James Enge
@jamesenge.bsky.social
Julie Newmar. RuPaul. Rudy Giuliani in drag. Or, maybe someone who is indisputably one of the most beautiful women in the world, like Lupita Nyong’o.
3/x
3/x
February 2, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Julie Newmar. RuPaul. Rudy Giuliani in drag. Or, maybe someone who is indisputably one of the most beautiful women in the world, like Lupita Nyong’o.
3/x
3/x
That said, if you’re not going to cast a middle-aged Greek woman as Helen—which has only happened once in movies, as far as I know, and worked brilliantly because the Greek woman in question was the glorious Irene Pappas, not because of some ethnic granfalloonery—you can cast whoever you want.
2/x
2/x
February 2, 2026 at 8:14 PM
That said, if you’re not going to cast a middle-aged Greek woman as Helen—which has only happened once in movies, as far as I know, and worked brilliantly because the Greek woman in question was the glorious Irene Pappas, not because of some ethnic granfalloonery—you can cast whoever you want.
2/x
2/x
Yourself but as a cartoon
January 28, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Yourself but as a cartoon
Typo of the day: _youger_ (for an intended _younger_).
I figure a youger is the younger companion of a cougar, if people are still using that expression. (It has a rather flip-phone-era sound to my aging ear.)
I figure a youger is the younger companion of a cougar, if people are still using that expression. (It has a rather flip-phone-era sound to my aging ear.)
January 26, 2026 at 6:02 PM
Typo of the day: _youger_ (for an intended _younger_).
I figure a youger is the younger companion of a cougar, if people are still using that expression. (It has a rather flip-phone-era sound to my aging ear.)
I figure a youger is the younger companion of a cougar, if people are still using that expression. (It has a rather flip-phone-era sound to my aging ear.)
It’s a day ending in Y, Conan, so I’m thinking about Leiber, specifically his “Midnight in the Mirror World” (illustrated by Virgil Finlay on its first appearance in FANTASTIC, October 1964).
January 25, 2026 at 8:45 PM
It’s a day ending in Y, Conan, so I’m thinking about Leiber, specifically his “Midnight in the Mirror World” (illustrated by Virgil Finlay on its first appearance in FANTASTIC, October 1964).
Already canon, sort of. (See HtD 1 “Howard the Barbarian”.)
January 25, 2026 at 4:54 AM
Already canon, sort of. (See HtD 1 “Howard the Barbarian”.)
Ice in my beard as I cycled in to teach Norse Myth this AM. I would have been on time, too, if these three guys in starry cloaks hadn't kept trying to kill me. (Artist's conception attached.)
January 23, 2026 at 7:00 PM
Ice in my beard as I cycled in to teach Norse Myth this AM. I would have been on time, too, if these three guys in starry cloaks hadn't kept trying to kill me. (Artist's conception attached.)
This just in, Conan: stacks of NESS have arrived at the Fortress of Engitude.
@newedgeswordmag.bsky.social
@newedgeswordmag.bsky.social
January 21, 2026 at 11:42 PM
This just in, Conan: stacks of NESS have arrived at the Fortress of Engitude.
@newedgeswordmag.bsky.social
@newedgeswordmag.bsky.social
Most people don't swallow the poison pill of fascism because they want the poison. It's the candy coating that appeals to them. If you really like the candy, the proper response isn't "Well, I'd better swallow the pill." Just steal the candy. Or, in more science-fictional terms, hijack the starship.
January 16, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Most people don't swallow the poison pill of fascism because they want the poison. It's the candy coating that appeals to them. If you really like the candy, the proper response isn't "Well, I'd better swallow the pill." Just steal the candy. Or, in more science-fictional terms, hijack the starship.
It's hard to write in these chaotic times, with Nazis in my home towns, poisoning, maiming, killing, and terrorizing my compatriots.
I keep this old guy on my desktop to remind myself that I don't have forever to make whatever it is I have to make, to do whatever it is I have to do.
I keep this old guy on my desktop to remind myself that I don't have forever to make whatever it is I have to make, to do whatever it is I have to do.
January 15, 2026 at 6:59 PM
It's hard to write in these chaotic times, with Nazis in my home towns, poisoning, maiming, killing, and terrorizing my compatriots.
I keep this old guy on my desktop to remind myself that I don't have forever to make whatever it is I have to make, to do whatever it is I have to do.
I keep this old guy on my desktop to remind myself that I don't have forever to make whatever it is I have to make, to do whatever it is I have to do.
I may be going a little overboard on vinyl to feed the hungry maw of my newish turntable. But in my defense… I have no defense.
January 13, 2026 at 10:51 PM
I may be going a little overboard on vinyl to feed the hungry maw of my newish turntable. But in my defense… I have no defense.
If you see this, post an archer.
January 12, 2026 at 12:17 AM
If you see this, post an archer.
Listening to Latin jazz while reading Cicero’s DE NATURA DEORUM. Not sure I’m using either cultural product as recommended by the manufacturer, but it’s working for me.
