We all have our ways of coping with despair: one of mine is learning something new. You may not be too surprised to learnt that my lovely theremins have led me to the ‘rabbit hole’ that is synths in general and perhaps most dauntingly, modular synths in particular. I have become a knob twiddler. It’s…
Tag: teaching
Highsmith @ 100: Ripley
TOM RIPLEY: MASTER CRIMINAL? I know I have forgotten to keep up with posting the assignments for my students, but if you want to read along, here’s the intro text for this week: I’m always amazed at the back cover copy of different editions of this book. I’ve got this edition with me. It refers…
Highsmith @ 100: The Course
The fall semester begins today. My courses are still all online. I have changed the Crime Fiction course to be all Highsmith, because obviously being busy already means nothing. I’m resisting overloading them with biographical information at the start, instead planning to parcel it out as they make their own discoveries, though I gave them…
New Semester & Academic Mystery
I am back in New York and the new semester has begun: allow me a little time to acclimatise and then I will catch up on recent adventures (WorldCon of course, but also Brigit Riley and Leonora Carrington!) In related news, Fox Spirit Books has a new academic-themed cozy mystery, Hire Idiots. It may suit your…
Coming Up: Divine Write & We The Humanities
Beginning of the semester is always busy and this one is no exception. Things coming up where you might run into me — apart from as always the productive Write 4 a Day sessions — include the 2nd Sunday @ 2 reading in Troy, as well as two new events. Divine Write is a new…
Not Quite Radio Silence
I know I haven’t blogged since I arrived stateside but really, it’s been like this lovely Buster Keaton gif. At the moment I’m midway through the first day of classes. Film Noir this afternoon! Then a department meeting. Next month I’m house-sitting out in Brigadoon where there’s no WiFi. Gulp! I expect I might get…
Summoned! And then Dismissed…
This is my Thursday: called in for a grand jury. We shall see how it goes. I am of course prepared from popular culture so I will rail about Magna Carta dying in vain, talk knowledgeably about my ‘lawyer acquaintance downtown’ and declare that you can’t handle the truth or that the whole damn system…
A New York State of Mind
I’m busy painting today so I will make this quick: I’ve put up a public album on Facebook of the house in progress. So much greenery has popped up this summer it looks lush. Yes, a lot of it is weeds, but pretty weeds. The semester started with a bang and an almost 12 hour…
Writer Wednesday: After the Marathon
I’m heading down to London today for the first of two conferences with my pal Debi. It signals the end of my sabbatical and all the writing it has engendered. More importantly, it means I have to leave Dundee and those I love here, but I’m going to stick to talking about writing here (if…
K. A. Laity 