Thesaurus Writer

I spent this morning reviewing new submissions to Politics & Society and releasing them to our current de facto editor. I spent most of the day writing and recording a practice podcast--the past week in review, connecting personal details with external bodies of knowledge. I learned a few things. One, I need a boom to move the mic to me, rather than me moving to the mic. Two, talking for thirty minutes is tiring; it will be better to record short segments and take breaks in between. Three, I still feel like I'm doing too much work rather than letting the mic do the work. We had a surprise baby shower for my niece today, via Zoom. It was good to see everyone again. Studied French and Old English. Continued to memorize "Song of Myself." Went for a 30-minute walk this evening. I sent to the University of Chicago Press a brief review of a book proposal. The proposed book is on how to write an empirical economics paper. I like the proposal very much. My main recommendatio

I spent most of today playing around with my new microphone. I think I've already outgrown it. I'm not sure it provides enough volume. I also need to get comfortable talking into a microphone. Although I've done a lot of audio work, it's been of other people, not me. Went for a 25-minute walk today. It was warm. Talked to Rusty for an hour. The fatigue from work has finally caught up with him again. He smoked a beef tenderloin the other day. When I visit again, we're going to smoke a brisket. I received a lovely voice mail message from Georgia this morning. She was just sharing her morning. She was looking at Poplar Avenue and the lovely magnolia trees. Went to AR's tonight and played Jenga and Trambahn. Had pizza for dinner. Worked this morning on my guide to the econ PhD.

My new microphone, a Blue Yeti, arrived today. It instantly makes me sound professional.  I went for two 20-minute walks, studied Old English and French, and continued my efforts to memorize section 3 of "Song of Myself." A copy of James Thorpe's Literary Scholarship arrived today. It's a short book—one hundred pages. I read it this afternoon. I talked to my mom and dad. The house in Memphis is getting new floors soon. My poor dad's short-term memory, though: he must have asked me five times what I had been up to. And I answered him every time as if he had asked it for the first time. I heard from my friend TD in Minneapolis. He's fine. There's been protests in several cities over the death of a man by the Minneapolis police. Last night, an actual police precinct was set on fire. Tonight in Atlanta the building housing CNN was damaged. 

Twelve thirty am. For dinner tonight I sauteed several sweet peppers then served them with pasta. AR came over for dinner. We had vanilla ice cream for dessert. Went for two walks today, but only 30 minutes total. Spent the morning reading through a paper on the rationality principle by a client and made several cuts to it. Lunch was an arugula salad and two slices of bread. Still exploring ideas for a podcast. Listened to an episode of the podcast You Must Remember This . The host does a lot of research for each episode. Earlier in the day I listed to an episode of Ologies on decluttering and decluttered by tossing several magazines while listening to it. I love browsing through Emerson's journals.

I spent most of the day creating a sample episode for my planned podcast. The episode was on an article in Politics & Society on platform firms. I think the right format is under five minutes.  I went to Goodberry's tonight for a scoop of vanilla topped with malt powder.

It's May 26, but only 34 minutes into the day. I wrote a post for my Professorspeak blog on an article on sanctuary cities. I'm still planning a podcast. I browsed several podcasts tonight, including several under the imprimatur of Sage--nearly all were one or two issues long and then aborted. I continue to think the right format is one that goes right into the story. Too many podcasts spend too much time in the beginning with introductory remarks. And of course the sound is terrible. It's obvious that the podcasters were not using proper equipment. Seriously, a $100 microphone will make a world of difference. I went for a 30-minute walk today. I continued memorizing section 3 of "Song of Myself." Watched two episodes of Homeland (season 7). Went to AR's this evening. We sat on her deck.

We had a lovely thunderstorm early this afternoon. I went for a walk this morning. It was already feeling hot.  I spent part of the day sampling podcasts, looking for good models. I'm thinking that the podcast will be on articles in Politics & Society , with episodes every two weeks (so, two a month), and either just under 10 minutes or just under 5 minutes. Most podcasts I listened to today are simply too long--well over an hour per episode. And there's too much irrelevant chatter. The hosts are not as adorable or interesting as they think. Watched two episodes of Homeland . Continued memorizing section 3 of "Song of Myself." Studied French and Old English. Made cabbage for dinner.

