I got the notecards from ITFF more than a decade ago and wish I’d thought of this sooner!

I keep walking down the hallway to read things aloud to my colleague because they're so great. YAY AMAZING STUDENTS YOU ROCK.

(Also, I've done the notecard thing for years but the idea to do the end of class reflection exercise came from Fiona Bell after I shared the notecard thing with her!)

The results are amazing! They're being so thoughtful about the kinds of questions they asked and how the evolved over the term, thanks to new information or just getting used to different kinds of readings. It's really, really wonderful. I have literally teared up twice from joy.

I am marking something and it is making me SO HAPPY with my wonderful students. I have them turn in index cards with questions about readings each week, and this year I gave them all their cards back, asked them to read through them, and then to write a reflection on their own reading practice.

This makes me think of an awesome 1941 article I stumbled upon about how much better paperbacks would be for reading in bed! (But I can also see how a hardcover really truly says I WROTE A BOOK.)
bsky.app/profile/prof...

Iconic sweaters Dale of Norway has made official sweaters for the Norwegian ski team for every Winter Olympics and World Ski Championships from 1956 to 2022.

I love so many things about this page, including the fact that the 80s lasted a very long time, apparently. I also want to know what was going on in 2017.
eu.daleofnorway.com/explore-dale...

I am writing a short piece about dacha-going and it taking so much will not to make a reference to Russians coming to the cottage.

Ugh. Completely unsurprising, but ugh.

This is WILD. So many things! Folk tales! 19th century literature! An explanation of Tarkovsky's films! Why trees have leaves!!

Андрей Тарковский : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

OMG. A filmstrip explaining Tarkovsky's films!! archive.org/details/Diaf...

Would really really really love to see the 2026 version of Miliukov standing up in the Duma and giving the “is this stupidity or is this treason” speech.

Ha, I got bougie which is maybe actually accurate but hurtful.

Photograph of a desk with a laptop computer, a water bottle, and two knitted chickens.

Emotional support chickens, ready for exam-weeks duty.

Ugh.

Sir James Harris, British envoy to St. Petersburg, in a letter back to London, May 24/June 4, 1779.

“On the other hand, to those who reside in this Empire, and who perceive the unaccountable and imperfect manner in which all their plans are traced, and the improper instruments selected for their execution, it must be a matter of astonishment that they do not fail in everything they undertake.”

“To those who live out of Russia, and who only can form their judgment of it from the great events its interference and weight everywhere produce, it must appear as if it was conducted with superior judgment, and defective in no one essential point of its government.”

“The lead this Court takes in all the great transactions of Europe; the successes which attend every part of its public conduct, and at the same time the supineness and insufficiency of its administration, are facts so seemingly incompatible that, in a future day, they must appear incredible.”

One of Catherine the Great’s grandsons, when aged about nine, asked this about someone: “Is he a real genuine Briton? Does he appear frightened when he enters a room where there is any company? Is he at a loss where to put his hat, when he is so polite as to take it off?” (Reported by Swinton.)

Great postdoc opportunity at University of Toronto! (It's super competitive but possible!) www.artsci.utoronto.ca/faculty-staf...

Now available (open access!): the article I might not have written had I not been department chair, on eighteenth century Russian rulers trying to stop people asking them for things. (Also on how autocracy works, should that be of current interest SIGH.)
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Lost Rivers YouTube video by Wychwood Clarinet Choir

My music group commissioned a piece by Beverley McKiver; she was inspired by the lost rivers of Toronto and wrote us a truly lovely piece: youtu.be/FcAnjaFS9Us?...

Excellent description of Cyrillic from a 19th century American traveler: "the letters are all drunk and run the wrong way, like lopsided crabs."

Whew, Belinsky when he realizes he can't actually find rationality in the world around him is too relatable:

"I am weary, cold, and empty. I have no hope of any personal happiness. Woe! Woe! Life is exposed."

There is still an awful lot of awful out there, but gosh I have enjoyed Chicago Pope day.

Amazing.

He then later shared the news report that Lavrov’s gift to the new president was going to be a lap dog.

Once again, I am reminded of the archive security guard who, in fall 2016, asked me who I was going to vote for. Before I could answer, he said “you’re probably going to say Clinton, but Trump would be better for Russia.”