Author Archives: Uncomely and Broken

About Uncomely and Broken

I am a classicist in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Zoom Chat at Sugarland 95 conference Sept 10, 2021

Posted on October 2, 2022 by Uncomely and Broken

Me to Everyone (11:58 AM) GHOSTS OF LONE ROCK Chris McDonough University of the South Sewanee, TN cmcdonou@sewanee.edu Stephen Garrett Stephen@slgarrett.com Mine 21 https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/mine-21 Steven Hoelscher to Everyone (11:58 AM) Wow! Amazing! Shun Foreman to Everyone (11:59 AM) It started … Continue reading →

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The Mall (an exercise in dactylic hexameter)

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Uncomely and Broken

To introduce my students to dactyls (-uu), I showed them a pair of famous examples in tetrameter: All the kings’ horses and all the king’s men Couldn’t put Humpty together again. Picture yourself in a boat on a river withtangerine … Continue reading →

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Etymology of “ark”

Posted on February 23, 2021 by Uncomely and Broken

This is an arcane matter (I use the adjective advisedly), but I am wondering about the etymology in English of the word “ark,” as in Noah’s. It is an odd word, used only of this particular ship and not of any … Continue reading →

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What the heck is this rock? Slag

Posted on February 23, 2021 by Uncomely and Broken

It’s been icy, snowy, rainy, and all kinds of wet around Sewanee lately, so unsurprisingly, the ground has disgorged a number of unusual items, one of which I came across as I was walking the dogs the other day. Google … Continue reading →

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Thinking about Place

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Uncomely and Broken

Landscape & Memory Myths History Forgotten Places Abandoned Places Sick Places Ruins Flooded—TVA (Tellico, Tims Ford) Archaelogy Liminal places Private Property Real Estate “Value” Domain Leasehold Lease Committee Built Environment Architecture Sports areas Parks Memorials Memorial benches   Geography Abstraction … Continue reading →

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RIP Stanley Crouch

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Uncomely and Broken

Stanley Crouch came to speak at Sewanee in the mid-2000s as part of the “How Then Shall We Live?” series. Below is the author picture he sent. When I picked him up at the Nashville airport, he emerged from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Cemeteries & Funerals, Education, Italy, Poetry, Race, Sewanee, Tennessee, The South | Leave a comment

Intergenerational Trauma bibliography

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Uncomely and Broken

One of the things we study at Riggs is the intergenerational transmission of trauma and the weight of history in producing various symptoms.  Of course, as psychoanalysts we traffic in attempting to study the unconscious, so much of what is … Continue reading →

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Song to the Seals

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Uncomely and Broken

Every so often you come across a charming thing quite unintentionally on the internet, and this morning’s entry for me is the great Irish tenor John McCormack singing “Song to the Seals” from 1935.     A sea maid sings … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Ireland, Music, Nautical | Leave a comment

Who’s ready for another marginal mystery?

Posted on June 27, 2020 by Uncomely and Broken

OK, so my posts–here, here, and here–about the mysterious notations on the flyleaf of an 18th century edition of Cicero’s works have led to discussions with various and sundry folks that have been a great deal of fun. So, here’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Classics, England | Leave a comment

Quake and Quarantine

Posted on May 10, 2020 by Uncomely and Broken

So, last night, in the midst of the COVID-19 quarantine, we had an earthquake. At 3:33 AM. And, get this, it was 3.3 on the Richter Scale. It was only a few miles from our house, down in Lost Cove … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Sewanee, Uncategorized | 2 Comments