I spent the day with AR. We drove to Pittsboro and had lunch at the Small Cafe, sitting outside under a grove of pecan trees. I had corned beef hash and two eggs; AR had an egg salad sandwich. When then drove to New Horizons, where I bought three pairs of shorts. New Horizons was tightly controlling things: allowing in only two or three customers at a time and requiring masks. Driving into Pittsboro from the east on 64, we passed two Confederate flags, both looking very new, on tall poles. We suspect they were put up to spite the town for removing the Confederate monument, because the last time we went to Pittsboro a few months ago, they were not there. On 751 we passed a house with a big Trump 2020 banner hanging in front.  We spent the rest of the day at AR's house. We watched an hourlong stand-up special by Patton Oswalt and played a game of Tranbahm. AR made grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. My two-pound bag of decaf Kicking Horse coffee beans arrived today. It's a dark

I started keeping a food diary today. I am keeping it because I have read that it helps you better watch what you eat. And I need to do that. I weigh more than I ever have. I have to eat less. It's that simple. I have to learn to tolerate a little hunger. I read from Camus's L'Etranger tonight and ordered a used copy. Studied French and Old English. Read the poems in the latest New Yorker : "In Quarantine, I Reflect on the Death of Ophelia," by Elisa Gonzalez, and "Property," by Nick Laird. Read some of the essays, along with some essays in the new New York Review of Books , which arrived today. I made beer biscuits today: self-rising flour and beer. I also made a black-eyed pea salad, which I had for lunch. Dinner was a leftover baked chicken quarter. Making progress memorizing section 3 of "Song of Myself." The Great American Novel is no novel but a poem called "Song of Myself."

Wrote a post for my Professorspeak blog on minimum wages in Indonesia. Went for a 30-minute walk in the mist. Read poetry—poems in the latest Kenyon Review . Studied French and Old English. Fried a chicken quarter. I needed more oil in the pan, for the chicken was undercooked. I needed a little more oil to slosh up the sides of the chicken. I ate most of it anyway. And I used the occasion as material for the opening of my cookbook and the first recipe in the book: Practice Fried Chicken. Talked to AR tonight. She's working on a 1,000-piece Edward Gorey puzzle. Finished season 3 of Ozark . I now need a new show. Started following Arizona and New Mexico accounts on Instagram. Will try to go to bed early tonight. I've been staying up until 1:00, 1:30 lately.

It's been raining here all day. I like it. I spent most of the day scouring the web for videos and similar items on the history of economics. A pleasant surprise: I came across an hourlong documentary on Keynes by Mark Blaug. There's not a whole lot on the history of economics, and much of what's there is not seriously historically informed. Lots of amateurish videos, lots of biased accounts, lots of the Keynes-in-three-minutes variety. I have started memorizing section 3 of "Song of Myself." Studied French and Old English.

I wrote a post for my Professorspeak blog on a P&S article on the Chaco Forest in Argentina. Once again, it is not until I try to write about an article that I start to notice where it is obscure. This time it was the authors' approach, which they call "multilayered." But what exactly are the layers? The best I could see, they were the various interested parties who were involved in designing and implementing a law. I read from Bateson's Scholar-Critic tonight. In his chapter on style, he cites Katherine Mansfield's "The Fly" as the best short short-story we have. He quoted the second half of the story--only about 1,000 words. In the story, a man keeps dropping ink onto a fly, which is itself on a piece of blotting paper. That got me wondering: just what is blotting paper? By the time I found out, I was reminded of how, as a lefthander, I am left out of the whole world of fountain pens. But maybe not. There are, as it turns out, videos on tips for

A recipe sent to AR: Here's how I made the chili.  The recipe can be easily halved, if desired. In a big pot, brown 2 to 2 1/4 pounds of ground beef (I used 93% fat ground beef, but 85-15 or 80-20 would be good--perhaps better--too). There's no need to brown it in oil or anything like that (the beef will yield its own oil). I just dropped the ground beef into a cold pot and turned the heat on medium high. Once you start hearing the sound of the beef cooking, break it up with a wooden spoon and cook, stirring often, until brown--maybe 8 to 10 minutes? (Optional: If you are an experienced cook, brown it good. That is, keep cooking it after it first browns and until the excess moisture evaporates and the beef starts to stick to the bottom of the pot, then add a little water [a couple of tablespoons or so] and scrape up the brown stuff that's sticking on the bottom. Keep cooking and adding a little water and scraping and stirring until you risk burning it but without actually b

After spending all of yesterday in a Zoom board meeting, I loafed today, studying French and Old English and reading F. W. Bateson's The Scholar-Critic . I started memorizing Hardy's poem "Snow in the Suburbs," a charming poem with lumps and sparrows and webfoots and lost snowflakes. Last night I went to JB's house for dinner. We of course kept our social distance, but it was so wonderful to be with friends again. The beautiful LA was there too. I went to the grocery store tonight and found, for the first time in almost two months, toilet paper on the shelf: three 24-roll packs were left. I calmly took one. I also bought potatoes--I was craving potatoes for dinner--and cooked them tonight. I went to write the word charming in my journal and wrote charmant instead. French is entering my subconscious mind.

