, reading.

My reading life is happily governed by lists, which means that I read a healthy variety of things across various genres.

I'm 45 going on 12 and live in Ohio with my husband, Tomm; our son, Charlie, and Mario the Golden Retriever.

Here I am in Dr. Scaife Mode (you can tell that because my hair is, for once, actually combed and not just in a messy bun):



Favorite Books from 2020
The Lumberjanes collected comic volumes
Call Down the Hawk
New Kid
The Wise Man's Fear
The Slow Regard of Silent Things
Pride and Prejudice
Silver in the Wood
A Tale of Two Cities

What I'm Reading Now:
-Guard of Honor (Pulitzer list)
-Ready Player Two (series read)
-After the Rain (Newbery Honor Book)
-Chaotic Good (romance list)
-The Moonstone (audiobook)
-The Whistle, the Grave, and the Ghost (family bedtime read-aloud)
-Memoirs of a Geisha (books I'm reading with my friend, Rob)
-The Club Dumas (an unread book from my shelves)

Books on Deck:
-Uncle Silas (books by year - 1864)
-(an unread book from my shelves)
-(a book from my Read Soon! shelves)
-The Experience of Insight (Buddhist reading list)
-A Likely Story (cozy mysteries)
-Henry VI Part 1 (Shakespeare re-read)
-The Ugly American (Banned Books)
-The Worm Ouroboros (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy list)
-Wheels within Wheels (Prometheus Award)

The five-ish or so books I have going at once and the On Deck books nearly all come from the following categories and lists:

1. A book from the 100 Banned Books book (at least currently. As soon as I finish this list, I'll replace it with another, and oh, I've got tons of lists).

2. A children's book, for Charlie's library. I'm trying to collect books from various award lists, and I like reading them before reading them to Charlie or deciding to add them to Charlie's shelves. For this category, I’m currently working through three lists:
a. 1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Die
b. The Newbery Honor books
c. Cooperative Children's Book Center list

3. A book from the Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy List, in chronological order.

4. A list I'm working through together with my best friend, Rob: The Hugo/Nebula/WFA/Bram Stoker (and other) lists (combined, in chronological order)

5. For this category, I cycle through 9 different stacks:
a. Agatha Christie's bibliography (in chronological order)
b. Stephen Fry's bibliography (in chronological order)
c. John Boyne bibliography (in chronological order, sort of)
d. Neil Gaiman's bibliography (in some order other than chronological (don't
ask)).
e. Christopher Moore's bibliography (in chronological order)
f. Maggie Stiefvater's bibliography (in chronological order)
g. The NEH Timeless Classics list
h. The National Book Award list (in alpha order by title)
i. The Pulitzer list (in alpha order by author)

6. An unread book from my shelves.

7. A book from my Read Soon! shelves.

8. A book on Buddhism or from the Dalai Lama's bibliography.

9. Book-a-year challenge: Three years ago, along with a few others in this group (*cough* Paul *cough*), I made a year-by-year list to see how far I could go back with consecutive reads. I've since been trying to fill in the gap years.

10. A book from the couple of series that I'm reading together with my mom.

11. A full-on re-read through Shakespeare's stuff.

12. A read-aloud-to-Charlie-at-bedtime book (or two).

13. An audio book, which I listen to as I knit/sew/otherwise craft/drive.

14. A romance novel, using as a guideline an excellent list of authors and works curated by lycomaflower (I know virtually nothing about this genre, but I now work in a library where many, many lovely people come through to check out books of this genre, and I want to know something about it).

15. This slot is reserved for books that just grab me and shout that they need to be read Right Now.

Books Read

JANUARY
1. Spinning Silver (Alex Award) - 10/10 = A+
2. Swamp Thing: Twin Branches (Stiefvater bibliography) - 8/10 = B
3. Manchild in the Promised Land (Banned Books list, AlphaKIT: M) - 9/10 = A-
4. The Wish Giver (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B
5. Silas Marner (audiobook) - 8/10 = B-
6. The Story of Tracy Beaker (1001 Children's Books) - 8/10 = B-
7. Thick as Thieves (series reread) - 10/10 = A+
8. Lumberjanes #16: Mind over Mettle (series read) - 10/10 = A+
9. Pilgrimage (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 7/10 = C
10. Each Tiny Spark (Schneider Honor Book) - 7/10 = C
11. The House on the Borderland (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy list) - 6/10 = D
12. Beyond Religion (books on Buddhism) - 9/10 = A
13. Outlander (romance list) - 6/10 = D
14. Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun (Newbery Honor Book) - 7/10 = C
15. Far Away Across the Sea (1001 Children's Books) - 10/10 = A+
16. The Daylight Gate (Read Soon! Shelves) - 8/10 = B-
17. The Queen of Attolia (family bedtime read-aloud) - 10/10 = A+
18. Works and Days & Theogony (Myth course readings) - 9/10 = A-
19. The Book Thief (books I'm reading with my friend, Rob) - 10/10 = A+
20. Return of the Thief (series read) - 10/10 = A+

FEBRUARY
21. The Bacchants (myth course reading) - 9/10 = A
22. Camp (romance) - 8/10 = B+
23. Song of a Whale (Schneider Award) - 8/10 = B-
24. Gardens of the Moon (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy list) - 4/10 = F
25. Oedipus Rex (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
26. Antigone (Myth course readings) = 10/10 = A+
27. Agamemnon (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
27. Upon the Head of a Goat (Newbery Honor Book) - 8/10 = B
27. Volcano (Newbery Honor Book) - 7/10 = C
30. A Promised Land (audiobook) - 8/10 = B+
31. The Stone Book Quartet (1001 Children's Books) - 7/10 = C+
32. The Libation Bearers (Myth course readings) - 9/10 = A
33. Eumenides (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
34. Electra (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
35. The King of Elfland's Daughter (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 7/10 = C
36. The Goalkeeper's Revenge (1001 Children's Books) - 7/10 = C
37. Conrad: The Factory-Made Boy (1001 Children's Books) - 8/10 = B
38. Medea (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
39. The Frogs (Myth course readings) - 9/10 = A
40. Metamorphoses (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
41. Iliad (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
42. Odyssey (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
43. Aeneid (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
44. The Histories (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
45. Till We Have Faces (Green Dragon 1001 Fantasy Books) - 8/10 = B-

MARCH
46. My Sweet Orange Tree (1001 Children's Books) - 9/10 = A
47. Lord Foul's Bane (BSFA) - 2/10 = F
48. Manolito Four Eyes (1001 Children's Books) - 7/10 = C
49. The Early History of Rome, Book 1 (Myth course readings) - 9/10 = A
50. Farmer Boy (family bedtime read-aloud) - 9/10 = A-
51. The Henna Wars (romance list) - 8/10 = B+
52. Cursed (Schneider Award) - 9/10 = A
53. Heroides (Myth course readings) - 9/10 = A
54. The Apocolocyntosis (Myth course readings) - 9/10 = A
55. Sandman: The Kindly Ones (Myth course readings) - 10/10 = A+
56. Tales of the Rue Broca (1001 Children's Books) - 7/10 = C
57. Far Away Across the Sea (family bedtime read-aloud) - 10/10 = A+

The Kiddo at Work:



The Mario and her Magical Rainbow Snoot:

The next one's yours - welcome, everyone!

The Italian Bread turned out pretty good, if I do say so:

56. Tales of the Rue Broca by Pierre Gripari (1001 Children's Books) - 7/10 = C
A collection of stories for children, all set in a semi-magical street in Paris.
Meh. Typical mediocre fare for the time period. S'okay but not any more than just.

My goodness, I'm first?

Happy new thread, beautiful bread, all good things here in scaife-land.

Happy new thread!

From the previous one: Interesting that they hinted at convincing the student to sign over rights like that. I wonder if that is the case at Kenyon...Laura? Do you remember?

I know Kenyon educated parents of first-years on the topic. With my eldest I was primed because of my work colleague's experience. But I also forgot that the access needs to be renewed every year. To be honest once we saw that she was settled in, doing okay, and speaking openly with us about any challenges that arose, we stopped worrying. With my younger daughter, I just plain forgot about it. I think we were less worked up about the all things college the second time around.

>7 scaifea: That looks amazing. I've brought my own dipping oil, OK?

Happy new thread, Amber.

You are creating clear daylight!

>7 scaifea:, >11 laytonwoman3rd: ooh yum.

But I am currently making apple crumble and it smells AMAZING so I'm good for now.

Happy new thread, Amber. The bread looks amazing. Might snag a slice or two to go with our pasta tonight. ;)

>9 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen! The bread is mighty tasty, I have to say.

>10 lauralkeet: Interesting that it needs renewing every year, although it makes sense. And yay for independent daughters! I almost said "worry-free" but as a parent I know that's not true no matter how self-sufficient the kiddos are.

>11 laytonwoman3rd: Oh, yum! Yes please, Linda!

