Bunking in Coimbra

 I'll get caught up on the Portugal trip - both this one and the previous one, for that matter - down the road, although it might not happen until fall. I don't know why I'm posting this picture, but for some reason I found it interesting. This was the bed of  the Airbnb where I stayed in Coimbra. The woman I rented it from was, I think, the kindest person I've ever dealt with in my Airbnb experience. Of course, she was actually the only one that I've ever met in person. She went out of her way to meet me, get me settled, and spent a goodly amount of time waling me through the town on a map, including pointing out restaurants and shops. It was greatly appreciated. The space was very tiny, even by European standards. And at a certain point it reminded me of one of a pied-a-terre that you'd see referenced in a Milan Kundera novel, one of those little apartments whose soul purpose is to service affairs. Mainly, the space is a bed, with enough of a kitchen to make a post-coital cup of tea. Obviously, it made me feel quite sophisticated. Of course, it also gets out the question of how much space we actually need. Americans, as part of our slavish devotion to our own mythology, own way too much, which, obviously, comes to own you. I think if I were younger, and thus out and about more, that would just be about enough space for me.

2025 Readings 55

 As you know, I've been including Great Courses in this list, which, I would argue, is only mildly cheating. Earlier I had listened to Professor Elizabeth Vandiver's lecture series on the Iliad, and yesterday I finished her series on the Aeneid. Yes, part of this relates to my own writing project, but it's also just so lovely to listen to brilliant people discuss brilliant topics. One of the great flaws in Champlain's Core curriculum from the beginning has been the decision that we weren't going to lecture (or give tests, but that's a different problem). We had folks, usually ineffectual teachers in their own right, speak dismissively about the "sage on the stage," and instead we pushed for a more organic discussion with our students; creating knowledge, as compared to sharing it. On the one hand, I get it: teaching the students to think and interact with ideas and texts should be more valuable than simply filling an empty vessel. However, I think back when I more traditionally lectured, I didn't traditionally lecture. If we were discussing Islam I would pick out a couple passages from the Qur'an and we'd discuss what those texts told us about the faith. I don't think I ever just came in, turned on the tape in my head, and then turned it off when the bell rang. However, it was also a Ph.D. taking a leading role, as compared to simply facilitating a discussion, which is where we seem to have ended up (partially because our curriculum has been interdisciplinary and you were, by definition, almost never working within your own discipline). And, truthfully, there's only so far that a bunch of nineteen year old kid, talking mainly about how they "feel" about a subject, can take you. It's a sad state of affairs when you're a college professor and you're dying for some sort of intellectual encounter. This is probably why I'm turning more and more to writing. Do I really think that this book will get published? Maybe? Mainly, however, I think I enjoy love the process of learning and challenging myself.

Canadian Rockies

 OK, I'm busy working on my Shahnameh chapter this morning, so I don't have a lot of time to blog, but I'll steal a couple minutes. Expected a lot of pictures of mountains in the next few days. As much as I enjoyed going to the Elks and Stampeders games - and as much as I like both Edmonton and Calgary - the the memorable moments from the trip, not surprisingly, centered around driving up into the Canadian Rockies. It's like when you finally get to the Taj Mahal or the Hagia Sophia, and you know that it's going to be amazing, you just can't process how amazing it is. I knew we were going to slide up into the mountains, but that's a far cry from actually doing it. We had a free Sunday for exploring, mainly because we screwed up the scheduling when we reserved our plane flights (thank God for senior moments), so we had planned to drive up through Banff and on to the Continental Divide. However, we were barely outside of Calgary when we first saw the Rockies in the distance, and I just about had to pull over. Extraordinary and humbling, and, again, expect many more pictures.

I was driving, so, unfortunately, I don't think I enjoyed them as much as I would have if I could have just been a passenger (I was trying to check them out and not actually drive off the road). If I had been on my own I would have taken some of the little side roads to see where I would have ended up, and probably never made my flight.

2025 Readings 54

 Yesterday I finished a reread of Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend, which I hadn't read for a few years. It's the last novel he completed, before the unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Our Mutual Friend is quite good, although it certainly doesn't rank up there with the classics like Bleak House or David Copperfield. The end comes together awfully clumsily, even by Dickensian standards. There's a lot of social commentary, which we'd expected in a Dickens novel, but it's very pointed here; plus, it gave us the word Podsnappery (which probably alone justifies its writing). One of the things that always jumps out at me in reading Our Mutual Friend is the character of Mr. Riah, a remarkably kind and sympathetic Jewish character (it's believed that he was a makeup for Dickens's earlier characterization of Fagin in Oliver Twist). Highly recommended, naturally.

Elks Game and a Failed Selfie

 Here's a picture that I snapped during the Edmonton Elks game last week. I was trying to recapture the amazing selfie that Andy took last year at the Hamilton game, but, tragically, it didn't work out. At the exact moment I was trying to take the picture one of the Elks staff jettisoned a t-shirt up and just about conked me on the head. That, of course, I didn't mind, but it did mess up my artistic plans (this was actually the best of the series of chaotic shots, made even more chaotic by people rushing over to grab our missed swag; which is fine, because doubtless it would never had fit me). We saw a rouge, so it was a success.

The game itself was fun, although the Elks are pretty bad. Sadly, there were only about 14,000 people at the game (in a stadium that seats 55,000 - the largest in the CFL) for the opening game of the season. Hopefully the Elks turn it around.

Still, that's a pretty sweet Elks jersey. As we were walking out a fan stopped me and told me how much we loved the jersey.

 

G as Pessoa

 I snapped this picture on my recent Portugal trip (was that only three weeks ago?). It's a picture that I snapped at the Café Brasileiria in Lisbon. As I've noted way too many times, it was one of Fernando Pessoa's favorite places, and whenever I visit I happily sit there, eating his favorite meal. It's also next to the famous statue of Pessoa, where people (although clearly not literate people) stop to pose for pictures. This always leads me to say to Janet, "I bet never of them have even read The Book of Disquiet. Wankers!" This picture was on one of those table clothes that cartoonishly celebrate the neighborhood. To the right of the Pessoa statue is Pessoa himself, glancing back, clearly in disgust, at people mugging next to his statue (or maybe he's just amazed that he even has a statue).

Pessoa's look is not quite a disdainful as mine typically is.

2025 Readings 53

 Besides throwing my raincoat back into my suitcase, I also decided at the last minute to bring Yangsze Choo's novel The Fox Wife. That also turned out to be a wise addition. I ended up blowing through the almost four-hundred page book during the trip (and that included me spending time every day writing). So, it was obviously an entertaining novel. As I told Janet, I don't think the novel changed my life, but it's definitely one I enjoyed reading. It worked better as a story about fox spirits than it does as a detective novel (too many people show up on cue to give detailed information; at times it felt like an episode of Law & Order, where characters, almost comically (actually, completely comical) walk into scene to provide the information that is needed at that moment). Still, I'd definitely place it in the recommended category.