k.'s one claim to coolness

o.k. so i know most of you don't give a rat's bum but i so like to brag about my safi connection. these pics are from the new lab the team and the collection moved into about a year ago...the guy in a dark shirt with a kippah on his head is aren m., the director, the other guy is semour gitin, and the lady is trude dothan (if you don't know them don't worry, if you do...pretty groovy, eh?) yes, i know it is not *my* lab but i can't help myself, i'm so proud of it, *snif, snif, snif*...














this of course is joe on the right showing off his LB material

all the photos are from the new safi blog, maintained mostly by joe, with some input from aren

portrait of the father as a young man

it's also my dad's birthday today. many happy returns dad! he's 57.
the pic above was taken, i think, on one of his hiking trips. no idea whether my mother was with him already. maybe not, cause he looks kinda sad;-) the cig is totaly for show (that's what she says now, anyway)

for m.g. and the rest of the fan club

back by popular demand, jacob c., the belle of my family.
enjoy ladies, and try not to drool on your keyboards...computers don't like aquatic environments.

you're welcome,
k.

blah

anyway, lately i've been thinking that the only thing that's been geting me out of bed is 'its excellency the looming thesis' also known as 'the chip on k's shoulder'.

everybody else seemed to be victims of their apala conference papers/presentations today...cara didn't even turn any noise on.
me? i had fun calculating the relationships between the percentages of human remains, vessels and small finds in each of the levels in Tomb 1...if only i knew how many imports in each as well. i bet it makes perfect sense to you, eh? eh?

nisse gave me a drawing of alice and the caterpillar (a copy of one from 1904).
chris m. gave me a ring from atlanta to gloat about how much he loves his new job.

oh and if you haven't heard already, meagan has joined the blogging community;-) m. check out boris akunin's detective novels (tzarist russia).


k.

sisters are a controversial choice

bookbar

now that's what i call inventive recycling! apparently these were discarded books from the stanford library...you all know what i think about ppl who throw away books, so i won't rant here.
k.

new love

i'm in love with hayao miyazaki films. i've seen several in the last few weeks thanks to the tcm channel and they've now joined other dvds and books on my very long wish list;-) i always forget i'm watching an animation and just sit there with my mouth open!
the one on top is from 'porco rosso', a huge favourite, not in the least due to miyazaki's love of old planes (which i share). and i don't know of anyone else who could make a flying pig believable.
i've seen 'spirited away' and 'pricess minonoke' before i knew anything about studio ghibli and loved them but i think i like the 1980s films the best. if i could only get my hands on the storyboards...apparently they publish them in japan as comic books.
this one is from 'my neighbour totoro', which is more a children's movie. but extremely charming and not corny at all. and as always there are strong female characters and concern for the evironment. i think it's set in the 30s, judging by adults' hairstyles. and the little girls' father is an archaeologist!

miyazaki-san just turned 65 this month. hope he lives to a 130 and keeps making movies to his last breath!

k.

make me happy

o.k. so you know how when you go to comment there are 3 options there: a) blogger b) other c) anonymous?
well, how about you start commenting as 'other'. that way you don't have to have a password and i get to know who's commenting here...
sounds like a good deal, hah?
i think so too.
thanks!
k.

mr. k.

book travel

Beauty and the Book

this is the exhibition i visited last summer when in jerusalem...the link will take you to a virtual tour.
i wanted to live in there.

reread this afternoon

in a man's life

In a man's life

the first temple is detroyed and the second temple is destroyed

and he must stay in his life,
not like the people that went into exile
far away,
and not like God,
who simply rose to higher regions.


In a man's life
he resurrects the dead in a dream
and in a second dream he buries them.

-- Yehuda Amichai

(some consider him the greatest poet in hebrew lit.)

