Andrea Kaston Tange
@aktange.bsky.social
Victorianist & lit professor, gardener, lover of quirky details. Writing sporadically at https://andreakastontange.com
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Andrea Kaston Tange
@aktange.bsky.social
· Jul 16
![Reading Scenario Experiments. This series of prompts is designed to get you thinking about how the setting for reading affects concentration, comprehension, and even the existential experience of reading. Every week, one of the following prompts will appear on the syllabus. I encourage you to try all of them that you are able. How does a different reading setting affect your mood? Your receptiveness to the prose? Your pleasure or difficulty reading? What are the particular impacts of changing your lighting or surroundings? What do you notice about yourself and about the work you are reading during this experiment?
1. read by candlelight (use a small lamp in dorms where no candles are allowed!)
2. read for one hour without checking any devices, answering texts, etc.
3. walk out into nature (climb a tree, sit on a rock, grab a spot in a hammock) and read
4. host a reading night with friends & food (sit in companionable silence, reading without chatting)
5. read aloud a chapter to someone else
6. climb into bed at night and read by flashlight under the covers for at least 30 minutes, as if you’ve already been told “lights out” as a kid
7. reread a chapter and see what new things you notice the second time through
8. change your ambient-noise level: add music if you normally read in the quiet; or read without music if you are normally a music-listener
9. read with a sketchpad at hand and sketch scenes, characters, or other elements from the story
10. practice focused listening: have someone read to you
11. make yourself a special, fancy snack on a real plate to nibble while eating: pay attention to the cooking or arranging or choosing of ingredients to make it especially appetizing first
12. make tea (even if you’re not usually a tea drinker), and read and sip
13. invent a new reading scenario for yourself, or repeat the one you liked the best from this term
[writing assignment using these prompts follows; text character limit prevents inclusion of it in full]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rfs7afx6ue4mknbhhpnrzkyz/bafkreiel77b25truczj372qokmg5p3apa2dphux3jtplpz3dv35jul6wdu@jpeg)
Here you go! I'll write some new ones for this semester too. They loved them. The "read without your phone or screens in the room" was a revelation, and many of them decided to keep doing it. They had NO IDEA (& were horrified) how often they interrupt themselves to look at a phone for no reason.
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
Happy Thanksgiving break from your favorite professor cliché (negroni, typewriter I plan to get working over break, Scottish wool sweater)
November 25, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Happy Thanksgiving break from your favorite professor cliché (negroni, typewriter I plan to get working over break, Scottish wool sweater)
Happy Thanksgiving break from your favorite professor cliché (negroni, typewriter I plan to get working over break, Scottish wool sweater)
November 25, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Happy Thanksgiving break from your favorite professor cliché (negroni, typewriter I plan to get working over break, Scottish wool sweater)
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Yes, in fact, sometimes people have to say no to projects they're super interested in because they've already said yes to three others and just can't take on any more.
that’s good and practical! 9 is ideal—and even that can be just the starting point. the thing is that ppl saying “no” seldom has anything to do with the project. correlation is not causation lol. they truly are just so busy.
November 25, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Yes, in fact, sometimes people have to say no to projects they're super interested in because they've already said yes to three others and just can't take on any more.
Surely someone is thinking about cooking today? Not a soul apparently was yesterday...
What is your BEST Thanksgiving side-dish, the one people yell at you over if you try to sub something else into the rotation? Mine is this, but use queso blanco for the cheese.
Corn Pudding
Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years of Food and Art, by Tom Gilliland, Miguel Ravago, and Virginia B. Wood. Chef Miguel Ravago also shared s...
www.epicurious.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Surely someone is thinking about cooking today? Not a soul apparently was yesterday...
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
All DOGE accomplished was purging critical government staff, handing private data to outsiders, and sentencing thousands in developing countries to death by gutting USAID.
I don’t say this lightly: if there were any justice in this world, the people responsible for this devastation would be in jail
I don’t say this lightly: if there were any justice in this world, the people responsible for this devastation would be in jail
DOGE 'doesn't exist' with eight months left on its charter
U.S. President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency has disbanded with eight months left to its mandate.
www.cnbc.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:37 AM
All DOGE accomplished was purging critical government staff, handing private data to outsiders, and sentencing thousands in developing countries to death by gutting USAID.
I don’t say this lightly: if there were any justice in this world, the people responsible for this devastation would be in jail
I don’t say this lightly: if there were any justice in this world, the people responsible for this devastation would be in jail
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
It's weird to not only have lived through an information revolution but also now living through its undoing, all within less than a generation.
