Fade Profile picture
In a classics PhD. Researching & writing & dog-walking & playing video games. They/she/whatever. If I start talking about books, it's gonna be a long thread.
Apr 10, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
*stares into the distance in thoughts about Roman nostalgia about the Virtuous Citizen Farmer-Soldier Landowner (And His Slaves)* There's probably a paper to be written about the ways the Roman (late Republic/imperial) nostalgia for the Good Citizen-Farmer, who even ate dinner at the same table as his slaves (to show how modest and non-luxurious it was back then), overlaps with the modern...
Apr 9, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
Peejee, my rather old kitty, has still got that youthful flexibility that can make humans boggle. got her as a kitten around the very end of 2003, which makes her 17 and counting these days; I expect her birthday is somewhere around October.

She has terrible teeth, doesn't jump as well as she used to, and will follow my spouse around to demand attention alllll day.
Apr 9, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
In the shower this morning, worked out how to handle the stats & system for an interactive fiction story about doing dissertation research & then defending that thesis through interdimensional travel. Dreamily came up with rules for swapping your focus halfway through, requesting extensions, and building your committee. (Potential committee members have varying levels of rigor, available time, helpfulness, and different fields they specialize in.)
Apr 8, 2021 5 tweets 1 min read
Today's plan: grade a heck of a lot of essays, mostly about Caesar, occasionally about the Aeneid.

Alas, we're well out of the Republic in class now. It's all emperors all the time for the rest of the semester there. Dreamily testing out stat combos and a theoretical day of Journey rolls for the Ryuutama campaign, when I /should/ be grading.

Okay, I can poke at that every five essays graded. That seems fair. GRADING FORM ACTIVATE.
Apr 8, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
Y'know, I fully expected/hoped for results like "can focus on work" and "can make simple decisions without freezing up" from the new ADHD meds, but there turn out to be a lot of unexpected side-effects too. - better sleep schedule
- better eating schedule (because I still forget to eat lunch, but now follow through when the alarm reminds me about it)
- more exercise (since I can convince myself to get up and go somewhere)
- phone calls no longer anxiety-inducing
Nov 21, 2020 26 tweets 5 min read
I've been saying this in various replies, but might as well stop repeating and put it here, for my tiny audience of (let me check) 1086 people, of which I assume about 500 are bots.

So, Thanksgiving last year. In the ER. I woke up with abdominal pain. Thought it was unexpectedly untimely cramps, but it was relentless and horrible. I canceled plans to meet up with friends. Could barely take the dog to the patio. Friends online convinced me to go to the ER. (I took a rideshare.)
Nov 20, 2020 5 tweets 1 min read
It's a Nancy Drew day! Will any puzzle make us as angered as the pipe sauna one? I hope not! twitch.tv/djnrrd "Wait, the wolf brought us a geiger counter?"

"She's a good wolf brent."
Nov 19, 2020 10 tweets 2 min read
Have reached the point of this pandemic where I have serious ethical qualms about going home for winter break, despite quarantine & test & masks & everything else I can think of to make it safer. Hell. Okay. More or less canceled Christmas.

I mean, I am not canceling my flights until the last minute just in case SOMETHING somehow makes this safe, but the plan is now to not go home for winter break at all.
Nov 19, 2020 5 tweets 1 min read
God, do I feel up to watching the live stream for tonight's announcement? I'm not sure. Maybe if they spend at least 50% less time on talking up Minnesotan virtues before giving the facts. Okay, I'll watch it, but while playing Hades. I can pause whenever it's important.
Feb 6, 2020 40 tweets 5 min read
Oh gosh this chapter has a list of the primary areas of invective in the Roman tradition of oratory.

Yeah I am definitely going to list them for you. 1. servile heritage
2. barbarian (non-Roman) background
3. having a non-elite occupation
4. thievery
5. non-standard sexual behavior