>12 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul! I'm not sure what that means, but I like the way it sounds, so thanks!

>13 lauralkeet: Oh gosh, I bet it *does* smell amazing! YUM.

>14 MickyFine: Hi, Micky! The bread would be perfect dipped in pasta sauce...

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread, Amber!

>21 quondame: >22 jnwelch: Thanks, folks!

>7 scaifea: That bread + Kerrygold butter + garlic? Hoo-boy that would be a treat!

Re: the discussion of parents and college students — in our office at Iowa we get a lot of parents trying to do everything for their kids. They tend to fall into distinct categories:

* The ones who are control freaks and think because they are paying for it they should have access to everything we tell the students (and also have final say on where the student goes and when);

* The ones who want their student to study abroad much more strongly than the student themself wants to study abroad;

* The ones who know their kids are flakes and want to know without needing details what specific forms and tasks they should be nagging them to finish;

* The ones who have legitimate concerns (in our case, often around academic accommodations and their availability abroad) and truly do just want to help, not control.

Obviously, my patience for the various categories varies greatly. :-)

>24 rosalita: Well, I don't keep garlic in the house (because of Tomm), but you'd better believe I put Kerrygold on my warm slice earlier!

Ha! Yep. It was difficult to keep my patience with some of those parents; mainly the ones persistent enough to contact individual professors were of the worst category...

>24 rosalita: I just gave my daughter access to the account with her college fund and let her fly. She is so freaking financially conservative that she pretty much made it too. We chipped in a bit for her senior semester, but she did all the work of bringing herself into alignment with requirements.

I see you read a Neil Gaiman book from your last thread....I just found out he is in New Zealand at present, with his wife and young child. For some reason I like that :)

Happy New Thread, Amber! Lovely topper!

>27 LovingLit: Is he back there now? Cool! I know he was there with his family for the beginning of the pandemic, then he left for the UK for a bit. His little boy is adorable.

>28 msf59: Thanks, Mark!

Happy new thread!

>30 banjo123: Thanks, Rhonda!

Wow Amber number 10 already. Happy new thread. I am loving your toppers by the way.

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Amber.
>1 scaifea: This cup looks much friendlier ;-)
>7 scaifea: I agree and the dipping oil of from >11 laytonwoman3rd: certainly fits perfectly.
I just came from breakfast, but the appetite is already growing again...
I wish you a wonderful sunday!

...And thank you so for the recommendation of The Book Thief! The best book I read this year.

>32 fairywings: Thanks, Adrienne! I like poking through pictures to find a seasonally appropriate hot-beverage-and-books one for each thread. I mean, that *is* how I prefer to spend my time...

>33 false-knight: Thanks, Emery!

>34 SirThomas: Hi, Thomas! I do love a good dipping oil with bread. I just had my own breakfast, but I didn't use the Italian bread for my toast - it's too small around and I have trouble fishing it out of the hot toaster. So I went with the store-bought cracked wheat sourdough for toast, and it'll do.

Happy Sunday to you, too!

>35 SirThomas: Oh, wonderful! I'm *so* glad you loved it!

Today's Agenda:
House cleaning (gross), laundry (ick), and then half birthday cake baking, some sewing, and some reading. Charlie's half birthday isn't until tomorrow, but I'll be teaching and won't have time for the baking and cooking, so we're pretending his day is today. That works out a bit better for him, too, since his present is some sort of add-on to his Animal Crossing game (as requested) and so he'll have more school-work-free time today than he will tomorrow to play it, of course.

On the reading front:
I puttered around too much everywhere else yesterday and didn't get much reading done. Gah. I did start After the Rain and listened to a tiny bit of The Moonstone. Hopefully I'll have more to report tomorrow.

What We're Watching:
Tomm's pick last night and he decided it was time to introduce Charlie to the Ocean's 11 franchise. He loved the first movie (because how do you not?) and is excited to watch more.

Happy new thread!
Your Sunday chores are similar to mine, laundry and bathroom cleaning.
Hope Charlies half birthday celebration goes well!

Happy new one, Amber!

I can't imagine my parents ever trying to contact a professor of mine. Just... no. Who *are* these people? I'm sorry to be judge-y, but it's ridiculous. I was well-prepared for college and found it easier in some ways than my high school, but I had friends who did struggle a bit. But none of their parents came to the rescue. I do think more 18 year olds would benefit from something like a gap year between graduating high school and going on to college, because there is often some maturing that needs to happen.

Your bread looks delicious, as does Linda's olive oil for dipping. My favorite version of that is olive oil with a dash of balsamic vinegar and lots of grated parmesan. I first had it at an Italian restaurant in Egypt, and now it's my go-to for when I have really good Italian bread on hand.

I hope you get through the Sunday cleaning quickly and enjoy the rest of the day!

>41 ChelleBearss: My sympathies, Chelle, with the cleaning. Just...ugh. But thanks for the celebration wishes! Pretty lowkey, but still fun.

>42 katiekrug: Hi, Katie!

Oh, those helicopter parents are a piece of work (pieces of work?). And yeah, my parents have always been super-supportive but also very much you-make-a-mess-you-clean-it-up types, too (which, I think, is supportive, too, in a way). Plus, I was a first generation student so they were my cheerleaders but had no clue how college works at all, so in that sense I was on my own to figure everything out. And I sort of loved that? I really felt accomplished that I managed to negotiate such a new world pretty well on my own.

I've never tried vinegar in dipping oil before, but it sounds good! I'll have to try it.

In hot summer evenings the best thing can be a piece of bread, some olive oil and a little bit of salt... Delicious! This year I am particularly looking forward to that - I have got an aaamazing Meze cookbook with delicious little fingerfood and ...well meze. :) When I can't travel, the food has to come to me.

About parents and college... I would have been ashamed to get my parents to solve my problems. I was raised by basically the motto "do what you want, but do it correctly". A little bit of struggling is normal, I guess, and you should learn to deal with that. I remember that I started my studies on a Tuesday and on Friday I was like - I hate all this cr*p - because there was a weird lottery system to get your courses. But still I managed to pull through and finished two studies in the end. Sorry.. I disgress from the subject.

Long story short: The one thing keeping me from teaching at any level would be parents.

Your cookbook sounds wonderful, Käthe! Will you share your favorites on your thread, maybe, once you start trying them out?

Yeah, a bit disservice those kinds of parents do to their kids is not letting them work out at least *some* of their problems themselves while they're still in high school at least. It's hard for a college-age student to go out in the world and be faced for the very first time with life issues that need puzzling through and solving on their own.

I hope the cleaning today is quick and painless, Amber. Mr. Fine informed me last night that his next few movie picks will be the Ocean's 11 series. I've loved the first one for yonks but I'm not sure I've seen all of 12 or 13.

One more thing to add about the helicopter parents topic: I would estimate close to half of the parental interference we experience in our office is very much unwelcome and unasked-for by the student. It's true that too many students either actively expect their parents to do the "dirty work" for them or at least passively accept it, but many of them are just as exasperated as we are.

And as you all have said, those parents are doing their children no favors in failing to prepare them to deal effectively with conflict and problem-solving.

>46 scaifea: Will do, Amber! There are some dates with bacon that I am really looking forward to - and several other tempting treasures. :)

>47 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky - cleaning is done, but laundry is an ongoing process, of course. *sigh*

I've definitely seen 12 but I can't remember if I've seen 13, and then there's Ocean's 8, which Charlie and I are really looking forward to.

>48 rosalita: Good call, Julia, about the students. You're right that most of them don't really want parent interference, poor dears.

>49 PersephonesLibrary: Oooh, that sounds good!

Happy New Thread, Amber. Wow, you go so fast!

>53 connie53: Hi, Connie! Good to see you!

I learned to back off with the school stuff when Banjo, jr was in 6th grade. I had written a note to her teacher asking to excuse her lateness with an assignment, as we had done a family ski day instead. He very sweetly replied that it was a great excuse, but that she should have written the note herself.

But I did find in middle and high school, there were some times that I needed to get involved. Some of the time just because the school administration didn't take kids seriously when they advocated for themselves; and a couple times when the issue was really beyond her ability to advocate for. ( by college, of course, she was on her own. )

Honestly, the high schools here are so lousy that it would be an exceptional high schooler who would get an adequate education without some advocacy.

Hi Amber. Way behind on the previous thread (I am) but saw this one, so it's starred and all. Is it truly spring where you are? Or snowy-melty yuckky?

Oh yes before I forget,


You know I'm a parent to Mathie kids, right?

Happy new thread, Amber!

Your threads are flying this year, not easy to keep up with them. When I try to skim, I always see some interesting topics and end up reading most ;-)

>55 banjo123: That's a great point, Rhonda. Absolutely kiddos need us parents to advocate for them when necessary, and I think finding the balance between not enough and too much help is one of those items in the What Makes Parenting Hard column. I do kind of love Jr's 6th grade teacher, though. I would have written the note for Charlie, too, but it's a great idea to get them to start doing that sort of thing themselves at that point. Charlie's in 6th grade now, and sometimes I've sent an email to his teacher and sometimes I've insisted that he do it.

