One month later

Okay, so last month we went to San Diego for the annual meeting of the American Philological Association. I was there to present a paper on Plato at the Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy's session with the APA. Feel free to take a look at my abstract if you're interested.
Went pretty well, and the session was chaired by Elizabeth Asmis, who's a pretty big name in ancient philosophy, so that was cool.

The especially fun part, though, was seeing friends there. Some KU people, and also Emily's St Olaf roommate Sally, who lives in SD. We had the chance to try some great food—the sushi, actually, was the highlight: such fresh, delicious fish. . . . And we were able to enjoy 70 degree days on the beach—Emily and Sally even did a little wading in the ocean.

Not to say that the classics conference was overshadowed by the location or anything; I mean, I did hear some pretty good papers: the Lambda Classical Caucus offered a particularly interesting session.

A nice relaxing visit, then, pleasant for both mind and body.
(and thanks again to Sally for showing us around)
(oh, and thanks to Leeroy for the Wilco rarities disk; now playing is Emily's current favorite)

Anyway, here are some photos:

Sally and Emily at Torrey Pines

see above

the Torrey Pine grows only in this small area in southern California, or so we were told

careful, Sally

great shot, taken by Sally

Mimi approaching some seals, with pelicans in the background

seals and humans

seals

seals on the beach

Sally and Mike, the boyfriend

cactus

Sally with tree

Mimi and Yancy on a pier

no caption necessary

finally, here's a seagull drinking from a cup:

Bear Down

Okay, I'm on this bandwagon for sure, just another of the many part-time Bears fans celebrating this trip to the Super Bowl by reminding themselves of the '85 Bears and their awesome LP.

Anyway, I mean no disrespect to today's Bears, and I'll be cheering them on this Sunday. I am happy, though, to offer you the pleasure of hearing the Shuffle (see Now Playing). Enjoy.

And go Bears!

last year

Okay, I guess I'm running out of excuses for how slow I've gotten with these posts. But here's us in DC before New Years.

Sadly, I don't have too many pictures, and Deron, of the many wonderful people we saw, is the only one I was able to capture on film. . . . Here he is, on the phone with Haley, standing next to Yancy, as he kindly guides us on a tour of some of the major monuments (that's Arlington National Cemetery in the background):

But it was a great trip—saw, among others, Aaron Dopf, Steve Ferguson, Tom Tuozzo, Haley Harrison; had an interview that seemed to go well enough (I'll keep you posted); toured the National Archives, saw a some of the National Gallery (Emily even saw the Seinfeld Puffy shirt at the Air & Space Museum (it's there because the history museum is being renovated)), toured the Library of Congress:
Mimi in the Library of Congress.


Outside the National Archives


Inside, at this cool exhibit where you could "research" various topics on moving screens that would pull up photos and videos held at the Archives.

We also happened to be there when President Ford was lying in state. Quite moving thing to see. That emotion is almost captured, but not quite, by the following photo:


We also waited by the World War II memorial to see the hearse go by

Hearse

the crowd

Okay, two quick bonus shots from Christmas:
Yancy with his new niece Amelia
Peppermint cake made by Magen and Emily

Up next: San Diego! Stay tuned.

cheers, patient reader

What better surprise after a busy December than homemade eggnog! Delicious. And made with freshly grated whole nutmeg! Mmm. Recipe here.




Maybe some homemade slippers to go with it? Mmm.



Moms.


Braxton enjoying a homemade remote-controlled gift (okay, not homemade; whatever).


Dave, Braxton, Magen, Amelia, Dave, Fran, Emily, Yancy


Mimi with Amelia.


Amelia, one more time.


Mimi with Braxton



How about homemade marshmallows?

Okay, fine: Braxton with his new sister Amelia:


Happy New Year!


PS, On a completely unrelated note, Tom Waits released a new album last month, and this adaptation of a Bukowski poem (now playing) is, for my money, beautiful. Please enjoy.