I have some very exciting news: I have been offered (and accepted) a PhD fellowship!
The fellowship is with the Moore Institute Texts, Contexts & Cultures project. It is a fully-funded research position, covering tuition and a stipend of €16,000 a year for four years! The project I'll be working on, as described by the website:
"Project Five ('Globalisation, Empire and Culture'), led by Dr Lionel Pilkington, will trace some of the relations between European imperialism and media of various types, including newspapers, popular theatre and religious texts. Among its tasks will be the construction of an online archive of primary materials for further study in this area."
The fellowship also includes a teaching position and professional placement-- meaning that they will help me find a job after I get my degree. Wow!
So yes, I am very excited! I get to stay in Galway for the next four years, getting paid to go to school. This is, literally, a dream come true. (I've had dreams about getting the fellowship.)
Forthcoming: a post about my weekend in Jolly Old.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
recipe!
Or, rather, "ingredients" might be a better title-- "recipe" implies some sort of measuring, and I certainly can't give you that. But I just made up a delicious soup that I wanted to share.
It started out because I'm feeling rather ill today (just a cold, don't worry) and I wanted to make something that would be good for a stuffed-up head. I originally was going to make chicken and rice soup, with some cayenne pepper thrown in. As I brought the chicken stock to boil and started peering in cabinets, the idea began evolving, with a dash of this and a pinch of that, until I had a spicy Thai-inspired soup.
(All portions are just "to taste" unless otherwise noted.)
-The base is chicken stock with a dash of soy sauce.
-garlic and cayenne pepper. A clove of fresh minced garlic would probably be great, but you'd want it to be minced (or smushed) very small, and simmered for a while. All I have is garlic powder, so that's what I used.
-lemongrass. Again, fresh and chopped would be fine, but I used dried stuff. You will probably want to strain this out before adding anything else. Lemongrass is, after all, a grass, and has a texture not unlike that of hay. Flavorful hay, certainly, and it won't do you any harm to eat it-- it's just tough. (According to the wikipedia page, it's also called "barbed wire grass." Ouch!) Simmer for, dunno, five or ten minutes? before straining it out.
-shredded greens-- I used spinach, rocket (arugula), and coriander (cilantro). When dealing with lettuces, you always want to shred them by hand rather than chop them with a knife-- chopping bruises the leaves. Throw in the shredded greens and simmer for a couple minutes... but not too long, you don't want them to wilt into nothing.
-ginger. Fresh or ground, always add ginger near the end-- heating makes it lose flavor very quickly.
-egg. Beat an egg well and pour it in the boiling mix at the end, stirring as you do. This is like egg drop soup, not avgolemano-- you want the egg to curdle! One egg is probably good for a quart of soup... I used one egg with 500ml (about 2 cups) of stock, and it's almost taken over the soup. Which isn't a bad thing, but I was envisioning something thinner and more brothy.
I am eating this right now, and man is it delicious! Just the thing for a cold.
Also, I would like to express how pleased I am that I can throw together a spicy Thai-flavored soup from the odds and ends in my kitchen.
Now, let's hope I can get this cold cleared up before the weekend. I don't want to go spreading this damn SARS all over England!
It started out because I'm feeling rather ill today (just a cold, don't worry) and I wanted to make something that would be good for a stuffed-up head. I originally was going to make chicken and rice soup, with some cayenne pepper thrown in. As I brought the chicken stock to boil and started peering in cabinets, the idea began evolving, with a dash of this and a pinch of that, until I had a spicy Thai-inspired soup.
(All portions are just "to taste" unless otherwise noted.)
-The base is chicken stock with a dash of soy sauce.
-garlic and cayenne pepper. A clove of fresh minced garlic would probably be great, but you'd want it to be minced (or smushed) very small, and simmered for a while. All I have is garlic powder, so that's what I used.
-lemongrass. Again, fresh and chopped would be fine, but I used dried stuff. You will probably want to strain this out before adding anything else. Lemongrass is, after all, a grass, and has a texture not unlike that of hay. Flavorful hay, certainly, and it won't do you any harm to eat it-- it's just tough. (According to the wikipedia page, it's also called "barbed wire grass." Ouch!) Simmer for, dunno, five or ten minutes? before straining it out.
