Kelly in Kansas

Just took Shadow on his walk - the sky was beautiful (I have to figure out the new digital camera - it would have been perfect). I also need to not go out without my binoculars or camera. Saw 5 deer in the northwest pasture (same spot as the coyote this morning) - one kept hopping around all over - they are white-tailed deer so I can see them hopping around even at dusk. The one closest to me just kept an eye on me and as we turned back north on the driveway, he just gradually went back into the timber. . . that's why I built this place - can't see that type of scenery if you aren't out here for blocks of time. . . . you should see all the tracks - even right around the house -- when there's snow on the ground (and we had more than usual last year)

mamamusings: academic chicaneryGrace Publications misusing Elizabeth Lawley's name well after she asked them to take it off - they put it up without permission in the first place. They are obviously not smart enough to understand the concept of 'googling' . . .

mamamusings: redirection solution mamamusings has moved to her own domain...no wonder I couldn't get in the other night at her old one. Well worth reading . . ..

Nathan: Projects: Taxonomy of Communications

Interesting way to "data-ize" something . . . .

CNN.com - Study: Kansas is flatter than pancake - Jul. 21, 2003: "While Kansas has some hilly parts, on an overall average it is quite level, the analysis showed. "

I'd better get back on top of blogging - I'm failing right now ;-}

Last Wednesday morning at the farm I saw 7 little turkeys - not quite the size of ducks. They didn't know how to get back into the woods since there is so much over so eventually they just flew up into the trees. I also saw one of my deer that morning.

I came back out to the farm yesterday and this morning saw a coyote over in the northwest field. He really craned his neck up to look at me and then you couldn't see him move as he went the other way. I spent two and a half hours working out doors on weeds and the &*(& squirrels have eaten an even larger piece out of the deck. They used the hardware cloth to their advantage. So we'll just keep trying to keep it weatherproofed and see how that works. Sheesh..........thought I was on top of that one. I did some weed trimming to - went by the road (the driveway is 1/4 mile long) and worked backwards. Didn't get a whole lot since I really tore up the string and plastic pieces that cut. Will work on that again tomorrow. But at least now I have plenty of gas.

Wasn't feeling good yesterday so I couldn't charge through and get as much work done. I didn't even feel like cooking dinner. And I had gone over to Mama C's in Thayer to stock up on good meat, even. Oh well, I'll feel better today and get some of it done and cooked.

I didn't realize I needed a canner for the pickle recipie but it says I can substitute a regular pan with a rack or towell at the bottom. I certainly don't want to give anyone botulism. I also want to try some peach freezer jam. I'm trying to add just a few things at time to my repetoire so I don't, as usual, overwhelm myself. We'll see.

Heard back from a colleague at the National Archives in KC - looks like we might be actually moving forward with some plans . . . the good news right now. I was honest with another potential hire (that would actually make me money) about my schedule and it worked against me - lesson learned! Most of my colleagues don't even begin to come close on deadlines and they must have assumed that if I was warning them I couldn't start until August, it would be even later. I need to keep repeating "spilled milk....." I couldn't share the goodnews about NARA with Greenbush yet -- too many on vacation. But it should all work - I just have to be patient.

Went with the family to Shellie's in Carthage for my birthday dinner. My parents are actually leaving on my birthday to see my relatives in KY and go to a family reunion in western PA so we did it early. If we don't do birthdays early, we never seem to get them in. I had the Shrimp Penne Pasta as usual - and it was wonderful! The next cooking class is there in a couple of weeks . ...... :}

I finished one part of the Houghton Mifflin project - didn't expect to - but it's a good thing. Boy, that phrase has taken on a whole new meaning in the last few months. The Greenbush server isn't quite ready for me to work with so I will have to try that again tomorrow.

I also worked on the weedeating and cleaned out the gutters - the
Stihl blower is just a bit more strenuous when you're trying to work over your head. I think I successfully evaded the poison ivy this time - I put on rubber gloves underneath the leather and put on some ivy block beforehand.

But I am going to have to work on the front porch - the storage room underneath it is leaking again - we thought we fixed that but heavy coats of weatherproofing every few months is not going to be fun.