I'm sorry your schools aren't supportive enough for their students. We've had issues this year with Charlie's math teacher, but otherwise this online school has been excellent. If he goes back to our local brick-and-mortar school next year, we'll see how that goes (it'll be a new school for him, since he'll be in middle school then).

>56 SandyAMcPherson: Hi, Sandy! We haven't had snow on the ground for a couple of weeks now, I think? And it's been lovely early-spring temperatures and sun. I know other places are maybe getting snow this week, but our forecast is for rain here.

Happy belated pi day! We had cake, not pie, but half birthdays true math holidays here, I'm afraid.

>57 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita! The interesting parts of my threads are all to blame on my visitors, not me, I'm sure!

Today's Agenda:
Well, this is exam week for my Latin class, so I'll be giving one-on-one oral exams all week on top of teaching my regular classes. So. Busy week ahead, although I do enjoy spending that individual time with my cherubs; it helps me get to know them better, especially since the class is 100% Zoom. It also helps that I've finished up the rereads for the myth class, so for the rest of the semester, class prep will be pretty fast and easy. And I have DC Night tonight to look forward to, which means PJs and books in bed this evening.

Charlie loved his carrot cake (no frosting) and his requested meal of Soy and Butter Glazed Chicken with Brown Rice and Snow Peas was pretty good, too, if I do say so. Overall, a nice early-half-birthday celebration. It's actually today, but since I'll be busy with exams and class, I won't have time to bake and cook today. Also, I'll never get over how cool it is that his half-birthday is on the Ides.

On the reading front:
Another day with not much reading to report, I'm afraid. A few pages of Guard of Honor, a few of After the Rain and a smidge of The Moonstone.

What We're Watching:
My pick last night, so we watched A Mighty Wind - a rewatch for Tomm and me, but Charlie's first time. He *loved* Best in Show, so I thought it was time for another Guest Mockumentary.

In honor of the day:

>61 scaifea: oh, I love those Guest mockumentaries!
>62 scaifea: LOL that made me smile.

Hope your busy day/week goes well, Amber.

>63 lauralkeet: We love the Guest movies so much, too, and I think Might Wind is my favorite.

I'm glad you like the Ides meme! It's so important for people to come together, of course. Such a good lesson...

And thanks for the good week wishes! Fingers crossed.

>62 scaifea: - Snork.

>64 scaifea: - I think A Mighty Wind is my least favorite *ducks*. Maybe I should give it another try. Not a guest mockumentary, but in the same vein, I loved 'Drop Dead Gorgeous.' Have you seen it?

Good luck with your busy week!

>65 katiekrug: Morning, Katie!

No ducking necessary - I totally get that it's not for everyone. I've seen Drop Dead Gorgeous, but it's been yonks. Maybe I need a revisit soon...

And thanks! I know I'm going to be exhausted at the end of the week, but it'll be fine. I'll be fine. It's fine. Finefinefine.

Happy Half Birthday to Mr Charlie!
Hope your busy day goes fast and you get to be in your PJs with your book quickly!

>67 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle! I'll pass on the birthday wishes. And YES to the day going fast so I can get into my PJs and read!

So, this week's Latin class bonus question:

If you could have dinner with one person, historical or contemporary, who would it be and why? What would they order?

Who would *you* choose?

>24 rosalita: Unfortunately our daughter has parents that fall into yet another category: they don't seem to care that their son is struggling in school. After many unsuccessful attempts to get them involved, she's called a parent-teacher conference with backup. It's a sad situation.

I agree that helicopter parents generally do their kids a disservice by not letting them learn to deal with problems like an adult. I do remember our having to step in with your bff's college roommate's parents when their living conditions were exacerbating health issues and the college administration wasn't being unresponsive. But that was it.

Morning, Amber!

That's a tough question today. Neil Gaiman comes to mind - wouldn't he be fun? But I'd probably pick Jane Austen. I'd expect her to be wickedly funny, and we know so little about her compared to many others.

Hi, Joe!

Oh, it's so sad that she is dealing with such awful parents. I remember that the hardest part of volunteering at Charlie's school was seeing the kids who clearly weren't taken care of at home (clothes always dirty, weren't provided the basics, and those were also always the ones craving affection) and knowing there was nothing I could do about it except give them all the extra attention I could. Heartbreaking.

It's a very tough question, and I won't deny that. I don't really know who I would pick myself. Gaiman is tempting, but what if he's not the stellar guy I've built him up to be in my mind?

>70 jnwelch: That's a tough situation for your daughter, Joe. It's easier dealing with college students, who can be put directly in touch with resources to help them without any need to involve parents at all.

>72 rosalita: Agreed, Julia. In a lot of ways, college students are just...easier.

>66 scaifea: Snort.



>69 scaifea: I'd have to join Joe at his dinner with Jane Austen.

>74 MickyFine: WELP. I mean, accurate, but...

>61 scaifea: Best in Show is my favorite of that series. Haven't seen it in a long time so you've given me an idea for movie viewing while BFF is here.

>76 RebaRelishesReading: mine too, Reba. My husband and I quote so many words and phrases from that film (busy bee, god loves a terrier, stop namin' nuts ... I could go on). I think we might need to watch it again soon ourselves.

>76 RebaRelishesReading: >77 lauralkeet: We love that one, too, but there's just something about A Mighty Wind. The weird-yet-sweet love-ish story between Mitch and Micky, I think, is was puts it over the top for me. But yes, Best in Show is absolutely hilarious.

Is this still a new thread, Amber? Here I am. Wishing you lots of stamina for this week!

>79 ronincats: Thanks, Roni!

>69 scaifea: Isak Dinesen, she could tell such extemporaneous great stories. Babette's Feast, of course.

>81 quondame: Good answer!

>82 false-knight: *SNORK!!!* Thanks for that one, Emery! I LOVE IT.

>82 false-knight: well, crap. I just snorted the remains of my after dinner Manhattan all over my iPad... 😂😂

I'm way behind here, but wanted to chatter a bit~
>59 scaifea: I applaud the idea of "half birthdays".
*Sigh* I wonder at what age we stopped (as kids) saying we were 'seven and a half' or whatever? I don't hear my almost-10 yo granddaughter ever observing the halfs, but what a great excuse to have cake and celebrate.

>62 scaifea: And yes, good old Ides. I love that you mention this stuff.
We always mark the "Ides of March" on our calendar. As you may remember my saying ages ago (ha!), I went to a school where we had Latin starting in Grade 5. I took it all the way through to the end of high school. Partly because our teacher was so interesting.

She made a big deal about paying of all our debts and there were big philosophical discussions about debts being more than financial ones. These discussions (in Grade 10, by then) were very sneaky because a Latin to English translation would appear on the next exam and invariably related to one of these cultural discussions. I did really poorly on the debt one because I completely failed to recognize the various forms of Latin for debts and paying them off (by the 'Ides' of course).

OK, sorry. That was sort of boring. I am short of people IRL with whom to have conversations (I can't even remember proper grammar, eek). And my husband has heard all my stories...

>69 scaifea: That is indeed a tough question.
I agree with what you said, "...what if the person is not the stellar guy/gal I've built up in my mind...?" That would be such a let down and ruin a good story or film or whatever, wouldn't it?

>84 drneutron: Jim: Right?! It can get dangerous over here sometimes...

>85 SandyAMcPherson: Okay first thing, Sandy: please don't ever apologize for contributing to the conversation (as long as it's respectful and kind, and your contributions always are)! And your story was far from boring - I love hearing about Latin class experiences! Good on your teacher for so cleverly incorporating class discussions into the exams like that. I have my students work through English to Latin exercises in class, but since I've moved to oral exams, I don't test them on it anymore. It was my favorite part of my own beginning Latin class, though, and I was the only grad student who didn't hate the required Latin Prose Composition class (and I was over the moon about the elective Latin Verse Composition class, which was incredibly difficult but So. Much. Fun.). It's like solving a complex puzzle with a million pieces.

Half Birthdays: I am a huge fan of little daily celebrations to make a kiddo's life filled with everyday magic. Charlie isn't as demonstrative about them as he used to be, but I know how to read the kid enough to know that he still quietly loves it. I also firmly believe in letting a kid be a kid as long as they want to be. I dislike the idea of telling anyone they're too old for something as much as I dislike telling kids they're too young to read a certain (any) book. There's a difference between this and growing up in other senses, of course: Charlie knows he can read any book in the house or check out any book from the library (as long as he's willing to talk to me about it), and he knows how to cook a meal and do his own laundry, but he also knows that he won't ever be judged for still loving picture books and wanting to dress up for Halloween. (I have strong feelings about this, can you tell?)