January 10, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Listening to Latin jazz while reading Cicero’s DE NATURA DEORUM. Not sure I’m using either cultural product as recommended by the manufacturer, but it’s working for me.
Given what’s happening at Texas A&M, I’m glad I don’t teach dangerous texts like Plato’s _Symposium_. I’ll just stick to safe, traditional material without any frightening gender ideology, like Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_ and Snorri’s _Edda_.
January 9, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Given what’s happening at Texas A&M, I’m glad I don’t teach dangerous texts like Plato’s _Symposium_. I’ll just stick to safe, traditional material without any frightening gender ideology, like Ovid’s _Metamorphoses_ and Snorri’s _Edda_.
A pretty good mail day.
January 9, 2026 at 7:04 PM
A pretty good mail day.
An eerie (eary?) family resemblance.
January 7, 2026 at 6:21 PM
An eerie (eary?) family resemblance.
Last came Anarchy: he rode
On a white horse, splashed with blood;
He was pale even to the lips,
Like Death in the Apocalypse.
And he wore a kingly crown;
And in his grasp a sceptre shone;
On his brow this mark I saw—
‘I AM GOD, AND KING, AND LAW!
—Shelley, "The Mask of Anarchy"
On a white horse, splashed with blood;
He was pale even to the lips,
Like Death in the Apocalypse.
And he wore a kingly crown;
And in his grasp a sceptre shone;
On his brow this mark I saw—
‘I AM GOD, AND KING, AND LAW!
—Shelley, "The Mask of Anarchy"
January 6, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Last came Anarchy: he rode
On a white horse, splashed with blood;
He was pale even to the lips,
Like Death in the Apocalypse.
And he wore a kingly crown;
And in his grasp a sceptre shone;
On his brow this mark I saw—
‘I AM GOD, AND KING, AND LAW!
—Shelley, "The Mask of Anarchy"
On a white horse, splashed with blood;
He was pale even to the lips,
Like Death in the Apocalypse.
And he wore a kingly crown;
And in his grasp a sceptre shone;
On his brow this mark I saw—
‘I AM GOD, AND KING, AND LAW!
—Shelley, "The Mask of Anarchy"
Watched a movie; was not crazy about it. Electrifying details at the link below.
jamesenge.com/2025/12/31/m...
jamesenge.com/2025/12/31/m...
December 31, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Watched a movie; was not crazy about it. Electrifying details at the link below.
jamesenge.com/2025/12/31/m...
jamesenge.com/2025/12/31/m...
I wrote something on my blog, and was too lazy to chop it into Bluesky-sized bites.
jamesenge.com/2025/12/30/o...
jamesenge.com/2025/12/30/o...
December 30, 2025 at 11:03 PM
I wrote something on my blog, and was too lazy to chop it into Bluesky-sized bites.
jamesenge.com/2025/12/30/o...
jamesenge.com/2025/12/30/o...
You can only export as PDF or markdown file, so there’d be an extra step in the writing process if you have to submit with a .doc or .docx file. Still, I’m trying to create a whitelist of acceptable writing programs that don’t force you to use AI and I think this goes on the (very short) list.
2/2
2/2
December 30, 2025 at 8:32 PM
You can only export as PDF or markdown file, so there’d be an extra step in the writing process if you have to submit with a .doc or .docx file. Still, I’m trying to create a whitelist of acceptable writing programs that don’t force you to use AI and I think this goes on the (very short) list.
2/2
2/2
Messing about Ellipsus to see if I can recommend it to my students. I think I can. It’s wonderfully undercomplicated & vows to be AI free. Of course, Google vowed not to be evil. But—in a wilderness of tech yokels forcing AI up your nose—this looks like an oasis of quiet.
ellipsus.com
1/x
ellipsus.com
1/x
December 30, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Messing about Ellipsus to see if I can recommend it to my students. I think I can. It’s wonderfully undercomplicated & vows to be AI free. Of course, Google vowed not to be evil. But—in a wilderness of tech yokels forcing AI up your nose—this looks like an oasis of quiet.
ellipsus.com
1/x
ellipsus.com
1/x
The Tacitus is stamped PROPERTY OF DEPT. OF CLASSICS U. OF MINN. It was probably on the shelves of the CNES seminar library in Folwell Hall when I was working on my dissertation.
December 29, 2025 at 10:06 PM
The Tacitus is stamped PROPERTY OF DEPT. OF CLASSICS U. OF MINN. It was probably on the shelves of the CNES seminar library in Folwell Hall when I was working on my dissertation.
A good mail day for my winter break reading. (Though it might be summer before I can get to Grettir.)
December 29, 2025 at 8:29 PM
A good mail day for my winter break reading. (Though it might be summer before I can get to Grettir.)
Only 13 months until 25/25/25. Make sure you’ve reserved a place on the Great Space Cow; spaces are limited, even if space itself is not.
December 25, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Only 13 months until 25/25/25. Make sure you’ve reserved a place on the Great Space Cow; spaces are limited, even if space itself is not.