As a proud union member my workload is strictly monitored and controlled. It’s going to shock you (not really) that I’m too far overwork load in this cycle. This means I’m going to have extra time this year to focus on research and writing. It is not a sabbatical, but it is a reset to get a better balance. I also get to some behind the scenes service projects and future focused work to support the incredibly leadership of my fellow classicist and blogger, Joel Christensen, Provost of the GC. It is a year of transition for me. One in which I get to think about the great ‘what next’ question.
I realized when I created that link to Joel’s blog why I chose the template for mine that I did. I was looking at a refresh to my website yesterday. I was tempted by the author landing page style rather than leading with the blog, but nah. No time for design stuff.
Flash Back!
In 2019 I was thinking about a quaestor who didn’t want to strike coins for Pompey but did anyway, leaving off his name only to be outed by the survival of a key Cicero letter. I last updated this post just two weeks ago.
In 2020 the pandemic was still in the first long grind and we were hopeful things were starting to open up again even without a vaccine. Twitter was my lifeline and I was smart enough to archive some of the conversations here because most have disappeared. On this day I was curious at the stylistic similarities between Parthenon horses and horses on early Roman coins.
Maybe I’ll do more of this retrospective this year. maybe not.
Stuff that Needs Attention
Travel Related
October
- Illinois presentation – rent car, slide deck
- Warsaw presentation – slide deck, figure out if I fit in Krakow too
- Invitation to China – follow up on logistics to assess feasibility and financials
December
- MuX experiment – buy plane tickets
January
- Warwick gig – figure out if the kids are coming
Publication Related
- Review goals and priorities, as well as approaches to writing
- Papius, Fabatus catalogue and write up – consider a pomodoro approach to limit research-astination (there has got to be a better neologism for this concept, perhaps in German?!)
- Social War Abstract and Bibliography
- Edits to Dio on Crassus article
- Edits to Mars article
- Engage with RRC 25 collaborative article
- Decide what to do with the recent draft pieces on Musa and Cicero’s Letters
- Get serious about book projects
- Say no to other new projects, unless grant related
Liv Mariah Yarrow 