-shredded greens-- I used spinach, rocket (arugula), and coriander (cilantro). When dealing with lettuces, you always want to shred them by hand rather than chop them with a knife-- chopping bruises the leaves. Throw in the shredded greens and simmer for a couple minutes... but not too long, you don't want them to wilt into nothing.
-ginger. Fresh or ground, always add ginger near the end-- heating makes it lose flavor very quickly.
-egg. Beat an egg well and pour it in the boiling mix at the end, stirring as you do. This is like egg drop soup, not avgolemano-- you want the egg to curdle! One egg is probably good for a quart of soup... I used one egg with 500ml (about 2 cups) of stock, and it's almost taken over the soup. Which isn't a bad thing, but I was envisioning something thinner and more brothy.
I am eating this right now, and man is it delicious! Just the thing for a cold.
Also, I would like to express how pleased I am that I can throw together a spicy Thai-flavored soup from the odds and ends in my kitchen.
Now, let's hope I can get this cold cleared up before the weekend. I don't want to go spreading this damn SARS all over England!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
a much-belated update
I'm sorry I've been so lazy about updating this recently. I have no real excuse, other than being rather busier than usual, and rather lazier than usual when I'm not busy.
Related to this busy-ness (and business)... I am going to be presenting a paper at an academic conference! It's the Postgraduate Irish Studies Symposium at Bath Spa University in Bath, England, on 25 April. It isn't a huge important conference or anything-- just grad students. And the paper presentation can only be 20 minutes, which is hardly anything. (That's about a 7 or 8 page paper.) I'm still very excited, though. It's a great opportunity to get some exposure to the academic world and get some speaking practice in a rather informal environment. I'm going to present a short introduction to my MA thesis work... which means I have to write a short introduction to my MA thesis work. >_< This came up rather suddenly, it's true, and is kind of nerve-wracking. My English final is due 21 April, and my History final is supposed to be due 25 April... but Nessa, the program coordinator for my MA offered me an extension on the History essay. I guess they want to make sure I don't embarrass NUI Galway with a bad paper. :-P
The other fun part about the conference is that it's all-expenses paid by the university. They are paying for my flight, my hotel, and giving me a per diem for food and pocket money! Two other girls from the MA are going-- Katie is also presenting a paper, and Grace is going along just to see the conference and for moral support. One of the PhDs is going as well, with a paper, I believe. So, I basically get a free weekend in England, and I get to present a paper at an academic conference. There really is no downside-- I've never been to England!
Other exciting news...
Last weekend, my parents visited! They got here on Friday 4 April and left early on Monday 7 April, when they proceeded on to Greece and spent the week in Corfu. I am very jealous. They just got back last night from their week-long adventure-- mom called me today and filled me in on their trip. It was wonderful having them visit, even for just a few days. We explored Galway a bit, shopped in the street market, had pints and listened to trad at The Crane, went to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, and ate a lot of seafood chowder and oysters. (Yum.)
These next two weeks are going to be very, very busy for me. I have papers to write, and a lot of research to do for them. I'm moving soon, by the first week of May most likely (to a gorgeous apartment across the street from the Cathedral.) Such is the life of a grad student!
Related to this busy-ness (and business)... I am going to be presenting a paper at an academic conference! It's the Postgraduate Irish Studies Symposium at Bath Spa University in Bath, England, on 25 April. It isn't a huge important conference or anything-- just grad students. And the paper presentation can only be 20 minutes, which is hardly anything. (That's about a 7 or 8 page paper.) I'm still very excited, though. It's a great opportunity to get some exposure to the academic world and get some speaking practice in a rather informal environment. I'm going to present a short introduction to my MA thesis work... which means I have to write a short introduction to my MA thesis work. >_< This came up rather suddenly, it's true, and is kind of nerve-wracking. My English final is due 21 April, and my History final is supposed to be due 25 April... but Nessa, the program coordinator for my MA offered me an extension on the History essay. I guess they want to make sure I don't embarrass NUI Galway with a bad paper. :-P
The other fun part about the conference is that it's all-expenses paid by the university. They are paying for my flight, my hotel, and giving me a per diem for food and pocket money! Two other girls from the MA are going-- Katie is also presenting a paper, and Grace is going along just to see the conference and for moral support. One of the PhDs is going as well, with a paper, I believe. So, I basically get a free weekend in England, and I get to present a paper at an academic conference. There really is no downside-- I've never been to England!