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 12:19 PM
It's weird to not only have lived through an information revolution but also now living through its undoing, all within less than a generation.
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
This anti-trans frathouse fuckmelon is on HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY?
Our motherfucking media is useless. How do you NOT mention this when he's arguing against trans health care?
And how do you print this fact here without immediately calling attention to his opposition to hormones for trans ppl?
Our motherfucking media is useless. How do you NOT mention this when he's arguing against trans health care?
And how do you print this fact here without immediately calling attention to his opposition to hormones for trans ppl?
November 25, 2025 at 7:27 AM
This anti-trans frathouse fuckmelon is on HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY?
Our motherfucking media is useless. How do you NOT mention this when he's arguing against trans health care?
And how do you print this fact here without immediately calling attention to his opposition to hormones for trans ppl?
Our motherfucking media is useless. How do you NOT mention this when he's arguing against trans health care?
And how do you print this fact here without immediately calling attention to his opposition to hormones for trans ppl?
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
There are 50,000 food insecure children in Maine and 2 trans athletes. Every single candidate running for office who can drum up concern about the latter but has nothing to say about the former is telling on themselves. They don’t care about children. Only power. And they’ll hurt kids for it.
25 Nov 2025 @rikiwilchins.bsky.social -- In unusual move, Sen Susan Collins (R-ME) signs petition for referendum on the 2026 ballot that would bar trans students from sports teams, locker-rooms and bathrooms. She's in a hotly contested election & this is pbly one way to increase Rep turnout.
Sen. Collins signs Maine petition for initiative to restrict transgender rights
The proposed referendum aims to enforce President Donald Trump’s <a href="https://themainemonitor.org/maine-title-ix-battle-national-consequences/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stance on ...
www.pressherald.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:24 AM
There are 50,000 food insecure children in Maine and 2 trans athletes. Every single candidate running for office who can drum up concern about the latter but has nothing to say about the former is telling on themselves. They don’t care about children. Only power. And they’ll hurt kids for it.
What is your BEST Thanksgiving side-dish, the one people yell at you over if you try to sub something else into the rotation? Mine is this, but use queso blanco for the cheese.
Corn Pudding
Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are from Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years of Food and Art, by Tom Gilliland, Miguel Ravago, and Virginia B. Wood. Chef Miguel Ravago also shared s...
www.epicurious.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:45 PM
What is your BEST Thanksgiving side-dish, the one people yell at you over if you try to sub something else into the rotation? Mine is this, but use queso blanco for the cheese.
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
If you email proof of your New York Times cancellation to [email protected], we will give you a FREE one-year digital subscription to Current Affairs.
November 22, 2025 at 7:03 PM
If you email proof of your New York Times cancellation to [email protected], we will give you a FREE one-year digital subscription to Current Affairs.
Best story I've read in a long time.
If you don't love this article, I'll give you a full refund.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life (Gift Article)
This is the story of how a man traded steady, grinding corporate security for a dying craft and, in the process, found his soul.
www.nytimes.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Best story I've read in a long time.
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
GO AND MAKE THESE CHANGES unless you are okay with gmail scanning all your emails and attached content.
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 10:55 PM
GO AND MAKE THESE CHANGES unless you are okay with gmail scanning all your emails and attached content.
We have repeated problems with the motion sensor in our garage notifying us of midnight intruders...who turn out to be spiders building webs across the corner where the motion-sensing camera exists. To be fair, the footage of the intruder makes the spider look the size of a minivan.
Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door.
This is who it was:
This is who it was:
November 21, 2025 at 1:07 AM
We have repeated problems with the motion sensor in our garage notifying us of midnight intruders...who turn out to be spiders building webs across the corner where the motion-sensing camera exists. To be fair, the footage of the intruder makes the spider look the size of a minivan.
GO AND MAKE THESE CHANGES unless you are okay with gmail scanning all your emails and attached content.
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 10:55 PM
GO AND MAKE THESE CHANGES unless you are okay with gmail scanning all your emails and attached content.
Survey of nearly 40 students yields "pumpkin & apple are necessary, and the third is dealer's choice" with strong votes for cherry or some other tart fruit. I feel that it's possible, though, to have ONE nod to tradition and TWO that branch out. So if that's the case, what are your best recipes?
What is the correct number of Thanksgiving pies for a group of eight people*, and what would be your top three choices, in ranked order?
(*If you say fewer than two, I don't trust you.)
(*If you say fewer than two, I don't trust you.)
