Terve from Helsinki! There is just too much to tell you and show you all, but I can’t get the pictures from my camera online yet, so you’ll just have to wait. In short: the boat trip to the rock paintings was WONDERFUL! and the sights of Helsinki are many — there was even a…
Month: August 2006
Suomi Bound!
Off to Poughkeepsie for leg one of the long journey that will find me in Finland by tomorrow morning. Trying to make sure I have everything — tickets, money, passport… I packed an extra bag for all the things I hope to bring back (thanks to Cassie for tips on where to shop for cheap!)….
A Taxing History
The Guardian has a story today about the digitizing of the Domesday Book. This was the tax record of EVERYTHING (“not an ox or cow or swine” was missed) in Britain, so the Norman king could fill his coffers with the proper taxes. The aim, of course, was to have sufficient funds to go to…
Touching Ancient Finland
Sunday I leave for Finland. Sometimes I just have to say it out loud! Actually, I frequently say it out loud because I still can’t believe it. I have been working on a cycle of stories for a few years now that grew out of my readings in Finnish mythology, but I knew I had…
NYT Review of a new book on Tiptree
Janet Maslin’s review of new book on James Tiptree Jr. highights the troubled life rather than the seismic influence Sheldon/Tiptree had on perceptions of gender and writing, but is typical of “high lit” dismissal of “genre” writing. The book sounds good, if a bit humorless.
The Noughties
Hands down winner for the best title of this decade — from a Guardian story on the 50 year anniversary of the National Youth Theatre (good piece, too). The Noughties — an appropriate title for a time of corruption, evil and swaggering bullies.
Saratoga without the Horses
We escaped the heat a little yesterday by heading up to Saratoga to see our friends Dan, Krista and Kaitlin. In an unprecedented move, the track had shut down because of the heat, so there was less traffic in town due to the lack of (what locals call) “track trash.” It seems inevitable that a…
I Love the Internet
Reason 293,835,768: Skidoo (not the snowmobile!).
New York: Land of Red Tape
Okay, so we can’t get our insurance cleared until we produce our marriage license. Do we have one? No. We had to fill out the form and mail it to Mansfield with a copy of our driver’s licenses. And driver’s licenses! Can you believe all the requirements needed just to get a driver’s license?! Of…