The bonus question: My students were merciless yesterday about not letting me get away with not answering my own question, so I did narrow it down to three:

1) Stephen Fry. I don't think he'd disappoint, and gosh, what a conversation that would be!

2) H.H. the Dalai Lama. Again, I'm pretty confident he's as lovely and kind as he seems, and again, how lovely it would be to share a meal with him?

3) Tom Hiddleston. For...reasons.

Today's Agenda:
More Latin exams to administer and I'll probably also work on getting next fall's Latin class schedule organized (the goal is not to have *any* work to do over summer). I also need to pop round to the library to pick up holds, and maybe I'll get some reading done?

On the reading front:
Early PJs and books in bed was lovely yesterday evening, and I made progress on Memoirs of a Geisha and After the Rain. Still working on The Moonstone, too.

>87 scaifea: #3 LOL!

>89 lauralkeet: Well I mean, can you blame me?

I love that you have these discussions with your students.

I'm teaching The Hobbit right now, and yesterday we got to our mutually-favorite chapter: Riddles in the Dark. I showed clips from the live action and the 1977 cartoon, and towards the end of the discussion (after discussing the Uncanny and why Gollum is so frightening) I asked if anyone else thought he was kind of cute.

Crickets.

One student did speak up and said, "Personally, no, not really, but you do you, ma'am." Lol. I defended myself by saying that he has giant eyes which we are biologically inclined to see as innocent and childlike, and that he's kind of like a puppy who is so ugly he's cute. Until he tries to eat you. but still...

The whole point of this story is that I really value the human conversations we get to have.

>91 London_StJ: "You do you, ma'am" OMG. Don't you just love 'em? Such cherubs. After I told my students that Tom Hiddleston was on the dinner list for...reasons, one asked if I meant Tom or Loki, and that lead to a probably-too-long-because-we-should-have-been-translating-Latin discussion of the pros and cons of each.

(Also, Gollum is adorable, but this is coming from someone who is currently mildly obsessed with Rumpelstiltskin (OUAT).)

If you can do three, I can do three...

1. Greta Thunberg...so smart, I'd learn things, and I just know I'd feel better about the world in general after spending some time with her.

2. Alan Alda...again, smart as heck, and there'd be laughs.

3. Tom Selleck. You know why.

>93 laytonwoman3rd: Well now, that's debatable, Linda. I *am* the professor, afterall. But sure, I'll allow it. This time.

A former student of mine and current good friend is, in turn, very good friends with Alan Alda and reports that he is just the very nicest of people. And yes, very smart, too.

Greta would be a great one! Would you request dinner on the yacht?

What is it about Tom(m)s?

>94 scaifea: I don't believe I actually enrolled in your class... I don't know about eating on the yacht. I'm not an easy sailor.

'Morning Amber!
Thanks for the encouragement for Latin-chatter. I guess my self-confidence at personal online chatter needed a boost.

Re Memoirs of a Geisha, I didn't think I'd like that story (it was a gift at Christmas the year after it came out). It's not on my bookshelf anymore because I found it such a moving story, that I loaned it to a family member who still has it. I don't mind. I'd read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. She has daughters who have reportedly equally enjoyed it. Interesting how it is a narrative that reaches across age groups.

I'm looking forward to your review...

>95 laytonwoman3rd: I'm not sure what that has to do with my authority as Keeper of the Questions, to be honest, but fine. FINE.

I'm also not great on boats. Or in cars. I so very easily get motion sickness. Gah.

>96 SandyAMcPherson: I'm happy to be a booster, Sandy!

I'm enjoying Memoirs quite a bit so far. It's a good story and well-enough told, again, so far. All of my reading has slowed down in the last couple of weeks, though, so I'm not making great progress and it doesn't have anything to do with the books.

>91 London_StJ: FWIW, Mrs. swynn is also in the "Gollum is kind of cute" camp.

Dunno what that says about me, but as long as I get to hang out her with her I'm okay with it ...

>100 swynn: *snork!*

>85 SandyAMcPherson: >87 scaifea: I still celebrate my half birthday. Nothing fancy, usually just a nice meal. This year Mr. Fine has decided we're doing a Treat Yo Self day for our half birthdays (our birthdays are less than a week apart) so it might be more of a thing this year.

>87 scaifea: Hiddles for... reasons is an excellent choice.

>102 MickyFine: I love the idea of a joint treat-yo-self day! Will Mr. Fine indulge in a full-on Batman costume?

And thanks for the Hiddlesbum approval.

>102 MickyFine: >103 scaifea: I haven't celebrated my half birthday for ages, but I just realized that Tim and I have almost opposite birthdays (Mine is early October, Tim's is mid-April) so perhaps by celebrating each other's birthdays we are also celebrating our half birthdays? Lol.

I have regularly confused my wedding anniversary (October 24) with my half-birthday (October 26). The Wayne has occasionally had to correct me about when our anniversary is...

>72 rosalita:, >73 scaifea: Thank you, Julia and Amber. Becca's frustrated on behalf of the little guy. She's had kids with troubles before, of course, but not one where the both parents seem to care so little. There are resources available, but the parents have to get on board, and this kid also deserves more help and healthy raising at home.

College and post-grad students - the only thing that's worse with them that I can think of is they can be much more articulate in arguing about a grade. :-)

Happy Tuesday, Amber. Is Memoir of a Geisha going all right for you?

>104 curioussquared: Ha! That's kind of awesome, really.

>105 katiekrug: Ooof, yeah, I have trouble remembering our anniversary, too.

>106 jnwelch: Oh, college students and grades! I had one in my office once arguing for a better grade on paper with no ground to stand on and just wouldn't stop. I became so exasperated that I finally told him that I wasn't budging on the grade and if he kept arguing about it any longer the grade he currently had would start dropping a 1/3 of a grade level for every extra minute he kept going. Yoicks. (Pretty sure I had no legal backup for that move, but he didn't call my bluff.)

I'm enjoying Geisha so far! It's an interesting story.

>105 katiekrug: This won't help you remember, but your wedding anniversary is the same as my parents'. And your half-birthday is the day after my actual birthday, but that's also not helpful for remembering anything. :-)

>103 scaifea: Snort! His fave DC character is Green Arrow so he's slowly building a cosplay for that. But treat yo self day will probably just involve comic book shops and maybe a board game store (for him).

Chiming in on the anniversary date mix-ups: if we'd gotten married the day I wanted to our anniversary would have been much easier to remember (9/9/18 - the day and month added together equal the year, how perfect?!). But Mr. Fine's brother is a marine engineer and his work requires him to be out on a boat for stretches at a time and so we had to move our wedding date to a week later so that he could attend. He got teased a lot that it was his fault it snowed on our wedding day as if we'd been married the week earlier the weather was gorgeous.

ETA: Although I still do ok at remembering our anniversary (so far). I definitely wished Mr. Fine a happy half anniversary today. :P

>110 rosalita: - I'm honored to share such important dates!

>112 katiekrug: I carefully didn't mention how my parents' marriage ended up. I'm sure you and The Wayne are much better at the whole matrimonial thing. :-)

>105 katiekrug: I have regularly confused my wedding anniversary (October 24) with my half-birthday (October 26).

Mine are two days apart as well! Half-birthday August 18, anniversary August 20. I can't say I've ever mixed them up though.

Half birthdays were a thing when I was a kid. My birthday's in February and my brother's in August, so celebrating half birthdays was a way of dealing with any jealousy over the attention being "showered" on the birthday child. My own kids were never particularly interested in half birthdays, for reasons unknown. They missed out!

My confusion is sort of inexplicable because half birthdays were not a thing for me growing up... I guess I'm just easily confused :)

>113 rosalita: - I hope so, Julia!

>114 lauralkeet: - Okay, but see mine start with the same number, so I have it way harder in the remembering department...

>110 rosalita: *snork!*

>111 MickyFine: (Just to be clear, I was trying to make a Parks and Rec reference; I wasn't just calling Mr. Fine a Batman nerd or anything. I LOVE that he's putting together a Green Arrow cosplay, though!)

>112 katiekrug: >113 rosalita: *SNORK!*

>114 lauralkeet: That's a good way to keep jealousy to a minimum, I'd say. Half birthday weren't a thing for me as a kid, so I don't really know what made me think to do it with Charlie, other than the Ides thing.

>117 scaifea: Oh I got the reference. :)

>115 katiekrug: I'm right there with you on remembering things. I'm so, so bad at it.

>120 MickyFine: Oh, whew! I didn't want you to think I was just randomly calling Mr. Fine a nerd! (I mean, I love nerds, but still.)

>92 scaifea: Oh! Someone brought up how Gollum is like a creature out of a fairy tale, so that totally clicks.

And lol on Tom vs. Loki.

