Sybilla Oritur

I haven’t been driven to buy an academic book “just because” in a long, long time. It was supposed to be skimmed for a paper, but as i couldn’t put it down, i ended up having to ask for an extension. I can’t recommend it enough.
Imperial City: Rome, Romans and Napoleon, 1796-1815 focuses on the [...]

Is it a coincidence that people first started REALLY arguing about whether it was appropriate to compose speeches for historical characters even though they were manifestly not what was said but rather a rhetorical composition by the history-writer around the time of the printing press? The extent to which such creative writing was tolerated appears [...]

So, UofT, much like Concordia, continues to bombard my inbox with junk. Today i rec’d an invitation to vote for UofT as the Canadian school most worthy of international renown at the Globe Campus Poll. Guess who went and voted for McGill? Interestingly enough, Universite de Montreal is winning. I am sort of surprised. Hopkins, [...]

The songs that run through my pea-brain… yesterday it was The Big Comfy Couch themesong and today it’s obviously “If I Had a Million Dollars.” At least this time i can see a link between the incessant nattering and the news topics of the day.
Last Monday i walked up to the depanneur to buy a [...]

Yesterday was a rainy day in which i was supposed to be doing productive things. I blew off prior commitments and finished watching The West Wing as well as budgeted the upcoming Italy trip. A decision was made, with the help of Zach: i will be spending at least two days on the Amalfi Coast [...]

(noun) the process by which the surface of the earth is worn away by the action of water, glaciers, winds, waves, etc.
The Makhtesh Ramon, the world’s largest erosion crater, lies in the Negev desert. Fossils and unique geological phenomenon are contained within its perimeter. At 7:30am I stood at the lookout and peered back into [...]

As i read and listen about other people starting new careers (Vero and Shaun) or choosing new programs in school (Ilyusha), i’m feeling sort of like i am wasting my time. Arieh has suggested that i should be focused more on my upcoming globetrotting and i think he is right. I’m working on getting a [...]

Thursday night’s karaoke was fun-filled with general embarrassment, foiled attempts at stolen kisses, inappropriate touching and outrageous conversations. What is a good Montrealeaise if not the life of a party in a dull place like Toronto?
While standing outside smoking cigarillos (yum) we embarked down a road i was not prepared to philosophically ponder - Is [...]

Image by GNIKRJ via Flickr

It was recently proposed that the best way for Obama to win the white working-class vote would be to propose substituting income for race in affirmative action. I have been arguing for this for years… and no longer feel like a voice in the dark even IF i have never actually [...]

Greg summed up my current take on doctoral work very well in a discussion board post last week:
“And this is where I sort of freaked out because of the amount of energy that has been exerted by the historical project to bring us to the point where Husain writing in the 2000’s not only can, [...]