Not too much to do for work today. I went for two walks, totaling almost an hour.  I talked to my friend JF tonight. Began memorizing Hardy's "Darkling Thrush." Studied Old English and French. Watched three episodes of Ozark .

Spent most of the day reviewing the papers that will be discussed at Friday's P&S board meeting. Met my barbecue group at a park in Chapel Hill today for lunch. We stood in the parking lot and kept our social distance. The park itself was closed, but the parking lot was not. Watched two episodes of Ozark . Studied French and Old English. Listened to another 600 or so lines of Beowulf in Old English. Went for an hour-long walk this afternoon. Read the poems in the new New Yorker and a review of a collection of poems by Wanda Coleman, whom I had never heard of before. The reviewer, Dan Chiasson, I adore--I wish I could write about poetry like he does. 

I spent today going through the HOPE Center website, fixing broken links, adding links, deleting links, updating pages. Took a 40-minute walk around East Campus in the afternoon. There was a solitary sign pointing people in one direction--the virus is harder to spread if everyone is walking in the same direction. Studied French and Old English. Listened to 300 or so lines of Beowulf in Old English and followed along in the text. I'm now up to line 900 or so--almost a third of the way through the poem. It's very pleasing to see words that I've learned. I wrote a post about a Politics & Society article on peasant resistance during the 1959–61 Chinese famine. Speaking of P&S , our board meeting is on Friday. I created a schedule (assigning times to each paper) and sent it to the board. Read a couple of columns in Le Monde . I spent the evening with AR. We ordered Chinese food from China Palace and watched two early episodes of Star Trek while we ate. I had an eggpla

My little French press that AR gave me has changed my life. I also for once can tell the difference between a dark roast regular coffee and a decaf, and I have to say decaf really tastes far inferior.  I made biscuits tonight using self-rising flour for the first time. I didn't have high hopes, but the flavor was very good--just as good as when I add my own baking powder and so forth. I spent most of the day monitoring the P&S website for papers that need to be prepped for the board meeting. This morning I interviewed an incoming fellow via Skype and then had a Skype call with a recent fellow, MVF. She is in Rotterdam and has been having a hard time adjusting. As I told her, she picked a tough time to move and start a new job, with the virus shutting so much down. I went to the grocery store today (two of them, in fact) and felt that I had a harder time keeping six feet from other people. I think people are really starting to relax. And then I see that Wuhan, where it all start

I didn't wake up until 10:30 this morning. This life of working from home has shifted my sleep schedule.  I studied French and Old English. I finished editing a paper on a German economist named Wilhelm Krelle. I went for the same long walk today that I went on yesterday, including the five flights of stairs in the parking garage. There were two or three groups of graduates and their families here and there taking pictures. It's a shame: today would have been fabulous weather for graduation. I finished season 1 of Ozark . Lunch was leftover pizza. Dinner was yogurt and fruit. Later in the evening I had a bowl of oatmeal. Today was Mother's Day. I talked to my mom. She is planning to replace the carpet in the house with wood and to replace the black countertop in the kitchen. She can't stand the color. Talked to my dad too. I had to remind him three times that today was Mother's Day. I did some work for Politics & Society too: prepped a paper for circulation and

A chilly but sunny morning. I went for a long walk, much of it into a stiff wind. I had to put on a light jacket. And we're a week into May! As I walked I kept referring to some index cards on which I had written the first few lines of Beowulf , in Old English. My cousin JH called. Her mother died yesterday. JH was with her, in the hospital. She said that her mother was fighting going. A nurse suggested that my cousin tell her that if she sees her husband beckoning to her, it's ok to join him. She told her mother that, and then she didn't seem to fight as much anymore. I watched a couple of episodes of Ozark and then took a nap. I then ordered a pizza to be delivered to AR's, and I went there for dinner and to play a game of Tram Bahn. Studied French and Old English.