>100 swynn: Huzzah for fellow Gollum-adorers, and their accepting partners. ;)

>109 scaifea: Oh yuck, that really stinks. I'm sorry you had to manage the conflict.

>123 London_StJ: Oh, definitely the whole riddles and such with Gollum is very mythy-fairy tale like.

>124 London_StJ: Thanks. It could have been a lot worse. The kid was kind of a putz, but not dangerous or anything. I never felt threatened by him. It was just annoying at the time.

>122 scaifea: No offense taken. Mr. Fine and I are loud and proud nerds.

>126 MickyFine: HAHAHA! Yes!! *awkward fist bump*

>93 laytonwoman3rd: I was having trouble thinking of mine but you helped -- Alan Alda would be perfect for just those reasons.

>94 scaifea: So you could arrange those dinners for us then, right? I mean...you have connections, right?

Half birthdays weren't a "thing" when I was growing up although with a December birthday I would have loved it if they were :)

Like Reba, I never heard of half birthdays growing up — although for the few years my dad lived with us after I was born, he always gave me a present on my brother John's birthday (which was in May) because I was his favorite. And yes, I can see how that must have cheesed off John but it wasn't my fault!

>128 RebaRelishesReading: Ha! I wish I could sort out all the dinners, Reba!

>129 rosalita: Julia: Poor John. But yay for extra presents for you!

I have a friend who frequently complains about perceived mistreatment saying that she is '79 going on 80'. Sheesh.

>134 scaifea: Sorry to leave out a reference post, but yeah.

Gollum is a little cute, I guess, in a sort of weird neotenous way. I like his character design in the 1977 cartoon, although it's hard to see how that Gollum was once a hobbit—I like his big ol' lamp eyes, and it's a design where you can sort of tell that the studio animating it would go on to become Ghibli. But when my brother was little he saw a bit of one of the LOTR movies at a family gathering and was terrified afterwards of the "scary cat", so that's more or less how I think of him now.

>132 ffortsa: Forgive me for being slow this morning (it's still pretty early), Judy, but is this in reference to the birthday discussion? I admit I'm a bit lost.

>133 false-knight: Gollum as a scary cat! Yes, yes that checks out.

Today's Agenda:
More Latin exams to proctor, class prep, teaching. I'm really having a difficult time waking up this morning for some reason, too. Gah.

When I made my grocery order last weekend I accidentally clicked on pork meat instead of beef stew meat, apparently? So last night I had intended to make beef stew, but was forced by stupid circumstances to make pork stew. It turned out pretty darn good! I may make the mistake a permanent one.

Oh, and our governor has announced that all Ohioans 16+ will be eligible for the vaccine on March 29!! Fingers crossed that we won't have a difficult time getting appointments. Then we'll just need to wait for the 12+ tests to come through so Charlie can get his vaccine, too. Light and tunnels and all that.

On the reading front:
Again, almost nothing to report. Latin Exam Week is rough on non-work reading. Soon, hopefully, I'll get back to it.

What We're Watching:
More Once Upon a Time last night and I am completely hooked (no pun intended, mostly because he hasn't shown up yet). They're doing clever things with the fairy tales, plus Mr. Gold is my new boyfriend (don't judge).

That's great news about the vaccines in Ohio, Amber! We are not eligible yet in Pennsylvania or Virginia, but Virginia has a statewide preregistration process that notifies people of their eligibility. We signed up for that a couple weeks ago, since we were unlikely to suddenly become eligible in PA and didn't have enough time left here to get both doses, anyway.

>137 lauralkeet: Laura: I wish all states had that registration option. It seems so much more organized.

State-wide pre-registration makes the most sense to me, and it's what they've done in New Jersey. Other places sound much more confusing...

Nice going on the pork stew. We use ground pork in place of ground beef a lot - for tacos, chili, etc. It works well.

I am also having trouble waking up this morning, but I only rolled out of bed about 40 minutes ago... #slacker

>139 katiekrug: I would love to have a federal system for the vaccine, but then again I'm a huge fan of Big Government, I guess...

I use ground chicken or turkey in place of ground beef a lot, but now I may try ground pork, too...

>140 scaifea: - I like ground bird, too, but TW is not as big a fan so the pork is our compromise :)

>87 scaifea: Chiming in with a Tom Hiddleston story. My 25 year old son and his girlfriend were at a trivia night in a NYC bar (pre-pandemic, of course) and struck up a conversation with a young guy who offered them tickets to a "show" he was in. Girlfriend couldn't make it so I was the backup. "Show" turned out to be Betrayal on Broadway, and new friend had a brief walk-on part as a waiter. We went backstage after and got a quick tour. Tom (we're on first name basis now, of course) was shmoozing with some other guests, but my son politely approached him and received a warm handshake and arm around the shoulders. Sorry to say I had no idea who he was at the time, otherwise I might have been more starstruck.

ETA: P.S. He's very tall!

^Wow. That's some story from Vivian!

That's great news about the vaccine being available to everyone 16+ in Ohio this month, Amber. We're all slowly getting there.

I'm glad you're having a good time with Once Upon a Time. We did, too.

Hi Amber, I'm peeking in as best I can today 'cause I probably won't be arounfd the threads for a few days. Nice big melty thaw happening and finally some garden is showing. A *ton* of ugly snow mold on ye lawns that need rsking. I've never seen it as bad as this (as far as I recall)...

I had to google who Tom Hiddleston was (is)... ha ha ha.

>137 lauralkeet: The VA pre-reg seems to be working as well as any system could be. I like that it essentially tells you your place in line (by indicating the registration dates they're currently serving).

>136 scaifea: Congrats on being able to register for your vaccinations, Amber. That's awesome news.

I have so many feelings about Rumple. Glad you're enjoying him in season one.

That's great news about you guys being able to get your vaccines!
Ontario (or at least my area) is still in the age 80+ or heathcare workers only. I doubt I'll get mine until fall or winter this year.

Pre-registration for the vaccine seems to be such a simple organization tool....a no-brainer, you might say. Can't imagine why it isn't used everywhere. Individual providers in PA tried something similar early on----we got on a couple lists months ago, but so far none of the providers we signed up for actually got enough vaccine to distribute it to anyone other than their own employees, and they totally stopped taking sign-ups. Our health care system, through which we have our health insurance coverage, is reaching out to its patients individually to arrange appointments. I've had my first shot now...yay!

>141 katiekrug: I think I agree, Katie, that the pork tastes better...

>142 vivians: Oh dang, Vivian. I'm having trouble not being completely jealous here... I'm going to need a moment...

He did double Classics at Cambridge and was in the Classics department at the same time as a friend of mine. So I have a one degree of separation connection at least. *sigh*

>143 jnwelch: Hi, Joe! Yep, we *are* getting there. I just wish we could sign Charlie up along with us... Eventually he'll get there, too.

OUAT is a hoot so far. I love what they're doing with the original tales.

>144 SandyAMcPherson: Hi, Sandy! Good luck with that...snow mold? I didn't even know that was a thing.

>145 London_StJ: Yeah, I wish we had that here. There's a big drive-through set-up at the state fair grounds here, and that's probably where we'll try to get ours.

>146 MickyFine: I'm honestly already so invested in Rump that I'm not sure how I'm going to handle his storyline as it unfolds. I'm almost certain that I'll be ready to flip some tables over him at some point. We'll see how it goes.

>147 ChelleBearss: Oh, that's so frustrating, Chelle! Maybe things will pick up faster than expected up there. Fingers crossed.

Hooray for pre-registration schemes. The thing that drove me crazy here was that it was all on a "here are some appointments -- join the lottery to see if you get one" basis done separately for each venue, each week. I heard on news last night that there are now enough vaccines available for our local mass-vaccination site to have a bunch of appointments available right here in the middle of the week though -- so that's good for those who need them.

>148 laytonwoman3rd: Well, no-brainers still have to much in the way if intelligence requirements for some government orgs, I suspect. *sigh*

But yay for your first shot!!

>156 RebaRelishesReading: Yes, that lottery business is too anxiety-inducing, really. You've had both of yours now, right? That's so excellent.

>158 scaifea: Yes -- we had our second shots two weeks ago yesterday :)

>159 RebaRelishesReading: WOOT!

Happy new thread, belatedly. I am away from LT for 3.5 days and i am 160 posts behind, before long you will be on your next thread.

>161 johnsimpson: Ha! Thanks, John! It's always good to see you here.

Today's agenda:
More Latin exams to give, menu planning, grocery ordering, helping Charlie if he needs it. More prepping next semester's Latin class. Maybe some reading this afternoon?

Exams are going pretty well, and I do like this format much better than a written exam, even though it takes much more time on my part this way. And we had a fun discussion in the myth class yesterday about the trope of using a disguise to lower expectations about oneself in order to fly under the radar until the opportune moment for a Big Reveal (a la Odysseus, Hamlet et al.).

On the reading front:
Sorry, but nothing really to report here again. This week is probably just a wash.

