| Title |
Excerpt |
Author |
Date |
Total Comments |
Recent Comment |
| Bad book math |
[As Jonathan just posted on reading lists:] In an otherwise fluffy piece for the LA Times, staff writer Susan Salter Reynolds disturbs that deep river of anxiety felt by all readers at one time or another: that “so little time, so many books” anxiety that is at the bottom of the… |
Miriam Jones |
12/08/05 |
15 |
12/12/05 |
| Not much of a post |
but given our discussion here I did want to point toward two recent conversations about blogging and commenting culture, and gender: Rana at Frogs and Ravens draws some conclusions about the whole kerfuffle over at Dr. B’s, and Ron Silliman examines the gender split in his blogroll, post subjects, and commenters.… |
Miriam Jones |
11/26/05 |
2 |
11/27/05 |
| Lust for paper |
Inspired by Miriam Burnstein’s post, below, about collecting 19thc books: I don’t think we talk enough about our love of paper. Paper, bindings: the physical experience of holding books and touching paper. And the addictive nature of book collecting is almost as visceral. When I interviewed for my current job, I… |
Miriam Jones |
11/20/05 |
11 |
11/21/05 |
| So, is this a masculine space? |
Not completely, obviously. But the XX share of the collective burden and privilege of writing and commenting here at The Valve is being shouldered by relatively few. I count myself as more of a shirker, these days, than a shoulderer, btw. So, what about it? Are there women reading and lurking,… |
Miriam Jones |
11/17/05 |
134 |
11/30/05 |
| Gaining my religion |
Well, okay, that is overstating. Really overstating. Monkeys-are-nothing-to-be-ashamed-of overstating. Please don’t de-link me P.Z. Myers overstating. But my classes have been interesting lately, and in part because some of the students are bringing their religion with them. Let me back up. I am sure I am not the only teacher of… |
Miriam Jones |
10/19/05 |
9 |
02/20/10 |
| Teaching Carnival II |
On Sept. 1, GZombie initiated a Teaching Carnival; if you haven’t visited, do. For my sins, I have agreed to host the next one, on Oct. 15. Links to likely posts, either someone else’s or your own, are most welcome. Don’t be shy. Please pass on or post this invitation. And,… |
Miriam Jones |
10/04/05 |
4 |
10/05/05 |
| Higher Education for Multi-Taskers: A Online Discussion |
I was recently sent the following message, and thought it might be of interest: Higher Education for Multi-Taskers: A Online Discussion Hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education Wednesday, October 5, at 2 p.m., U.S. Eastern time The description of the event asks whether “Millennial” students need to be taught in… |
Miriam Jones |
10/04/05 |
0 |
|
| The 18thc Online: commonplace book or coffeehouse? |
Here are the notes for the paper I gave at NEASECS this past Saturday. The audience was a mixed group of 18thc scholars from various disciplines, mainly literary studies and history. Afterwards, someone asked about how we can judge the validity of internet sources, and that led to a lively discussion… |
Miriam Jones |
10/02/05 |
4 |
10/04/05 |
| The Canadian SF “Canon” and the Vexing Case of Margaret Atwood |
Anyone interested in Canadian literature, sf, or, particularly, Canadian sf, is no doubt aware of the periodic controversy that swells up whenever Margaret Atwood is accused of writing science fiction. Atwood is surely too well-read to believe her own statement that science fiction is about “intergalactic space travel, ... teleportation, [and]… |
Miriam Jones |
05/24/05 |
34 |
05/25/05 |
| On pens and ink and sealing wax |
[I think Conscientious Objector has some valid points (and he’s good-looking, to boot, to judge by the photo on his site). Anyway, some of his remarks, and a post by Kieran Healy at Crooked Timber, prompted this post. A blog post, not an essay or an article:] When I posted my… |
Miriam Jones |
05/13/05 |
11 |
05/16/05 |
| Going around the room: at the desk |
It’s been a little while, but I still feel we’re not best friends yet, so if you could just answer the following questions: 1. Do you compose on the computer? Why or why not? 2. Does carbon paper make you nostalgic? 3. Do you have a stationery and/or a pen fetish?… |
Miriam Jones |
04/26/05 |
24 |
08/19/06 |
| Does writing change anything? |
asks Salman Rushdie. The answer is yes: When a reader falls in love with a book, it leaves its essence inside him, like radioactive fallout in an arable field, and after that there are certain crops that will no longer grow in him, while other, stranger, more fantastic growths may occasionally… |
Miriam Jones |
04/25/05 |
9 |
04/26/05 |
| Our campus bookstore |
has been nominated for a Libris Award by the Canadian Bookseller’s Association in the category of “Campus Bookseller of the Year 2005.” They are up against some big players — the UofT bookstore, which has won often enough, from the looks of it, and the University of Western Ontario bookstore, which… |
Miriam Jones |
04/23/05 |
1 |
04/23/05 |
| N.B. |
In addition to the thread that swallowed Pittsburgh over at Crooked Timber, if you want more reading, Mel at In Favour of Thinking has a thoughtful post about the recent frothiness on this site, literary study and pleasure. (If you visit, play nice). |
Miriam Jones |
04/17/05 |
7 |
04/19/05 |
| But I know what I like |
I’m sure I’m not the only one to have become seriously irritated, at various points, with some of the discussions over the past several days. I’ve felt the urge to respond; I’ve felt the urge to do anything but; I’ve wished this was turning into a blog with more people who… |
Miriam Jones |
04/15/05 |
12 |
04/17/05 |
| Maybe we could arrange a play date |
Seen this? Sounds exciting. And talk about your zeitgeist, eh? |
Miriam Jones |
04/08/05 |
0 |
|
| Blogging and print publishing |
I had started to draft a post about the manifest wrong-headedness of the idea that engagé critics are only interested in literature instrumentally, but got sidetracked by an article in the April issue of Quill and Quire, “Canada’s Magazine of Book News and Reviews,” for which I was interviewed: “Better marketing… |
Miriam Jones |
04/07/05 |
4 |
04/09/05 |