Princess Royal Patricia D'Nisse

so yesterday opened what is to be a birthday week for nisse. lots of ppl showed up. unfortunately none of them had a camera. so this is from ages ago when she still had rapunzel hair.

today

there was a prof. lecturing in the classroom next to the library who sounded just like jim carey doing stefano, the scientist in 'lemony snicket's the series of unfortunate events' !!!
that must be where jim got his inspiration...
k.

that beatrix

another day in the lab

today cara played with her bones and the microscope...

while k. played with the camera...she's addicted to that thing

cara's scape goat, scapie, looked on with a sardonic yet kindly eye...check out her swanky new scarf!

rocky I-V

cara decorated my paperweights when i wasn't looking...she called them 'a gender neutral family unit'

ps. in case anyone's wondering, we did get work done today.

the others

finaly, solid proof archaeology building IS haunted...

aah, nothing like pop culture

found this in 'the guardian'...more to come!

right now

insomnia has me in its grasp yet again...
too much gin? too much honest conversation?
three weeks of holiday break and i'm rather shellshocked after the first outing of the new year. nisse, cara, talina and i, the slightly shabby familiarity of alexander's on friday night...
there is always an awkward kind of dance people perform after they haven't spoken to each other on things that matter for a longer period of time. close friends, in particular, try to balance on the edge between decorum and plain old truth. strange how the more you care about someone the more that edge resembles a razor.

anyway, i'm writing nonsense, as usual at this time of night.
hope you are sound asleep right now.
k.

new quarters!

i did something today i should've done a long time ago. i went to the head of the arch. dept. and asked for better lab space.
guess what he said.
"o.k."
?!
ha!
those of you who know him will know what i'm getting at here. those who don't, well, it's too much explaining.

so, cara and i are now labmates (though i still have to get the key). she's been putting up a brave face all day today...we'll see how soon she'll go begg ernesto to kick me out.

first thing i did was to move mr. vedder here off my desk and put him somewhere where he can't glare at me (i wonder which crazed star wars fanatic left him behind and what happened to him/her as punishment).

hey nisse, wanna adopt him? i believe he's house broken.

new toy, sort of

Picks&Playthings:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/96534586@N00/

i've opened a flickr account and put some stuff in it.
but it'll take me a while to make it interesting, with loads of images and art...
i'm slow, what can i say.
but at least you know about it now, and so you can check once in a blue moon when you're really bored;-)
k.

i've just watched 'my life without me'...the next person who tells me that we don't make fucking amazing films in this country will get a slap the size of the rockies.

thanks nisse for recommending it!

7 and 6

here's my kerem berem lighting the hannukah candles (7th) on new year's eve (06)...she's getting so big, and lovelier every day.
c., notice the huge new kitchen;-)

what you always wanted to know about hanukkah but were afraid to ask

note the author!

ps. thanks to chris m. for sending me the cutout.

ghost of xmas past

for some reason my maternal grandmother is always in my thoughts on xmas, and other holidays. you'll laugh but i swear i could feel her presence all afternoon and evening today.
this is weird because i don't believe in that kind of stuff.

here she is feeding a duck. she liked animals of all sorts, she called them 'bugs', regardless of the animal's species;-)
the other photo is of her in her early twenties (i think).

snuffsnuff and i have been doing what we each do best, me: working, eating, reading peanuts comics, him: being a cat, listening to cbc (favourite carol: 'santa luccia), having his tummy rubbed, trying to prevent me from reading peanuts so i can attend to his ears as well

family called once already, they will call again tonight.

WESOLYCH $WIAT, F.!
WESOLYCH $WIAT, F.!
WESOLYCH $WIAT, F.!

happy hols, dearies!

"christmas time is here...snowflakes in the air...lalalalalalalalalalalalal..."

just got back....it's beatiful outside, not too cold, kind of misty, yet starry...perfect setting for coming home, back from seeing 'chronicles of narnia. the lion, the witch and the wardrobe'.

i'm going to say only one thing about the film for now (as most of you probably haven't seen it yet), mr. tumnus stole the show, in my opinion.
mr. baggins can go stuff himself!
fauns rock!

to expand on jer's post's theme of today, here's my own xmas pick from last yr...
this is my sibling unit, jacob, proving he's also smart.

happy solstice!

that's it for today

more germanic fun!

this is sick! these two wee fellows are max and moritz, i used to read about their unhappy adventures as a child. my granddad gave me the book. i seem to remember him reciting willhelm busch's story from memory, in the original german...i think he learned it as a child also!

thanks to mr. pig for the link;-D

http://www.fln.vcu.edu/struwwel/petereng.html

but my favourite is e.t. hoffman, who also wrote 'the nutckracker'.

have you been naughty?

