Miriam Elizabeth Burstein
@miriameburstein.bsky.social
English professor, Victorianist, inveterate book-buyer
We have now reached the temperatures at which my house's radiators start saying, unimpressed, "I really don't know what you expect me to do about this." #AdventuresOfAVictorianistWithAVictorian
December 5, 2025 at 10:04 PM
We have now reached the temperatures at which my house's radiators start saying, unimpressed, "I really don't know what you expect me to do about this." #AdventuresOfAVictorianistWithAVictorian
*opens a novel from 1835*
*first words: “What, ho!”
*closes it*
*first words: “What, ho!”
*closes it*
December 3, 2025 at 2:42 PM
*opens a novel from 1835*
*first words: “What, ho!”
*closes it*
*first words: “What, ho!”
*closes it*
ME, SOLEMNLY: Every time we dispose of documents, we are depriving future historians of valuable information.
ALSO ME, CLEANING OUT STORAGE BOXES: Why on earth do I have bank statements from the 1990s?!
#AcademicLifeWithShredding
ALSO ME, CLEANING OUT STORAGE BOXES: Why on earth do I have bank statements from the 1990s?!
#AcademicLifeWithShredding
November 30, 2025 at 8:36 PM
ME, SOLEMNLY: Every time we dispose of documents, we are depriving future historians of valuable information.
ALSO ME, CLEANING OUT STORAGE BOXES: Why on earth do I have bank statements from the 1990s?!
#AcademicLifeWithShredding
ALSO ME, CLEANING OUT STORAGE BOXES: Why on earth do I have bank statements from the 1990s?!
#AcademicLifeWithShredding
[We are watching a touring production of HAMILTON.]
DAD, at intermission, sounding puzzled: Shouldn’t this actually be called BURR?
ME: Everyone would think it was an adaptation of Vidal’s novel!
DAD, at intermission, sounding puzzled: Shouldn’t this actually be called BURR?
ME: Everyone would think it was an adaptation of Vidal’s novel!
November 29, 2025 at 10:32 PM
[We are watching a touring production of HAMILTON.]
DAD, at intermission, sounding puzzled: Shouldn’t this actually be called BURR?
ME: Everyone would think it was an adaptation of Vidal’s novel!
DAD, at intermission, sounding puzzled: Shouldn’t this actually be called BURR?
ME: Everyone would think it was an adaptation of Vidal’s novel!
ME, AT NAVSA: Mom, I did go to an exhibit of certain rectangular objects.
MOM: Oh no...
ME: I only bought two!
MOM: Only two? I'm so proud of you. I was thinking it would be seven or eight.
MOM: Oh no...
ME: I only bought two!
MOM: Only two? I'm so proud of you. I was thinking it would be seven or eight.
November 14, 2025 at 1:58 AM
ME, AT NAVSA: Mom, I did go to an exhibit of certain rectangular objects.
MOM: Oh no...
ME: I only bought two!
MOM: Only two? I'm so proud of you. I was thinking it would be seven or eight.
MOM: Oh no...
ME: I only bought two!
MOM: Only two? I'm so proud of you. I was thinking it would be seven or eight.
“The question of my attendance at next week’s conference seems a bit suspenseful,” I remark, reading about flight cuts at Reagan.
November 6, 2025 at 3:45 PM
“The question of my attendance at next week’s conference seems a bit suspenseful,” I remark, reading about flight cuts at Reagan.
Academic substitute for walking with wrist or ankle weights: walking with 500+ page hardbound monographs. For best results, switch arms periodically, or carry two.
November 1, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Academic substitute for walking with wrist or ankle weights: walking with 500+ page hardbound monographs. For best results, switch arms periodically, or carry two.
ME, WORKING ON MY CONFERENCE PAPER: This author had Ideas, but wow, he was a bad novelist.
VICTORIAN REVIEWERS: This author has Ideas, but wow, he is a bad novelist.
ME: *vindication*
VICTORIAN REVIEWERS: This author has Ideas, but wow, he is a bad novelist.
ME: *vindication*
October 30, 2025 at 1:39 AM
ME, WORKING ON MY CONFERENCE PAPER: This author had Ideas, but wow, he was a bad novelist.
VICTORIAN REVIEWERS: This author has Ideas, but wow, he is a bad novelist.
ME: *vindication*
VICTORIAN REVIEWERS: This author has Ideas, but wow, he is a bad novelist.
