While using it to help one of my cow-orkers discover the fate of a colony of bats in her hometown, Google led me to an interesting and amusing site called The Journal of Manly Arts. No, this is not a sex magazine; rather a collection of articles about “European and Colonial Combatives, 1776 – 1914”; the supposition there being that fighting (as opposed to dueling) became a Gentlemanly thing around the time of the American Revolution, and became, well, kind of beside the point once Europe began to eat itself 140 years later.

Most of what I read was not new to me. All of the arts – quarterstaffs, various forms of boxing, Savate , I have heard of, if not actually seen in person. There was one, however, which stopped me for a moment: purring . Two contestants stand facing one another and, not to overcomplicate things, kick the bajeezus out of each others’ shins. Last one to give up wins. Apparently this fine tradition was abandoned in the late 1800s, although it is still seen today in schoolyards throughout the country.

Oh: And should the opportunity arise, never get in a fight in pre-Revolutionary Virginia :

I would advise you when You do fight Not to act like Tygers and Bears as these Virginians do – Biting one anothers Lips and Noses off, and gowging one another – that is, thrusting out one anothers Eyes, and kicking one another on the Cods, to the Great damage of many a Poor Woman…

Something woke me up at around 4:00 this morning. I couldn’t get back to sleep so I got out of bed, worked out for an hour or so, then sat down to do a little work on version 2.1.0.4.6.9b of the Flash Photo Album application. This will be, I think, the fifth time in the past year that I have started to rebuild it. I won’t bother posting a date when it will be ready because, frankly, I just don’t know.

Last night after teaching the Kendall class (in which nobody cried) I stopped out to the local book merchant and picked up the new Neal Stephenson book, The System of the World. It looks quite beautiful on my bookshelf next to the first two volumes of the Baroque Cycle, Quicksilver and The Confusion . It was my intention to only pick up the one book but I stopped past the remainder tables and there, in their shiny hardcover glory, were Baudolino and The Collected What If? , which brings together What If? and What If?2. So much for saving money. So much for sleep.

Selah

People who have recently sent me spam:

Angleworms H. Admonishment
Contradistinction K. Luria
Legations P. Moderates
Dismays Q. Ava
Persecuting Q. Fought
Lugosi D. Teammates
Implicit T. Doorstepping
Reformed J. Industrialize
Vacuously S. Callously
Questionnaire K. Spaniel
Hick K. Parodying

Yep. That time of year, again.

Class starts in a week. Monday next will find me staring down the barrel of something over a dozen pairs of eyes, behind which will be brains capable of containing the sum total of all universes, just waiting to be filled with my wisdom.

Or beer.

The Class Pages have been updated to work with the content management system I use on the main site (i.e. this page). This will enable me to teach my class from the safety of my home, or the nearest bar with wireless access.

I have one more week of freedom, then four months of insanity.

O God.

On a more personal note, today is my Mother’s birthday. She is currently on vacation in the wilds of Canada, touring the Rocky Mountains ’round about Edmonton, in Alberta. Happy Birthday, Mom!1!!1!

On a less personal note, this is a picture of some blackberries:

Mmmmmmm…..blackberries….