End of a long journey September 25, 2007
Posted by Jamieson Ridenhour in London, long projects, writing.add a comment
I spent this past weekend writing. Literally, I went in to the office and wrote for eight or nine hours Saturday and Sunday. The looming deadline for the London book was making me anxious, and I needed some uninterrupted time to work on the final chapter and the preface. I drank coffee and Pepsi, listened to sleazy jazz alternating with Flogging Molly and Bad Religion (with the occasional Elvis Costello) and typed.
The result? It’s finished. I have nothing else to write in the book. It all makes sense, seems fully fleshed out, and I hope strikes a stunning balance between scholarship and readability. I am extremely happy. When I did a final word count on Sunday afternoon and realized I had exceeded the publisher’s word count by quite a bit, I nearly danced.
Of course, the book isn’t quite ready to send off. I still have to organize the illustrations and make notes for captions. In one case I still have to secure the rights for reprinting one picture (and if the British Museum would reply to my email, that would be done). We also have to do the final maps–Gwyn will take care of those this week.
The main work, though, is done. I started working on this project in 2001, at the beginning of my Ph.D. program. In 2004 it was a completed dissertation, and I thought it was done at that point. The publishing contract resurrected it and forced me to expand it considerably, to the general improvement of the work and my arguments. And now, six years later, I’m done. I’m very proud of it, and very happy to work on something else.
And that something else beckons–I’ve already begun working on the Carmilla edition. It will not take as long. I promise.
Renaissance Faire September 22, 2007
Posted by Jamieson Ridenhour in Eva, Ian, Minneapolis.add a comment
We spent the weekend in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago, a combination tenth anniversary and Ian going to a Rush concert trip. In addition to that, we spent the Saturday at the Minnesota Renaissance Fair. I’ve been meaning to post some pictures, and have just discovered (I think) a way to embed slide shows into the blog. So here goes:
A Decade September 20, 2007
Posted by Jamieson Ridenhour in gwyn.add a comment
Today is my anniversary. Gwyn and I have been married ten years, and have never been happier–never even had a major fight. Ten years is not nearly long enough–I can’t express how lucky I am to know this remarkable woman.
I’m looking forward to the next ten years, and the next, and the next….
(she’s the one in the middle)Blind Mice in the Park September 19, 2007
Posted by Jamieson Ridenhour in Ian drumming, blind mice, music.add a comment
We played our first official gig as Blind Mice last Saturday, forty-five minutes at the new Custer Park stage in downtown Bismarck. Ian and I were ably supplemented by Aaron Dorrheim, who worked the saxophone like a madman. In spite of the inadequate set-up (apparently “sound system” means one mic and a four-channel board with five-foot cords), we had a blast and played fairly well. Aaron sounded amazing, and Ian was very impressive as well. We even played an encore, which was tough since we had played literally everything we knew for the show itself. We ended up doing Bob Dylan’s “On the Road Again,” a straight-forward 12-bar blues that allowed Aaron to wail on the sax and Ian to improv a drum solo. Overall, much too much fun. Here we are after the show. Note Ian’s album cover face.
But I haven’t had any luck uploading the video clips, either on YouTube or through Blogger’s new in-house video player. If I can figure out the problem, then I’ll post them here. They’re too big, and I believe there’s a way to shrink them, but at the moment I’m at the far end of my media manipulating abilities, on Blogger anyway.
It’s shame you can’t see the clips. We rock.
