I still lurk from time to time and lolaraincoat sez that lj might be deleting inactive accounts, so this account is no longer inactive. There.

Yes, I'm worried about the swine flu, not so much because of it's potential as a pandemic (which, of course, worries me), than the fact that it is already epidemic in the DF one of a short list of my homes away from home (wherever that is). So, I'm worried about my loved or just-kind-of-liked or not-actively-hated ones who live there, and more than a bit apprehensive about my plans to travel there in a few weeks. I have heard, variously, that no one is wearing surgical masks because they don't believe the epidemic is real, or that no one is wearing them because the stores ran out within hours. I'm not sure how effective they are anyway... and Mexico City is not the best venue for, er, controlling people, which is, of course, one of the things we so love about it.

But... I am vicariously proud to say that within hours, the following song was on the radio...



I also wonder how long before La Gripe Porcina becomes someone's nombre de batalla.

*Walks away slowly, whistling Mexico Lindo y Querido off key, and reflecting on how much less she tends to worry, generally, about "muriendo lejos de [el]" than muriendo cerquititita.*

I just saw a few photographs of me when I was between, say, 5 or 6 and 8 or 9. Somehow I hadn't been trained to smile for the camera, so I have the most amazing expression. It's an expression that is saying one of two things, either:
I am thinking very intently about something much more important than this photograph... or...

As soon as I'm old enough, I am so going to kick your ass.

I have students in my facebook. Students! So I have to be careful what I post there. So this is a few random, but incredibly important thoughts.

1. I have reflected upon a year's worth of information from the NYT science 'n' health section. It is clear that vitamin supplements are, at best, useless. At worst they are harmful. On the other hand, longevity and coherence seem to be clearly correlated with the consumption of dark beer, red wine, chocolate and coffee. As a belated New Year's resolution, I vow to increase my consumption of all four, but purely for my health. I am waiting for the evidence vis a vis tequila anejo and single malt scotch, although I plan to maintain or increase said consumption, just in case.

2. Today, for the first time in nearly a decade of teaching, I had a Catholic student (more than one, really) who knew what the doctrine of transubstantiation was. It's kind of tiring always having to explain to the various theists what it is, specifically, that they are supposed to believe. All in a day's work, I guess.

3. I read and was dutifully appalled by that thing about the PA judges taking bribes to send mischievious teenagers to juvie, like, a week ago, but didn't think to post it in LJ of anything. I'm claiming retroactive outraged post dibs.

4. I am a little bit jealous of my friend who does a combination of ethnography, archeology and intellectual history, who found a whole bunch of juicy gossip in an archive today. Many is the day that I wish I was a historian, because they get to be MUCH bigger gossips than we do.

5. I had an idea for an AAA panel for next year, but it's not in anything I want to write about. Do you, o flist member, know of anybody writing about Jerry Springer/Oprah type shows in, ya know, transnational perspective. I ask, because I heard a talk yesterday in which someone mentioned a Chinese TV show entitled something like "Because of you I am miserable." Between that and Laura en America, there has GOT to be a decent panel. No? New Guinea perhaps? Please? Oh god, I want there to be a PNG version of Laura en America.

6. Why did that incredibly cute chick from NYC at who listened to the open mic tonight, and came up to me afterward to talk about dance have to keep saying the word "husband" in reference to some man who was, apparently, living with her in some romantic fashion. Harrumph.

7. I've been invited to speak at Hahvahd. At the David Rockefeller Center. I feel sorely tempted to make tasteless remarks about the food. Please remind me not to, when the time comes.


ETA: Oops... that was Michael Rockefeller. Nevermind.

I had decided that I should dance more... So, I found I small, friendly, cheap weekly lesson in lindy hop and blues dance. Tonight the lesson was blues dance. Conclusion? Lindy hop is just plain fun. Blues dance would be really fun if you were partnered with someone you really liked. I mean really liked. In that way... because the closed position in blues dance is a lot like what, back in New England I believe we called dry humping. If you don't especially like your partner, it's a bit awkward.

It was a long, long bus ride home in the snow. But victorian Germantown translucent in the crystaline powder? Oh my god, I nearly wept.

I feel less then completely alienated. What a strange sensation.

Just askin'

Is anybody assigning anything new or especially cool that you can recommend me this semester? Anything undergraduate friendly in general, or on war or violence in particular?

I usually don't get those nightmares about the apocalypse... you know, the ones where the world is ending, and everybody is just waiting for the mass die off? Actually, I haven't remembered a dream in ages, but last night I had one of those apocalypse dreams, until it morphed into an almost worse dream in which Christian Nazis were using the apocalypse as a pretext for the assumption of dictatorial powers, so everybody was both waiting for the world to end, and waiting to be carted off to concentration camps in the meantime. Somehow there were rottweilers involved, but I don't remember which side they were on. Anyway, "our" side was beyond losing...we (whoever we were) were just waiting for the hammer to fall. I suppose it was like being on the losing side at the end of the "Left Behind" series, except, you know, without being a demonic minion as such. Not as such, no.

Could somebody get the thing out of my head, please? I still feel vaguely anxious.

I just got a review where somebody gave me the nicest compliment I can possibly imagine regarding my writing. To whit:

"But twotoedsloth has a singular ability to condense a story to its most basic facts and transform it into a kind of haiku."