Things you should know

I've run into all kinds of interesting tidbits of information when reading that book on 19th century Finnish families.

The author quoted some source that defined the ideal qualities in a wife. Among other things, a wife should have "good, big nipples".

I wonder what it is that makes nipples "good". And as if the size of them mattered in breastfeeding, or in other kinds of activities for that matter. Well, maybe it does. I'm not an expert on nipples and their various functions.

But what's truly puzzling about that quote is, how on earth did men know about the goodness and the size of women's nipples before marrying them?

I mean, did men ask women to flash them? Did women wear see-through clothing? Wet t-shirts, perhaps?

Hmmmmmmm.

Wake up and smell the...fruit?

I had a dream last night.

I came up with the perfect name for a baby girl: Bananina!

Ah, the creative potential of dreams.

Enough of it already

I've been thinking about something a certain nice Serbian girl asked me at the Helsinki conference.

She asked what linguistics mailing lists I'm on.

Erm, listS?!

I'm only subscribing Linguist List so far and I already feel bogged down by all the mail that I get.

It's mostly redundant. I find myself clicking delete delete delete oh that sounds interesting delete delete deletism to my heart's content* and then even more deletage!

It's annoying too, all these calls for papers to conferences I probably won't be able to visit. I need to figure out my financing before I start running all around the world. I need to dig too much out of my own pocket for the upcoming trip, even with my professor's kind assistance with getting a grant. Thankfully I know how to live hand to mouth.

Besides, the travelling aspect makes me uneasy. I hate it. Please someone develop a teleport right now!

In any case, I think I could aim for ICAME 29 next year. I found about it too late to send a paper this year. Of course they'll accept my draft next time, it's a given. Based on my hefty experience with conferences, they'll take anything they can get. (Hint: sarcasm in the air.)

By the way, ICAME 28 in 2007 took place in Stratford-upon-Avon! That would've been wonderful. The home town of the lowly actor who dared (or durst, since we're talking about ancient people here) to claim the works of the mighty Shakespeare as his own. Some nerve, huh!

Anyhow. I started looking for more interesting mailing lists. There's one about corpora that should be useful. Lately I've been thinking a lot about all these methodological issues related to them and it's very unnerving.

There seems to be no rhyme nor reason** to any of it among more experienced linguists, so I'm not too worried about it. You can always make up some ad hoc arguments for your choice of corpora if it comes to that. If your ethics so allow. But I don't mean to sound disillusioned or anything.

One list focuses on medieval texts. I'd like to find one specified in historical linguistics, but not that historical. Early modern English is as far as I'm willing to go.

* Originally used in Henry VI and The Merchant of Venice.

** As you like it.