Other exciting news...
Last weekend, my parents visited! They got here on Friday 4 April and left early on Monday 7 April, when they proceeded on to Greece and spent the week in Corfu. I am very jealous. They just got back last night from their week-long adventure-- mom called me today and filled me in on their trip. It was wonderful having them visit, even for just a few days. We explored Galway a bit, shopped in the street market, had pints and listened to trad at The Crane, went to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, and ate a lot of seafood chowder and oysters. (Yum.)
These next two weeks are going to be very, very busy for me. I have papers to write, and a lot of research to do for them. I'm moving soon, by the first week of May most likely (to a gorgeous apartment across the street from the Cathedral.) Such is the life of a grad student!
Friday, March 28, 2008
West Galway is a third-world country!
West Galway, where I live, has no water today. Not "no hot water," not "no drinkable water" (like all of Galway over the summer)... no water at all. None coming out of any taps. There was enough this morning for Virginie and I both to (unknowingly) take showers, but after that it ran out. I wish we'd known about the situation! I would have foregone a shower to save water if I'd known.
The Galway City Council website had this to say:
"Galway City Council’s Water Services wish to advise businesses and householders on the Western side of the City (West of Bishop O Donnell Road) who have been experiencing water outages over the last 24 hours, that the major leak has been detected and Galway City Council are currently working on repairing the leak, the problem should be repaired and a full water supply restored to the affected areas within 24hours."
Guess where I live? Bishop O'Donnell Road. The website published a map of the affected area, and I put a black X, circled in green, on where I live.
(It's quite a big image-- click on the small one above to see it more clearly.)
As you can see, I live right on the edge of the zone! I ran into a friend that lives less than a block east of me, and she has water.
This is very strange, and inconvenient. I went to the store and bought eight litres of water, which really does not go as far as you'd think-- I used up over two litres just doing a sinkful of dishes, and that in only about two inches of water. All the big jugs of water were gone by the time I got to the store. They say it should be back on by tomorrow, but that is a long time to go without any water at all.
I'll update again when the water is back on. This is weird.
Edit: The water came back on at around 8:30 pm. They still want us to be conservative with water use, so we're using the bottled water we bought for drinking and cooking and only using the tap water for cleaning. What a weird day.
The Galway City Council website had this to say:
"Galway City Council’s Water Services wish to advise businesses and householders on the Western side of the City (West of Bishop O Donnell Road) who have been experiencing water outages over the last 24 hours, that the major leak has been detected and Galway City Council are currently working on repairing the leak, the problem should be repaired and a full water supply restored to the affected areas within 24hours."
Guess where I live? Bishop O'Donnell Road. The website published a map of the affected area, and I put a black X, circled in green, on where I live.
(It's quite a big image-- click on the small one above to see it more clearly.)
As you can see, I live right on the edge of the zone! I ran into a friend that lives less than a block east of me, and she has water.
This is very strange, and inconvenient. I went to the store and bought eight litres of water, which really does not go as far as you'd think-- I used up over two litres just doing a sinkful of dishes, and that in only about two inches of water. All the big jugs of water were gone by the time I got to the store. They say it should be back on by tomorrow, but that is a long time to go without any water at all.
I'll update again when the water is back on. This is weird.
Edit: The water came back on at around 8:30 pm. They still want us to be conservative with water use, so we're using the bottled water we bought for drinking and cooking and only using the tap water for cleaning. What a weird day.
Monday, March 24, 2008
in which I fail to think of a clever title
Sorry I didn't post yesterday. I really don't have a good excuse, other than laziness.
