Michael Livingston

Nov

30

I am Denver

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Via the incomparable Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog, I found the “Which Major US City Are You?” quiz. As I’ve noted elsewhere, I don’t really care for these quiz thingies too much — due to my over-analyzation of each possible question and answer — but this one had matched Mary with Portland, which is rather […]

Nov

28

Swamp Trekking

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The one-line email came last week. A simple, seemingly vague question:
Up for a walk in the woods with a Citadel legend?
The Citadel is a place of legends, you understand. It’s steeped in the ghosts of tradition and story and myth. Yet even so I knew at once what I was being asked […]

Nov

27

Bloody Head

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I replaced the blade on my razor late last night and completely forgot about the fact this morning as I stood in the shower, lathering up my globe and preparing to shave it. A few slashes later I found my hand red with blood after I utilized the surprisingly sharp edge to even out […]

Nov

26

His Dark Materials

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I’m not sure how it happened that I read the first book in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy — The Golden Compass — and never got around to reading the remainder, but somehow it was so. It’s not that I didn’t have the opportunity: I bought all three books several years ago and […]

Nov

18

Relaxing at Last

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I had no idea the weight of the Paraphrase. Sure, the book will be at least 700 pages long. It’ll be heavy. But the weight of it on my shoulders was apparently enormous. I’ve been in a relatively vegetative state since sending it out, which is rather uncharacteristic of me.
I’m crawling […]

Nov

13

Paraphrase Sent!

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‘Tis done.
At 9:05pm I hit the last “send” key in Gmail, emailing my formatted-for-print 700-page edition of The Middle English Metrical Paraphrase of the Old Testament off to Russell Peck and the other good folks of the Middle English Texts Series. I don’t suspect that I’ll start getting corrections until the new year, and […]

Nov

9

Former Student Fun

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I’ve had the pleasure of teaching quite a few students over the years. Hundreds, certainly. I don’t think I’m up to thousands yet, though that day will assuredly come. I’ve taught at three institutions, with students at all levels of experience: from wide-eyed freshmen to serious-minded PhD candidates to long-out-of-school retirees.
When I […]

Nov

5

Paraphrase Complete!

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As I was finishing up my first MA degree in 2001, I began looking at possible destinations where I might continue working towards my PhD. I wanted a good school, obviously, but I wanted a particular kind of good school. One that was relaxed, for certain: some schools are anxiety-driven, and I didn’t want that […]