Author: Jana

  • making history

    The American Historical Association linked to my History podcast/blog this morning…
    This is truly exciting!

  • getting political

    I didn’t vote for her, but this thrilled me anyways…

    “I want to thank all my friends and family, particularly my mother, who was born before women could vote, and is watching her daughter on this stage tonight.”

    — Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Super Tuesday night
    H/T to Salon’s Broadsheet

    You know what else thrilled me yesterday? Knowing that my friend Caroline was standing out in the cold (the requisite 100 ft from the polls) gathering signatures for a petition that means a lot to her. I love it when women get political! :)

  • votin’

    I’ll be teaching this morning then running an errand and heading for the polls. Having been a pollworker for several years I know that the slowest time tends to be around 10-11 in the morning. Lunch is awful and the crowds keep rolling in all afternoon and swell again in the evening.

    Yes, I know I could use an absentee ballot. But do you know that I would truly miss the THRILL of standing there in the cardboard booth myself? My foremothers, like Quaker Alice Paul, fought so hard to give me this right. And I appreciate it so very much.

    UPDATE: a pic of me, post-vote…
    exercising my rights...

  • cuppa canvas


    a cup for me, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    Had a creative burst yesterday so I pulled out a little canvas and some acrylic paints and had some fun.

    I’m going to hang this in my kitchen near the sink.

    Some days the urge to mix colors is almost overwhelming. I rarely expect for anything I create to be worthy of hanging on a wall, but it brings me joy anyways. Sometimes I create with beads or fabric. Sometimes they are the colorful plantings in my garden.

    “The world is but a canvas to the imagination”
    ~Henry David Thoreau

  • 12 songs later…

    We had 14 people over to dinner on Saturday for John’s birthday (note: we also celebrated the birth of Tim and Bonny, who happen to be born on the same great day as John!). We indulged in tons of fabulous foods and drinks. I’m happy to report that neither John’s hot hair, the birthday cake, nor Elise’s sugar cube experiments set off the fire alarm (the rousing game of midnite TTR was super smokin’ though).

    Needless to say, a party of this size means some pretty big cleanup the morning after. The vid below shows the magnitude of the job (note: we have no dishwasher, or rather, we have the manual kind that means a sponge & elbow grease).

    I put on my ipod and had the job done in exactly the time it took to rock out to 12 Dresden Dolls songs. Easy peasy. And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

  • just one more…


    john & thoreau, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    Here’s a pic of John and “Thoreau,” taken while we were goofing around at Walden Pond a few months ago on our anniversary trip.

    John is a super-traveler. When he’s around there always great fun and great food (he is the master of finding the best restaurants/cafes/pastries no matter where we are–okay, maybe with the exception of when we are flying on British Airways, but that can hardly be helped). John’s enthusiasm for life is infectious. He is simultaneously filled with child-like curiosity and awe-somely deep thinking.

    And let me just add…there is no better way to greet morning’s first light than with him at my side…
    :)

  • my boys

    like father, like son, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    Another photo tribute to today’s birthday boy. Not only is John an awesome writer, partner, and friend, he is also an incredibly good father. This pic of him and GameBoy always reminds me of John’s tender and thoughtful parenting (and also how thrilled I was to have a boy-baby that would grow up to be like my beloved).

    John and I started our family when we were very young and very poor. But love was abundant in our home. And it still is.

  • 37


    happy john, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    Yesterday morning I heard a wild scream from John, who was standing at the bathroom sink.

    “Blaaayeeaaahhhhh!”

    He ran to where I was sitting, his hands on his head (me, I was having flashbacks to the incident where he sliced his temple open on a nail, wondering what accident had befallen him).

    “Look!”, he said pointing the the side of his head.

    “Look!” he exclaimed again, leaning in closely.

    I saw no blood, only his slightly damp recently gelled curly locks. But lo and behold, there was some gray hiding there. Searching around in his hair I found four gray ones, standing out in bright contrast against the black.

    I suppose that’s John’s body’s way of wishing him a happy birthday. Tomorrow he celebrates his 37 years of life. Having been along for the past 18 of those years, I can say that I’m sure looking forward to another 4 or 5 decades with this lovely man.

    Note: this is one of my fav pics of John. It’s not his favorite, but I just love how sincere and sweet his smile is here….

  • to the realms of the immortals…


    tea rainbow, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    The first cup moistens my lips and throat. The second cup breaks my loneliness. The third cup searches my barren entrail but to find therein some thousand volumes of odd ideographs. The fourth cup raises a slight perspiration – all the wrongs of life pass out through my pores. At the fifth cup I am purified. The sixth cup calls me to the realms of the immortals. The seventh cup – ah, but I could take no more! I only feel the breath of the cool wind that raises in my sleeves. Where is Elysium? Let me ride on this sweet breeze and waft away thither.
    ~Lu Tung, “Tea-Drinking”

  • A Basal Reader Adventure

    K's tire I
    Jana and K are historians. Jana and K like to go to the archive with the pretty garden.

    Today they go to the archives in a blue car. See the girls go. Go, girls, go.

    Then K hears a funny sound. A thumping sound. Oh, do you hear that thump, thump, thump?

    The tire is coming off in small pieces. See that tire fly. Fly tire, fly.

    K drives to the side of the road. Blink your lights, K!

    See K call AAA on her cellphone. Dial K, dial.

    A man with a truck comes to fix the tire. Oh, see that helpful man. See him fix that tire.

    K and Jana go home. Drive carefully K!

    On the way home they get pancakes at IHOP. See their tasty pancakes. See the syrup on their tasty pancakes. Oh, see those girls eat their tasty pancakes. Eat, girls, eat.

    Soon they will go to the archive again. Go, girls, go.

  • Making History with Laurel Thatcher Ulrich


    The first half of my recent interview with Laurel is now posted for your listening pleasure. Her reading of selections from Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History is a joy (I just love hearing authors read their own words). She also discusses the challenge of writing a synthetic book of women’s history.

    Subscribe to Making History Podcast

  • weathered


    bunny, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    This wee bunny statue is a favorite in my garden. We found it churned up during the rototilling of an adjacent empty garden plot. I suspect that this little critter has observed many growing seasons.

    I am attracted to the weathered, the vintage, and all that is chipped and worn with age. A new bunny statue would hardly catch my eye. But this one…I can stare at it for hours.