Sara left yesterday morning. I saw her off to the bus stop and gave her a couple more hugs than necessary... I always hate saying goodbye. It was wonderful having her here. I took a couple pictures, and so did she, and when both of us get around to uploading them I'll post 'em here.
Mostly we just wandered around Galway, shopping, drinking coffee, people watching. I was able to take her to a couple of shows-- local indie bands, for the most part, as well as poetry readings. I could talk about Galway's indie "scene", but I feel that's a topic for a separate post. On Tuesday we went to Dublin for the day-- took the train in, wandered around and went shopping, walked through St. Stephen's Green, and took the train back in the evening. On Friday we went to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. On Saturday, we got tattoos.
Normally, my tattoo tradition, since I was 18, has been to get one at the end of each "academic year"-- usually in April or May. I have made exceptions to this rule, but not too often. However, when Sara arrived she said to me "I want to get a tattoo with you while I'm here!" I have had a design ready for months, and so I decided to bend my rule for my oldest friend. Sara got the phrase "Not all who wander are lost" (a J.R.R. Tolkien quotation) in a very lovely script around her ankle. I got...
on my right upper arm. (Click the picture for a slightly higher resolution.) "Téigh sa seans" is "Take a chance" in Irish. Specifically, "take" is in the 2nd person singular Imperative mood, so it's a command-- "You take a chance!" The script is the traditional Gaelic lettering. I am very happy with how it turned out, and I would recommend Irish Ink to anyone looking to get a tattoo in Galway. (The tattoo artist is a middle-aged French man. He's wonderful.)
Anyway, Sara is gone home now, and I have a whole 'nother week of Easter break. What will I do with my time? Write, or at least start, a final, I suppose. I actually tried to start my Irish Literature final today, but the library was closed, being Easter Monday. People keep referring to "Post-Christian" Ireland... yeah, right. Maybe "Post-Oppressively Christian", but there is a definite culture of religion here unlike anything I've seen in the 'States, even growing up as I did in a small conservative Dutch Reformed village.
Sara left yesterday morning. I saw her off to the bus stop and gave her a couple more hugs than necessary... I always hate saying goodbye. It was wonderful having her here. I took a couple pictures, and so did she, and when both of us get around to uploading them I'll post 'em here.
Mostly we just wandered around Galway, shopping, drinking coffee, people watching. I was able to take her to a couple of shows-- local indie bands, for the most part, as well as poetry readings. I could talk about Galway's indie "scene", but I feel that's a topic for a separate post. On Tuesday we went to Dublin for the day-- took the train in, wandered around and went shopping, walked through St. Stephen's Green, and took the train back in the evening. On Friday we went to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. On Saturday, we got tattoos.
Normally, my tattoo tradition, since I was 18, has been to get one at the end of each "academic year"-- usually in April or May. I have made exceptions to this rule, but not too often. However, when Sara arrived she said to me "I want to get a tattoo with you while I'm here!" I have had a design ready for months, and so I decided to bend my rule for my oldest friend. Sara got the phrase "Not all who wander are lost" (a J.R.R. Tolkien quotation) in a very lovely script around her ankle. I got...
on my right upper arm. (Click the picture for a slightly higher resolution.) "Téigh sa seans" is "Take a chance" in Irish. Specifically, "take" is in the 2nd person singular Imperative mood, so it's a command-- "You take a chance!" The script is the traditional Gaelic lettering. I am very happy with how it turned out, and I would recommend Irish Ink to anyone looking to get a tattoo in Galway. (The tattoo artist is a middle-aged French man. He's wonderful.)
Anyway, Sara is gone home now, and I have a whole 'nother week of Easter break. What will I do with my time? Write, or at least start, a final, I suppose. I actually tried to start my Irish Literature final today, but the library was closed, being Easter Monday. People keep referring to "Post-Christian" Ireland... yeah, right. Maybe "Post-Oppressively Christian", but there is a definite culture of religion here unlike anything I've seen in the 'States, even growing up as I did in a small conservative Dutch Reformed village.
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