What We're Watching:
More OUAT and a couple of Wandavision episodes. That show is getting WILD. I love it!

Morning, Amber! Sweet Thursday. I hope the week is going smoothly. There is rain in the forecast today, so it will keep me indoors, with the books. I cannot complain.

>164 msf59: Morning, Mark! Yep, it's raining here already, so no walk for us this morning, I think. I'll be staying indoors, but not much time for reading. *sigh*

Hi Amber!

>69 scaifea: Definitely Dorothy Sayers. I’ve read all her fiction and none of her religious works or translations of Dante. Her life was fascinating – illegitimate son, founding member of The Detection Club, feminist although she preferred “simply human”. She’d run circles around me intellectually and provide fascinating insights into all sorts of things. She’d order High Tea, of course.

>87 scaifea: I love your child-raising philosophy. Charlie’s a lucky kid.

>109 scaifea: Memoirs of a Geisha is another of those books I’ve had on my shelves for a decade or more and not yet read. Sigh.

>140 scaifea: Ground turkey for tacos is quite wonderful. I also make a turkey meatloaf that is moist and flavorful. And finally, we had turkey burgers and homemade oven-baked French fries for dinner the other night.

>166 karenmarie: Hi, Karen!

Oooh, Dorothy Sayers! Excellent choice. I need to read more of her stuff.

Aw, thanks! Having Charlie as a son makes me pretty lucky, too. He's made most of the work easy.

So far I'm really enjoying Geisha. We'll see if it continues to be a strong read as it goes.

Yes to turkey for meatloaf! I've had pretty good success there, too.

Good luck with the Latin exams. How many do you do in a day?

Also I heartily approve of both of your show choices last night. :)

>62 scaifea: LOL. Happy Thursday, Amber!!

>163 scaifea: "a fun discussion in the myth class yesterday about the trope of using a disguise to lower expectations about oneself in order to fly under the radar until the opportune moment for a Big Reveal ...".
I would love to sit in on your class! (/no exams, though... I am so done with that aspect).

>168 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! It tends to be 3-4 exams a day. It's not too bad, but by the end of the week, along with regular teaching, I'm zonked.

I am *loving* both shows so much!

>169 leperdbunny: Ha! I'm glad you liked that, Tamara - and happy Thursday to you, too!

>170 SandyAMcPherson: Aw, thanks, Sandy! An no worries - I'm not giving any exams in the myth class, although they do have a paper and a more creative project to do.

>171 scaifea: I have never been a teacher, but I can imagine the need for sustained concentration on just one student would be more draining than teaching a class?

>174 rosalita: It's a different kind of draining, yeah. Teaching an entire class is a larger part performance; with just one student, there's not the performance aspect (well, beyond our everyday normal interaction performances), but yeah, it's a concentrated effort in some respects. It's easier, of course, with the students who are really good. It's harder to wade through a Latin passage with a student who's struggling with it.

>171 scaifea: That does sound pretty exhausting. Wishing you lots of recovery time this weekend.

>176 MickyFine: Thanks! Here's hoping...

Hi there! Your thread moves fast:) Stelios and I had two weddings (one in Cyprus and one here), but we celebrate the first one (Cyprus) which confuses relatives here. I remember celebrating my half-birthday a time or two when I was a kid. With the girls, we intended to celebrate their name days, which I thought was perfect since they were both in the summer and both of their birthdays are in the winter. Except that we never remembered. Oops. They're a big deal in Cyprus but here not so much, and to add complication to the mix, Catholic name days are different than Greek Orthodox ones.

Seems like good vaccine news, Amber! Marina takes a medication for her JRA that makes her more susceptible to infection, or so we heard. She's been super careful, and was able to get her first shot today! CO is opening them up to 50+ tomorrow. Stelios found an appointment at Denver Health for this weekend and came up to ask me about it. Silly man. I sent him back downstairs immediately to book one but it was too late - he's now on a waitlist.

>178 AMQS: I'm so glad Marina has her first shot now! That must be such a relief to you all. I'm now becoming very impatient for them to approve the vaccines for 12+ so that Charlie can get his, especially because I won't feel comfortable easing up on the restrictions of what we do at all until he has and I know that my in-laws are going to start pressuring us to do family stuff together before that. Ugh.

I don't know much about name days, but it's a really interesting tradition. It's not surprising that the different churches didn't get together and organize, though. Ha!

Today's Agenda:
Woot for Friday, but ooof, it's going to be a busy one. Four more Latin exams, grocery pick-up, cookie baking, bill sorting... So much stuff to do. *sigh*

On the reading front:
Still no reading to report. Yoicks. I'm really hoping for some quality book time this weekend. We'll see.

What We're Watching:
GBBS Masterclass, an Arrow episode, and we started the second season of Staged. So, so funny. I highly recommend it. David Tennant and Michael Sheen are comedy gold.

>180 scaifea: Woot + ooof = Wooof? Which reminds me — give Mario some scritches from me. :-)

>181 rosalita: Wooof, indeed. Definitely the word of the day, Julia. I'll pass on the scritches!

>180 scaifea: we're enjoying the second season of Staged as well, Amber. However, our Hulu subscription is not ad-free and it seems like this season has more ad breaks than the first? It's been a bit disruptive. Still, Tennant and Sheen are marvelous.

>183 lauralkeet: It's funny that you mention ads, Laura - Tomm and I were just talking last night about how our internet ad blocker is working on Hulu now and it automatically skips them all!

Morning, Amber! I hope you get through your busy Friday unscathed and get some good relaxation time this weekend.

What kind of cookies are being baked today?

Happy Friday, Amber! But my sympathy for it being such a chock-full one. Four Latin exams? I believe I've had bad dreams like that.

On your bff's recommendation, I just read a fun YA you might like, called Inheritance Games. It's drawn a lot of comparisons to The Westing Game. I had a grand time with it, and there's going to be a second one that I'm already looking forward to.

>185 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! Me, too. *sigh*

With the extra work and time I need to put into the exams today, I don't really have time to make cookies from scratch, so it'll be ready-for-the-oven Toll House cookies from the store. Still, they're pretty good.

>186 jnwelch: Hi, Joe! Ha! Well, I wouldn't mind *taking* four Latin exams, honestly. Proctoring them can be a little tedious when it's the same thing over and over, but I do love the one-on-one time with each student.

Thanks for the recommendation - you had me at "comparisons to The Westing Game" of course!

Happy Friday, Amber! Almost to the weekend, you can do it!

>189 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! Bills and groceries and cookies are done; now for the exams.

>184 scaifea: Interesting, Amber. We stream video using an AppleTV box connected to our TV. I'm not sure there's an adblocker that works across all AppleTV content. You can pay more for an ad-free Hulu subscription but we don't use Hulu very often so we haven't done that. I'm glad your setup is delivering a better experience!

>191 lauralkeet: Nope, ours isn't an add-free subscription, which is why we were so pleasantly surprised about the add-free experience!

Hi Amber, just popping in and trying to keep up with your thread, impossible! I hope you have a lovely weekend.

>193 connie53: Hi, Connie! No worries about keeping up - I'm just happy to see you! I've been lurking over on your thread, too.

Good! I love that.

>195 connie53: *huge smile*

Today's Agenda:
Gosh it felt good to sleep in this morning after last week's busy-ness! I'll sit here and drink my coffee and putter around on LT for a bit before getting out of my pajamas and starting the day. Baking (7-Up Pound Cake), some sewing room time, some reading. And we need to take down the St. Patrick's Day stuff and put up the Easter decorations. Tomm needs to make a run to the hardware store for some such or other and has offered to bring back pizza for dinner and I fully approve.

On the reading front:
Hey, I actually did some reading yesterday, for really-reals! I made a bit of progress on Chaotic Good, which I'm very much enjoying, and some on After the Rain, which is fair-to-middling but I'm determined to finish it.

What We're Watching:
After the Family Game Night portion of the evening (D&D with Charlie as the DM and Tomm and I as bickering odd-couple-type traveling mercenaries, essentially, who keep getting in each other's way and inadvertently causing hit point damage and flared tempers (I swear there's a fantasy-based RomCom in there somewhere)), we settled in for a couple of Wandavision episodes. So weird and so cool, that show.

Warning: This next bit may read like a brag, but I'm honestly just really chuffed that things seem to be working out so well with this online teaching thing and want to share my happy. Feel free to skip:
I was worried from the start of the school year if online teaching would hinder the work I always put into creating a relaxed, comfortable, bonding space in my classes - I work hard at that because it's *really* important to me to get everyone in that kind of space as soon as possible. So I'm very happy that so many of my Latin students this week volunteered that this is the only class in which they feel they know the other students and me well, and they look forward to every class and even to the exam. Several of them even told me that they wish all their professors would offer oral, one-on-one exams, which has started me down the path of trying to figure out how to change my non-language courses to incorporate such a thing as well. Anyway, it's just been a long, exhausting week, but with a really lovely silver lining. It seems that online teaching is a doable and worth-doing thing, and so I'm even more inclined to continue after this year (I've been offered the job as long as I want it at this point and I've been debating.)