ME: *vindication*
Sometimes, a novelist is so bad that it takes a moment to recognize when he's making a joke (in this instance, a Calvinist character named "Edward Jonathan" is, of course, a poke at Jonathan Edwards).
October 26, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Sometimes, a novelist is so bad that it takes a moment to recognize when he's making a joke (in this instance, a Calvinist character named "Edward Jonathan" is, of course, a poke at Jonathan Edwards).
For some reason, TV shows dramatizing the life of department chairs always omit the part where you have to proofread the published schedule for next semester's classes.
October 19, 2025 at 5:38 PM
For some reason, TV shows dramatizing the life of department chairs always omit the part where you have to proofread the published schedule for next semester's classes.
I really dislike those online submission portals, but I *do* appreciate being able to track my article’s progress through refereeing and whatnot.
October 17, 2025 at 5:30 PM
I really dislike those online submission portals, but I *do* appreciate being able to track my article’s progress through refereeing and whatnot.
Distracting myself by working on some 1:12 books for the dollhouse (3d printed core, heavy cardstock covers, then sealed).
October 12, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Distracting myself by working on some 1:12 books for the dollhouse (3d printed core, heavy cardstock covers, then sealed).
Has anybody taught J. H. Newman's LOSS AND GAIN in a (grad) literature course? If so, how did it go?
(I wanted to get the two Mrs. Wards into a head-to-head in this course, but it looks like HELBECK OF BANNISDALE has gone out of print again.)
(I wanted to get the two Mrs. Wards into a head-to-head in this course, but it looks like HELBECK OF BANNISDALE has gone out of print again.)
October 3, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Has anybody taught J. H. Newman's LOSS AND GAIN in a (grad) literature course? If so, how did it go?
(I wanted to get the two Mrs. Wards into a head-to-head in this course, but it looks like HELBECK OF BANNISDALE has gone out of print again.)
(I wanted to get the two Mrs. Wards into a head-to-head in this course, but it looks like HELBECK OF BANNISDALE has gone out of print again.)
ME, SADLY: I just don't like how this book is going.
MOM: What chapter were you working on?
ME [describes C. Bronte trying to rearticulate her Anglicanism in Belgium while becoming more attuned to suffering and spirituality]
MOM: ...you sounded completely enthusiastic there.
ME:...I did?
MOM: What chapter were you working on?
ME [describes C. Bronte trying to rearticulate her Anglicanism in Belgium while becoming more attuned to suffering and spirituality]
MOM: ...you sounded completely enthusiastic there.
ME:...I did?
September 19, 2025 at 12:46 AM
ME, SADLY: I just don't like how this book is going.
MOM: What chapter were you working on?
ME [describes C. Bronte trying to rearticulate her Anglicanism in Belgium while becoming more attuned to suffering and spirituality]
MOM: ...you sounded completely enthusiastic there.
ME:...I did?
MOM: What chapter were you working on?
ME [describes C. Bronte trying to rearticulate her Anglicanism in Belgium while becoming more attuned to suffering and spirituality]
MOM: ...you sounded completely enthusiastic there.
ME:...I did?
[We have just seen a play and are waiting for our ride.]
MOM: I should have brought a book with me!
ME: Oh, I've got one! [roots around in my purse] Here.
[I hand her John Mahoney, SJ's THE MAKING OF MORAL THEOLOGY.]
MOM: ...no?
MOM: I should have brought a book with me!
ME: Oh, I've got one! [roots around in my purse] Here.
[I hand her John Mahoney, SJ's THE MAKING OF MORAL THEOLOGY.]
MOM: ...no?
September 14, 2025 at 10:37 PM
[We have just seen a play and are waiting for our ride.]
MOM: I should have brought a book with me!
ME: Oh, I've got one! [roots around in my purse] Here.
[I hand her John Mahoney, SJ's THE MAKING OF MORAL THEOLOGY.]
MOM: ...no?
MOM: I should have brought a book with me!
ME: Oh, I've got one! [roots around in my purse] Here.
[I hand her John Mahoney, SJ's THE MAKING OF MORAL THEOLOGY.]
MOM: ...no?
Given Typepad's imminent demise, I contacted the owner of Pagecord, who kindly ported The Little Professor over there (thelittleprofessor.pagecord.com). I still need to proofread and edit, as anything "below the fold" did not make it into the ported version; I've made it back to 2011 so far (!).