check out this site...

www.phobe.com/struw

i think i've mentioned one of these stories, 'conrad and his thumbs' to some of you...i've been looking for second hand copies forever now...
what a way to prepare your child for santa's coming.

those veggie lovers

went to student health today...while waiting (half hr, though i had an appointment) i noticed the "brochure wall". there, right between booklets on "safer sex? use condoms!" and "safer oral sex" and "wink, wink, what's in your drink" was the "tips for vegetarians at the u of s" one...
love the context.

for meagan

there's so much xmas music everywhere that i've started playing with this cupid here, who's not an angel at all. he's roman and thus sleeps noel away...people kept bugging him about his lack of holiday spirit...

ps. photo by c.e. dunn, art by k.

i had this kind of tour planned for natalie. didn't work out.

i should rename this blog 'insomniac's end' or something equally fitting.
if only sleep disorder translated into inspiration...
everybody would gain. trust me on that one.

can i recommend 'everything is illuminated'? not a bad film. not bad at all.

she's here!
took me no time at all, thanks to carrie's and nise's helpful bus hints, to get downtown. we even took a bus back!
of course, they lost a piece of her luggage. it's becoming a tradition, or smth.
and of course it was the one that had my xmas present from my mom in it!!! fuckity, fuck, fuck.

first thing n. said after getting off the bus on cumberland and 14th: "i like saskatoon. it's just the right kind of small".
;-))))))
i think i'm gonna bring her to school with me today...

holy penguins and lemmings!
i actually finished my xmas shopping for la familia! and it's only the second trip!
wow.
i've had so much fun i can't sleep now.
well, it could also be the awareness of having to get up at 5:30am and go pick up natalie from the bus depot.
oh!!! fuckshit!!! burned my tongue just now on the hot camomile tea...
o.k. maybe i should go back to bed?
i take it you agree with me, no?
see you....er...today.
k.

ontarian oliphants

i know, it's corny, but i couldn't help myself;-)))

adventures in retail

first attempt at christmas shopping...
i actually managed to find something, though not what i was looking for, obviously.
i don't know if it's cause it is tuesday, or maybe cause it's only dec. 6th, but i haven't noticed any scenes of desperation or pandemonium...
one complaint, however, THERE ARE NO PENGUINS IN THIS CITY, to buy or steal.

second attempt planned for thursday afternoon.
wish me luck.

elegantly wasted

all i can say is that i had fun, got smashed and can't remember a thing i said. so don't come bringing issues to me.
the white frock was much more comfortable than expected, even despite its attempts at revealment.
new fiona apple on the reels right now. goes well with my 'drunk's guilt'.
i have a sneaky suspition not much will get done today. best policy in such situations is to stick to domestic chores and/or crafts, plus a trip to the movies in the evening...

it's snowing consistently now...i'm about to brave the walk to broadway (about 20mins) to get my 'secret santa' gift and groceries.

"in oranges and women courage is often taken for insanity"

"Beware the barrenness of a too busy life." - Socrates

thought i'd give you something to write on your wrist, for use this holiday season.
i know we all have VERY good reasons to keep ourselves busy, but...

since jerome posted his, i'm posting mine. this is jer's and meaghie's pig, ahten (spll?) as rudolph, the rednose raindeer. the wee fellow works himself silly every xmas trying to deliver gifts to us all. he takes his job very seriously. as you can tell from the hat.

on the first day of xmas....

this is my super early xmas present, or a wee bit early st. nicolas' day present, from nise!!! those of you who know it, no explanation needed about my elation (oh, a rhyme!).
those who don't know the book...it causes out loud laughter in public places, loss of interest in things grownup, complete disregard of one's schedule, and many, many more painful disadvantages...
don't say i didn't warn you.

guest on the way!

just received word my baby cousin natalie is arriving in town on dec. 9th, 6:30am! here she is last xmas in my parents' (yet unrenovated) kitchen, with some of my mother's baking. she's eying them carefully, picking out the best proportioned one to steal later...i'm telling you, the girl is better than the arfull dodger. fingers of rubber and glue. we have to chain the door to the sweets cupboard when she comes over for a visit.
i guess that means i also have to clean my place. hey, d. wanna come over and give me another xmas gift?
k.