I can imagine that those comments from your students made the long, hard week totally worth it. I'm not at all surprised that they feel that way about your class. You create a similar environment on your thread here :)

Enjoy your weekend, Rock Star!

>198 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie! It definitely made the week worth the work, and I'll even stop fretting over my classes for possibly a full day! I appreciate the kind words about my thread, too. It's certainly a haven for me and I hope it is for others.

57. Far Away Across the Sea by Toon Tellegen (family bedtime read-aloud) - 10/10 = A+
I read this one earlier this year and loved it so much I immediately bought a copy and convinced Charlie and Tomm to let it be our next bedtime read-aloud. They loved it, too! Here's what I said about it in my first-read review:

I absolutely loved this charming book about a forest full of friends quietly living out their sweet, strange little lives. It's comprised of a collection of vignettes, each one focusing on one or two of the forest inhabitants, each one not about anything in particular and utterly lacking in a progressing plot of any kind, but full of quiet intent and peaceful nuggets of comfy wisdom and tacit joy. It brought a happy handful of sunshine to my heart, and I am grateful for that. Tellegen first created these tales for his young daughter as bedtime stories, but I highly, *highly* recommend them for all ages. An absolute gem.

Oh I'm so pleased to hear that your students are so engaged with your class and appreciate how awesome you are. I also heartily echo Katie's comment that your thread has the same vibe.

Also cake and pizza sounds amazing.

>197 scaifea: Congrats on the hard work and thoughtfulness you’ve put into your online Latin course – your students giving such wonderful and affirming feedback is fantastic.

>201 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! I always seem to get the best kind of students in my classes, really. And I'm so glad you like it here! I feel just as at home on your and Katie's threads (and so many others), too.

I can't even tell you how much I'm looking forward to that pizza right now...

>202 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen! It makes the work and fret I put into teaching worth it when the product is happy students.

>200 scaifea: - I'm putting that one on the list I keep for gift ideas for my nieces and nephews...

>205 katiekrug: Oooh, excellent! It would be *such* a good present.

That's great news that your students are enjoying your class and getting so much out of it!
Enjoy your weekend!

>207 ChelleBearss: Thanks, Chelle!

>197 scaifea: You're quite right to share that and I can imagine how it pleased you. Congratulations!! Good Job!!

>197 scaifea: That's fabulous, Amber. Congratulations! I'm so glad you shared it with us because of course we are all now extending your happy with our collective back-slapping. Just bask in the glow, my friend -- you deserve it!

>209 RebaRelishesReading: >210 lauralkeet: Thank you! I love that we have this space to share our joys and not-so-joys, and I'm so thankful for it.

>197 scaifea: That is fabulous! What a great accomplishment.

Hi Amber my dear, wishing you, Tomm and Charlie a great weekend dear friend.

>29 scaifea: ( oh no, so late to come back) Yes, Gaiman is back in NZ, there was a little hoopla around his being able to enter again, given that many are having troubles of their own with non-citizen family members coming in.

>197 scaifea: I think bragging is allowed, particularly when it isn't really a brag, but a mere reporting of the facts surrounding your teaching! Congratulations, it must feel great.

>213 johnsimpson: Thanks, John! Happy Weekend to you, too!

>214 LovingLit: Hi, Megan! Yeah, I get that. I love Gaiman, but that doesn't mean he should get special treatment.

And thanks - I'm trying to ride that feeling into next week, facing a pile of papers to grade...

Today's Agenda:
House cleaning, laundry, sewing, and reading, so a mix of annoying and fun. I've already done my baking for the day (Pumpkin Spice Muffins for breakfast), and dinner will be Parmesan Lemon Chicken Bake and steamed broccoli.

On the reading front:
Yesterday's reading time was spent on The Club Dumas and After the Rain, with a bit of The Moonstone listening, too.

What We're Watching:
It was Tomm's pick last night and we watched Ocean's 12, which I can't remember having seen before and I don't think it's nearly as good as the first one. I suspect we'll still give 13 a go and I'm still excited for 8, too.

Happy weekend!

>217 scaifea: I have always enjoyed every one of Reverte's novels.

As for the movie goes, I have also only seen ocean's 11.

>218 figsfromthistle: Hi, Anita!

This is my first Reverte but so far it's fantastic. I'll probably seek out more.

I can't enthusiastically recommend Ocean's 12, but it's also not terrible. Just...not as good. We'll see how the others go.

Can you tell me how you manage your family, your job, your books and this thread and all the rest? Or are you a group of multiple Ambers? :-)
Anyway I wish (all of) you an excellent Sunday!!

>220 Trifolia: *snork!* No one needs a group of Ambers. That would be hilarious but also very likely disastrous.

And thanks - happy Sunday to you, too!

Ha! We watched Ocean's 11 last night and I'm pretty sure I've seen only bits of 12 and none of 13. But next week is my pick for movie night so we'll probably be a few weeks behind you.

Congratulations on the teaching success! You have got all the right to brag about that. :)
Far away across the sea sounds so adorable ... wishlist. :)

Have a lovely week, Amber!

>222 MickyFine: Micky: Well, maybe, but we only get one pick a week, what with Monday night DC Night, Tuesday night with Tomm is class, Thursday night GBBS Night, Friday night Game Night,...

>223 PersephonesLibrary: Thanks so much, Käthe!

And I hope you love Far Away Across the Sea as much as I do. It's such a strange and lovely little book.

Today's Agenda:
Charlie's on spring break this week, so no need to keep half an eye on his studies for a few days. It's good timing since I have a pile of myth papers to grade on top of normal course prep stuff. *sigh* So today will be prepping for class, grading Latin quizzes, grading myth Reader Responses, grading myth papers, office hours, a department meeting, and teaching. Seems like a lot to ask for a Monday. Rude, really, but okay. But then it's DC Night, so early pjs and books in bed for me. WOOT.

On the reading front:
I got through a healthy chunk of Ready Player Two yesterday, including the part of the quest on the John Hughes planet, which I loved, as a huge Hughes fan. I also read a bit more of After the Rain, which is okay but nothing special and I'm ready to be done with it soon. And I'm approaching the finish line with The Moonstone, too.

What We're Watching:
It was my pick last night and I caved in to my OUAT cravings. Charlie and I had to fill Tomm in on what he's missed so far, but he didn't mind, bless him, even though he clearly knows I'm watching it mostly because of my crush on Robert Carlyle at this point. He's a sweet and tolerant husband.

Morning, Amber! I hope you had a lovely weekend at the Scaife Manor. Hooray for a spring warm-up. Nice being able to get out more often.

>227 msf59: Morning, Mark! The weather was *so* nice this weekend - we were even able to take our evening walk without a coat last night! Amazing.

Sheesh...you stay off the computer for a couple days and BOOM! Anyway, >197 scaifea:, >198 katiekrug: what Katie said... Could it be that our LT community was good training for moving your substantial classroom mojo to an on-line environment? Not at all surprising that you could do this thing with stars and sparkles...

>229 laytonwoman3rd: Ha! Possibly, but it's all Zoom instead of discussion threads over there and no Zoom here... (Although, come to think of it, why don't we have Zoom meet-ups? Or are they happening and I'm just not invited...? *pushes down the panic*)

>230 scaifea: Don't know of any Zoom meet-ups on LT. I think everybody gets enough of that of necessity, and personally I don't find it fun. Don't even do it with family.

>231 laytonwoman3rd: I know a lot of people don't care for Zoom, but I have to say that without seeing my students via Zoom this past year, my days would have felt a lot more isolated. I honestly don't mind Zoom at all, but maybe that's because I'm always The Leader of the group in my meetings? (Well, besides the once-monthly department meeting, but I don't even mind those.)

>232 scaifea: I'm the leader (Board President) of my Zoom meetings too, and I think that's why I don't care for them. Even though someone else is the technical "host", if things go wrong I have to decide what to do about it. I sometimes have trouble understanding people who don't have good audio, or don't talk into the mic. And unlike some other Board members, I cannot turn my camera off during meetings!

>230 scaifea: Sending you a PM ...

>233 laytonwoman3rd: Ha! Well, I can't turn my camera off, either, but I'm convinced that all the students are just mini Narcissuses and spend the entire time gazing into their own little Zoom square and don't look at me anyway...

>234 rosalita: Oooooh, SECRET CLUB!

...

That I've not been invited to up until now...

*sigh*

Hi, Amber.

I enjoyed reading about your online teaching, and congratulations on it going so well. You and your bff should compare notes some time. She's teaching remotely a much different age group, 3-4 year olds, and her stories are a hoot.