The Little Professor
Victorianist and inveterate book buyer.
thelittleprofessor.pagecord.com
September 13, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Given Typepad's imminent demise, I contacted the owner of Pagecord, who kindly ported The Little Professor over there (thelittleprofessor.pagecord.com). I still need to proofread and edit, as anything "below the fold" did not make it into the ported version; I've made it back to 2011 so far (!).
Ah, the signs of coming autumn. The days growing shorter, the leaves beginning to change their colors, the--
[The CATS are STARING POINTEDLY at a BASEBOARD. I INVESTIGATE. There are SUSPICIOUS SOUNDS coming from the WALL.]
--the mice moving in to escape the cold... #UninvitedGuests
[The CATS are STARING POINTEDLY at a BASEBOARD. I INVESTIGATE. There are SUSPICIOUS SOUNDS coming from the WALL.]
--the mice moving in to escape the cold... #UninvitedGuests
September 5, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Ah, the signs of coming autumn. The days growing shorter, the leaves beginning to change their colors, the--
[The CATS are STARING POINTEDLY at a BASEBOARD. I INVESTIGATE. There are SUSPICIOUS SOUNDS coming from the WALL.]
--the mice moving in to escape the cold... #UninvitedGuests
[The CATS are STARING POINTEDLY at a BASEBOARD. I INVESTIGATE. There are SUSPICIOUS SOUNDS coming from the WALL.]
--the mice moving in to escape the cold... #UninvitedGuests
ME: Surely I have formatted this submission correctly for this journal’s unique requirements.
JOURNAL: You have not.
JOURNAL: You have not.
September 4, 2025 at 3:55 PM
ME: Surely I have formatted this submission correctly for this journal’s unique requirements.
JOURNAL: You have not.
JOURNAL: You have not.
After years of spending nearly $450 per contact lens (as in lens, singular), the experience of buying a nice pair of TOTALLY NORMAL bifocals (so I don't have to keep taking my reading glasses on and off in class) gave me sticker shock in a good way. #PostSurgicalOptics
September 3, 2025 at 9:56 PM
After years of spending nearly $450 per contact lens (as in lens, singular), the experience of buying a nice pair of TOTALLY NORMAL bifocals (so I don't have to keep taking my reading glasses on and off in class) gave me sticker shock in a good way. #PostSurgicalOptics
This tiny kitchen is somehow more cluttered than my real one. (Lower cabinets are a kit build; upper cabinets were purchased bare & then stained; I 3d printed the mat and the colander.)
September 2, 2025 at 11:59 PM
This tiny kitchen is somehow more cluttered than my real one. (Lower cabinets are a kit build; upper cabinets were purchased bare & then stained; I 3d printed the mat and the colander.)
I have once again failed to learn the lesson that I should not lecture immediately after recovering from even the most minor illness. #Voiceless
August 30, 2025 at 10:52 PM
I have once again failed to learn the lesson that I should not lecture immediately after recovering from even the most minor illness. #Voiceless
ME: Perhaps I should just go back to blogging?
TYPEPAD: We’re shutting you all down, sorry!
TYPEPAD: We’re shutting you all down, sorry!
August 27, 2025 at 3:39 PM
ME: Perhaps I should just go back to blogging?
TYPEPAD: We’re shutting you all down, sorry!
TYPEPAD: We’re shutting you all down, sorry!
On page 20 of a new monograph from a UP, & have already counted four words missing from sentences, at least one grammatical error, and some mucked-up accidentals. What are we doing here? (The content deserves better!)
August 25, 2025 at 6:21 PM
On page 20 of a new monograph from a UP, & have already counted four words missing from sentences, at least one grammatical error, and some mucked-up accidentals. What are we doing here? (The content deserves better!)
On a scale from “bumped shoulder against a door” (flu vax) to “my arm appears to be broken” (2nd shingles vax), I rate the pneumonia vax “punched hard by annoyed 6-year-old.” #ow
August 16, 2025 at 9:52 PM
On a scale from “bumped shoulder against a door” (flu vax) to “my arm appears to be broken” (2nd shingles vax), I rate the pneumonia vax “punched hard by annoyed 6-year-old.” #ow
“This Victorian religious novel actually has characterization,” I observe in wonder. #AllertonAndDreux
August 10, 2025 at 8:09 PM
“This Victorian religious novel actually has characterization,” I observe in wonder. #AllertonAndDreux