The wasps are really coming out but have not rediscovered the covered deck yet, thank goodness.

I spent time this morning preparing a salad and scooping out a watermelon. I eat better food if I take time to do that - otherwise it sits unprepared in the refrigerator.

We had quite a storm last night - the dog was even scared. The driveway announcer didn't go off - it usually does from lightning - so I'll have to check that to see if the packrats have gotten to it again. I forgot to set the alarm and thought I heard voices outside in the middle of the storm so quickly got up and set it. Hopefully I was just hearing things - or the alarm man's voice scared them off. In either case, I will do better on that.

I need to relax a bit. I'll go back to town tomorrow and go by the farmer's market. Was going to try the one in Parsons today but didn't want to get "dressed for company" (makeup, etc.) so I just stayed here - I was also going great guns on my work and hated to stop right then anyway. I may actually get caught up.

Mom is thinking of going to the cooking classes withe me on the trip next month! Yeah!

The rest of the trip went great although researching at
U of Louisville was the highlight of the research. Visiting with family was fun and relaxing. My cousins have a 6 year old, 3/4 year old, and an 8-month old who is as big as 1 1/2 year old. My Aunt Sue is doing better than I expected despite her walker.

We stayed in Sikeston MO on the way home -
Drury Inn and their wireless internet access. We also apparently beat a pretty big storm home - so much for timing.

Today I checked on a new cell phone and a better long-distance/roaming plan for my cell phone - since my StarTac is several years old. I think I had been putting it off because my favorite salesman left. But I found another good salesman - who will also be taking a class from me in the fall - and ended up with
this.
Now I'll see how it works. :}

Back to my Houghton Mifflin and
Greenbush projects tomorrow.

I'm at the U of Louisville and had a great day researching
the Stryker papers. I just made it through one box of correspondence but it's been very interesting. Will be back all day tomorrow. I didn't realize there was so much involved in good photography. I've especially enjoyed reading Dorothea Lange's letters - first she wasn't getting expenses approved and then she's not doing any work because they aren't giving her money fast enough. Another photogrpaher doesn't stay in one place long enough for them to get letters or even telegrams to him. There is some interesting commentary on segregation in the South, too.

I"m off to a mall to find a Chik-Fil-A and to walk around a bit. I did quite a bit of driving yesterday. We started off in Paducah and then I dropped Judy off in Bowling Green and then headed north.

to research the Roy Stryker papers and then up to Bloomington to check out the U of Indiana.

Here's my class on Thursday: Mining a bit of local history

Editorial from the Wall Street Journal

Critical Mass has an excellent overview of Ravitch's latest work . . ..

This from (a)musings of a grad student:

New Directions in Historical Inquiry

Invisible Adjunct is surely not a "fuddy-duddy" for suggesting that a recent article in the American Historical Review advocating a "paradigm shift" towards disability history, was, um, a tad overdone. Catherine Kudlick claims in this article that "disability is so vast in its economic, social, political, cultural, religious, legal, philosophical, artistic, moral, and medical import that it can force historians to reconsider virtually every concept, every event, every 'given' we have taken for granted."

Now I am not saying that disability is unimportant, but I find it really difficult to believe that if I read a history of disability in early America it would completely change my historical outlook. Yes, I can see it now. I'll rename my dissertation and change its focus: "Religion, Race, and Disability in the seventeenth-century Chesapeake."

It's really sad that historians feel like they have to present every idea as the next new thing--the greatest contribution to history since last year's major paradigm shift. I think this is caused by the pressure to publish (and publish brilliantly and frequently). Thus what could have been an interesting article about the place of disability in history and a think piece on how we might reasonably use our understanding of it to shed light on social attitudes in the past became an overblown piece of hyperbole I just can't take seriously.

No wonder the general public doesn't read academic history. - great conclusion!

Even though I have been a blog slacker - (I blame grant writing at the present moment) - Scrappleface is as good as ever: note recent posts on the NEA. Our local NEA chapter thought that I was hired at too high a salary - which was only 1/2 of what the business part-time people were paid at the time - because I was a WOMAN!!!! : -}