I'm glad you got to a section of Ready Player Two that you liked so much. I'm reading more than a few comments about this follow-up being "boring."

Hi Amber,
I've been absent for a few days, since some writing and revising was needed elsewhere.

I need to immerse my brain fully when I'm writing, kind of like when an artist says they forget all the outside world when working on a piece. It was time to surface and peep in at a few threads, so I started at the ones that have exploded the most!

The review way back at #200 (Far Away Across the Sea) was interesting. I know how that feels right now to read soothing and not plot-driven. I had to abandon The Debatable Land (Graham Robb) but was successfully engaged in The Way of All Flesh. Reviewed it on my thread.

I hope you are at the end of your semester soon, so you can take a decent break.

>237 jnwelch: Hi, Joe!

Ha! I bet BFF and I could find some common ground between our students...

And I wouldn't call RP2 boring at all! I'm enjoying it after a slightly rough start, writing-wise.

>238 SandyAMcPherson: Hi, Sandy! Good luck with the writing.

My ability to read more than just comfort stuff seems to be picking back up, thankfully, but I do appreciate those comfy books.

I am both grateful for and sick of zoom :) Glad we have technology to see and catch up with family, friends, and colleagues remotely, but I find being on camera exhausting. Zoom fatigue is real! It feels like I'm subtly performing the whole time, more so than I would be in person, and then there's the aspect of having to work harder not only to understand sometimes flaky audio, but also to catch all the little facial expressions and tiny ways we communicate that aren't verbal. Even if I'm talking with family or a best friend, I'm always tired after a long video call, and they don't feel recharging in the way a good long conversation can be.

Envious of your warmer weather, Amber. We had some weird thunder rumblings on Saturday evening (it's pretty unusual for that this time of year) and right now there's some light snowflakes falling. Happy spring?

Hope you fly through all the things you need to do today and that PJ and book time comes just fast enough.

>241 curioussquared: Those are all great points, Natalie. I don't notice the fatigue because I'm the one teaching and so of course I'm exhausted at the end of the class! Ha! So no difference there for me. And my department meetings aren't ever very long and only once a month, so I guess I don't have an over-exposure to being a non-leading member of a zoom. Hopefully we'll all be able to have those in-person recharging meetings soon!

>242 MickyFine: Thanks, Micky! And yeah, I wish you could have some of this weather, too! It'll likely get cold again here before spring really shows up for good, but I'm enjoying this while it lasts.

Today's agenda:
Mostly course prep and paper grading, plus a quick pop round to the library to pick up holds. It should be nice weather again for our walks, and I'm looking forward to that. Sausage and Potato Soup for dinner tonight, I think.

On the reading front:
Not much to report from yesterday beyond a couple of myth papers and a few pages in After the Rain.

What We're Watching:
Tomm and Charlie decided to wait until Wednesday to have DC Night this week, so instead of early PJs and books, I watched the rest of Wandavision with them. I liked the series quite a bit, but the ending was...slightly problematic for me. So you know your kids are going to poof out of existence and you just tuck them into bed and close the door?! Excuse me?! And we're all just okay with the fact that she essentially tortured AN ENTIRE TOWN FULL OF PEOPLE and flew away afterward with no consequences? Alright, then. Sure. Seems legit. (NB: I am willfully ignoring the Medea parallels here because Medea is my girl and Wanda is...not.)

>245 scaifea: I get why you find the ending problematic. I think I found the show as an exploration of grief and a character study so fascinating that I was willing to let go of some of those issues. Also, given how powerful Wanda is, I'm not sure that any sort of punishment would be enforceable if Wanda wasn't willing to go with it. Plus there's something to be said for her self-enforced isolation that we saw in the final Easter egg is a form of consequence.

>246 MickyFine: Good points, all. And I'm willing to concede the grief analysis part, which was well done. But I wanted her to turn herself in. I would have had more sympathy for her that way. As it is, her isolation is still self-absorbed and not actually penitent. I wanted to see more growth, I guess? And I really wanted fake-Vision to be more chastising/disappointed/horrified at what she had done. Or for gods' sake how about a bit more unhappiness that she has to kill her children now?! Vision seems to me way too fine with that. But I'm complaining more than I should - I did love the show.

>247 scaifea: Picking apart things we love is fun! I have heard a few fan theories that because we didn't see the twins disperse, they're leaving the door open for them to return later on. So maybe not dead after all? If you want to dig into Wanda more as a character Mr. Fine informs me that House of M is a good one to read (I haven't made it there yet).

>248 MickyFine: Interesting about the twins. There were a lot of loose ends in there and I suspect on purpose, of course. Thanks for the reading tip, but I likely won't? I'm strictly a Marvel Movie gal, no Marvel comics for me. For now, at least. (And I liked the show but Wanda is *far* from my favorite.)

>249 scaifea: We'll see if when I read it my review can change your mind. ;)

>250 MickyFine: Ooof. No pressure or anything. Yeesh.

Today's Agenda:
Class prep, entering paper grades (I managed to finish grading them yesterday - WOOT!), the quick trip to the library that I forgot to do yesterday, putting up the Easter decorations because we forgot this weekend (*sigh*), office hours, teaching. DC Night will be tonight, so I'll get my early PJs and books in bed time (again I say WOOT!).

I had been feeling kind of rotten for the past 4 or 5 days - heavy chest and heart pounding, which happens to me sometimes - but I'm finally feeling better this morning, I think. I think it may have been the weather change and a big dose of allergies? *shrug* I had really severe bronchitis a handful of times when I was younger and the result of that seems to have been that any time I get even a little under the weather my lungs get all dramatic and pretend that they're dying. Another reason we've been so careful to isolate this past year and why I'm so excited for the vaccine soon! I'm convinced that my constitution couldn't handle covid very well.

Anyway. Sausage and Potato Soup hit the spot last night for dinner, which is good because the Scaife Men will have to make do with the leftovers today while I'm teaching. (I just make myself a sandwich to scarf down in the 15 minutes between my two classes.)

On the reading front:
I made some more progress with Memoirs of a Geisha and After the Rain yesterday, plus a tiny bit of The Moonstone listening.

What We're Watching:
More Once Upon a Time last night. I love this show so much (read: I love Mr Gold/Rumpelstiltskin so much).

Hi Amber.

Sorry you've been under the weather and glad you're on the mend.

I started making a Hungarian Sausage and Potato soup during the pandemic and need to get more sausage for another batch. Thanks for the inspiration!

>253 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen - and you're welcome!

Congrats on finishing all your grading! Sounds like a very full day ahead.

I'm glad you're feeling better, Amber. I find that abrupt weather changes (especially barometric pressure) tend to cause similar symptoms to what you were experiencing. Seriously no fun!

The sausage and potato soup sounds marvelous. Have you shared that recipe before?

>256 rosalita: Thanks, Julia. I'm sorry you get those symptoms sometimes, too - you're right that they're not fun.

I'm not sure if I've shared the soup before but I'm happy to do so now! It's called Campfire Sausage and Potato soup, but I've not idea why - I don't do camping and somehow I manage it just fine...

Campfire Sausage and Potato Soup
Ingredients:
• 1 package smoked sausage, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 large baking potato, cubed
• 1 can (15 oz.) dark kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (14 oz.) beef broth
• ¼ onion, diced (I leave this out completely, of course, but you could also add more if you wish)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons cumin

And you just dump it all in a pot, bring to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes are tender. It works great in a slow cooker, too, on the low setting for 4-5 hours. Like all good soups, it's even better the next day.

>257 scaifea: Sounds good. That slow cooker is a good idea, I need to have a meal ready when I get home tired.

I have made a variation to this soup using white beans, and red bell peppers. Tasts good as well.

>257 scaifea: Thank you for the recipe, Amber! It sounds both delicious and completely doable by me

>257 scaifea: That soup does sound wonderful...although I'd like it better with white beans, too. I'm not a fan of kidney beans.

>258 EllaTim: >260 laytonwoman3rd: That's the beauty of soup: you can make all kinds of substitutions and still end up with something delicious!

Ella: Yes to the slow cooker! It's so nice to open the door to delicious slow cooker smells, isn't it? Not that I've left the house long enough in the last year to do that...

>259 rosalita: You're welcome, Julia!

On the agenda for today:
Menu planning and grocery ordering for pickup tomorrow, Easter decoration (we *still* haven't gotten round to those), a bit of class prep, maybe some reading this afternoon? Baked potatoes for dinner, then it's GBBS/Arrow Night.

On the reading front:
I curled up in be with my pjs on and two books: The Club Dumas and After the Rain, the latter of which I managed to finish, finally (mini-review to come, probably along with a new thread later today). And I'm still listening to The Moonstone, of course.

>255 MickyFine: I'm sorry, Micky - I missed you up there yesterday! Thanks for the grading kudos - it's always a good feeling to finish up a pile of papers.

The new thread is up:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/330878