November 20, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Survey of nearly 40 students yields "pumpkin & apple are necessary, and the third is dealer's choice" with strong votes for cherry or some other tart fruit. I feel that it's possible, though, to have ONE nod to tradition and TWO that branch out. So if that's the case, what are your best recipes?
What is the correct number of Thanksgiving pies for a group of eight people*, and what would be your top three choices, in ranked order?
(*If you say fewer than two, I don't trust you.)
(*If you say fewer than two, I don't trust you.)
November 20, 2025 at 5:12 PM
What is the correct number of Thanksgiving pies for a group of eight people*, and what would be your top three choices, in ranked order?
(*If you say fewer than two, I don't trust you.)
(*If you say fewer than two, I don't trust you.)
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
This is a LOT of fun
Only eight remain in our What Was Literary Twitter? bracket. What will the final four look like? Vote here to find out!
What Was Literary Twitter? The Bracket *Day 4*
It’s day four, and only 8 out of original 64 are left after yesterday’s voting! The polls today will determine who wins their quadrant (or is it “region”? Or “zone”? We’re not sports people) …
buff.ly
November 20, 2025 at 3:30 PM
This is a LOT of fun
Also I haven't seen ANYTHING to reassure me that these cars can drive in snow & ice. Because that's not obstacles or traffic rules or anything predictable. Every snowfall FEELS different under the wheels, and there are wildly different safety techniques for deep/fluffy or compacted/sandy or ice.
I do think it would be funny if Waymo came to the Twin Cities and just.... no one used them.
November 20, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Also I haven't seen ANYTHING to reassure me that these cars can drive in snow & ice. Because that's not obstacles or traffic rules or anything predictable. Every snowfall FEELS different under the wheels, and there are wildly different safety techniques for deep/fluffy or compacted/sandy or ice.
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
hi! are you someone who:
1) cares about close reading and has a background in literary studies
2) teaches 12th grade English OR freshman writing?
if so, will you get in touch with @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and me?
we want to talk! well, actually, we want to listen.
1) cares about close reading and has a background in literary studies
2) teaches 12th grade English OR freshman writing?
if so, will you get in touch with @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and me?
we want to talk! well, actually, we want to listen.
November 19, 2025 at 7:55 PM
hi! are you someone who:
1) cares about close reading and has a background in literary studies
2) teaches 12th grade English OR freshman writing?
if so, will you get in touch with @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and me?
we want to talk! well, actually, we want to listen.
1) cares about close reading and has a background in literary studies
2) teaches 12th grade English OR freshman writing?
if so, will you get in touch with @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and me?
we want to talk! well, actually, we want to listen.
My grandmother's love language was absolutely "record and mail off movies I think you'll like based on your previous preferences." Her picks were spot-on, and miles better than any algorithm that could ever be written.
That's hilarious. My grandma used to set her VCR to record Thin Man and Katharine Hepburn movies for me, and Clark Gable movies for my youngest sister. 😂 We'd get tapes a few times a year, with two or three movies each, and she'd cut out the TV Guide blurb for each one and tape them to the cassette.
November 20, 2025 at 2:19 PM
My grandmother's love language was absolutely "record and mail off movies I think you'll like based on your previous preferences." Her picks were spot-on, and miles better than any algorithm that could ever be written.
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
My doc called about a prescription refill, and I didn't answer the phone because the caller ID said "House Partners" instead of "Health Partners," so I assumed it was spam, but yes, sure, let's let AI take over the world.
November 19, 2025 at 3:35 PM
My doc called about a prescription refill, and I didn't answer the phone because the caller ID said "House Partners" instead of "Health Partners," so I assumed it was spam, but yes, sure, let's let AI take over the world.
Still a few weeks left to apply to this delightful conference!
If you or anyone you know would be interested in a GREAT Victorian studies conference in the spring, here's the CFP. Proposals due Dec 6. Especially let anyone within driving distance of Cincinnati know! The lovely @nathankhensley.bsky.social will be keynote speaker. midwestvictorian.org/conference/
Conference
“The Underground: Prohibition, Abolition, Expression”2026 Call for Papers April 10-12, 2026, hosted by Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio. Baker Street Station on the Metropolitan Railway, 1863 &#…
midwestvictorian.org
November 18, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Still a few weeks left to apply to this delightful conference!
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
There are few folks more deserving.
Throughout my career I have sought to promote international dialogue among Victorianists and I have used my DH projects to create a welcoming space for the academy’s most structually-vulnerable scholars. I am deeply honored to have received the President’s Award from @navsa.bsky.social for my work.
November 18, 2025 at 2:11 PM
There are few folks more deserving.