etc.

The ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians used umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. The device was used in Europe for shelter against the rain until the Middle Ages, when it seemed to disappear from the daily arsenal of Very Handy Devices, only to reappear in England (where else?) in the 16th Century (I know, I looked it up). Which might have you asking, as it had me asking, why is it that no one has yet come up with a design for a collapsable umbrella (that is affordable and lightweight) that does not blow inside out & render itself useless with one gust of wind? There is rain and wind here to-day, in sizeable doses, and I have had three separate Mary Poppins incidents, which would be just fine if that meant I could fly, but it doesn’t, and so I’ve been quite damp all day and therefore somewhat testy.

And, you know, I really ought to have learned by now that it’s never a good idea to make blogging promises that I may or may not be able to keep. Because, surely, once I’ve told you that pictures are on the way, pictures better well be on the goddamn way, and I just shouldn’t show my face around here until I can deliver, silly umbrella story notwithstanding. So, yea, we’ll see about those pictures (and I don’t necessarily mean “we’ll see” the way my parents used to use the phrase when I was young and asked to go somewhere and “we’ll see” was grown-up speak for “no, not ever”).

So, while I’m here, not showing you any pictures, I thought I’d point the way to that presentation on edublogging that I mentioned the last time I was here, promising pictures. It went well, I’m mostly just happy that it’s over. The best, most gratifying bit was when, on day 2 of the symposium (my talk was on day 1), three faculty members told me that they had started their own research blogs the night before, which, by far exceeded my standard if-you-only-reach-one-person expectation.