I'm writing this at 12:15 am. Woke up shortly before 9 am. Went to Guglhupf for coffee and a croissant. I also bought a loaf of rustic white, a loaf of pumpkin seed cheddar, and some day-old rolls.  Spent most of this morning proofreading a paper for Politics & Society on China's dual pension program. I also began editing a paper on a German economist named Krelle and his mechanical model of the economy. Two walks today: a 20-minute walk and then a 25-minute walk. Studied French and Old English. Read from Donaldson's Beowulf and skimmed many of the critical essays in the volume. Watched the first episode of Ozark . I've decided I need a change from Homeland . Dinner was bucatini tossed with olive oil and parmesan cheese. I mixed in some green peas too. Talked to my friend JB tonight. He's doing ok--he and his wife are still working.

I'm writing this at nearly 1:00 am, so it is the seventh but I think of this as my entry for the sixth. I went for two twenty-minute walks today, studied Old English (mostly vocabulary), listened to Beowulf read in Old English (the first hundred lines or so), watched four (yes, four) episodes of Homeland , and read from Donaldson's translation of Beowulf . I prepped papers for the board meeting.  The new New Yorker arrived today. I read essays on Lorraine Hansberry and on Kierkegaard. And of course the poems. I always read the poems. I didn't read the essay on the Greenwich Republicans because, well, because I already know what it is going to say. I don't need another reminder that our great American age (if there ever was one) is ending. No cooking today. Lunch was leftover pinto beans and chicken. I had a salted caramel donut for breakfast.

Read this evening a couple of essays in the new New Yorker and the two poems. One of the essays discussed how our health care system was unprepared for the novel coronavirus. It compared our system's response to the response in Japan to a fire that suddenly shut down a major factory. In a matter of days, other factories had been refitted to pick up the slack. It's easy to make those comparisons. But Japan is a lot smaller. I wonder what it feels like to live in a country the size of Tennessee? The other was a review of the new biography of Frank Ramsey. I liked the poems. I spent most of the day at AR's. I picked up lunch from Randy's--an Italian (no mayo, thank you very much) for me, and a chicken Philly for AR. I spent most of the afternoon writing a blog post about a P&S article on property rights in medieval Egypt. It's not until you start trying to put an article in plain English that you notice where it's unclear. I tinkered quite a bit with the post

Finished paging through Peter Hunter Blair's history of England. My copy of Frank Stenton's Anglo Saxon History arrived today. I paged through the first 80 pages or so of that. Studied French and Old English. Went for a 30-minute walk to campus and back. Watched two episodes of Homeland . I found myself craving Hostess cupcakes, so I went to the grocery and bought a box, along with a whole cooked chicken, two cans of evaporated milk, a half gallon of whole milk, a bag of tangerines, and cashews. Read from Heaney's and Donaldson's translations of Beowulf . Fine-tuned my review of Wasserman's book on the Austrians. Made minor revisions to my guide to the econ PhD.

A gorgeous morning. Went to Early Bird Donuts for coffee and donuts. They had already sold out of all donuts except the holes. So I bought a half dozen of those. Recited several poems this morning--the loose group ("To a Waterfowl," "I carry your heart," "London," "Skunk Hour," et al.). Studied French. I kept thinking about my dad's copy of the major authors edition of the Norton Anthology of English Literature , the edition with the thumbnail pictures of the authors. How that and the World Book Encyclopedia were so important to my education and to my intellectual development. Finished rereading Donaldson's Beowulf . I like his translation more than the Clark Hall. Read also from Kirtland's translation (c. 1914) and Kemble's 1837 translation. Made of pot of pinto beans. Did two loads of laundry. Spent an hour or so sitting on AR's deck while reading the poems in the latest Southern Review . Visited with my friends

OK--missed another day. Oh well. I spent a good part of yesterday and the day before working on my review of Janek Wasserman's Marginal Revolutionaries: How Austrian Economists Fought the Battle of Ideas (Yale University Press, 2019). I was motivated to resume work on the review when I opened the latest New York Review of Books and saw that Janek's book is reviewed in the issue. That's major press for a book like this--an academic book published by a university press. I think I'm finally happy with my review (I started writing it about a month ago). Last night, AR came over and we splurged on takeout. We ordered from JuJu the following: pork ribs cauliflower curry mushroom soup General Tso's chicken pork belly dumplings pork and shrimp dumplings bing bread Total, with tip: $95.38--and worth every penny. Went for a 2-mile jog yesterday. Studied French. Read half of Peter Hunter Blair's history of England. Read from Donaldson's Beowulf . Dinn