By Adam Katz Playing piano is one of the main reasons I am surviving the pandemic. If we recognize (and if you don’t, I have some news for you) that the mind is part of the body, and so emotional health is physical health, then it shouldn’t be surprising that within a few weeks ofContinue reading “London Letters #6: A Tale of Two Pianos”
Category Archives: Love the Questions
Watch/Listen/Read
Erika writes: I’ve had an interesting week battling something like writer’s block and keeping an impending migraine at bay. Hints of the writer’s block accompanied the candy fumes of last week, but I wasn’t prepared for how awful it would make me feel when it actually arrived! Hours of staring at blank screens, often withContinue reading “Watch/Listen/Read”
A Few of Our Favorite Things: LGBTQ+
After a year of podcasting and six months of writing and editing essays for this website, Adam and Erika are leaving the Ivory Tower Boiler Room at the end of November. We’re sad to go, but also eager for whatever comes next. This is not the end of our adventure in writing, of course. YouContinue reading “A Few of Our Favorite Things: LGBTQ+”
London Letters #4: “That Serene and Blessed Mood”
By Adam Katz This was to be my final letter; the one in which I told you what it’s like for me, as a scholar of 16th and 17th century English literature, to visit Stratford-on-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare. I hardly mentioned Shakespeare in my dissertation; but my connection with his writing goes back toContinue reading “London Letters #4: “That Serene and Blessed Mood””
London Letters #3: “The Rain it Raineth Everyday”
By Adam Katz I decided to call this one “London Letters,” even though I’m not in London anymore, because “Shropshire Letters” doesn’t alliterate. We had to give up Anuja’s apartment in Camden Town on Sunday, and, rather than move to a different part of the city, we decided to go elsewhere for a while. GoodContinue reading “London Letters #3: “The Rain it Raineth Everyday””
London Letters #2: “O for a Muse of Fire”
By Adam Katz Yesterday I walked past the Globe Theater. It was intense. Just walking past it. I’ve been in London now for over a week. I’ve seen a bunch of the tourist things you’re supposed to see, and not seen others. I saw the treasures of the Sutton Hoo excavation at the British Museum.Continue reading “London Letters #2: “O for a Muse of Fire””
London Letters #1: I’m Having a Great Trip
By Adam Katz It is strange being in the city that, for over three hundred years, was the political and economic center of the world… and not really caring. I arrived in London on October 1. The reason I’m here has nothing to do with the Globe Theater or the tailors on Savile RowContinue reading “London Letters #1: I’m Having a Great Trip”
Big Cat, Little Cat!
Mary’s True Crime Tuesday is off this week. But we’ll be receiving dispatches from Adam’s trip to England starting tomorrow. Apropos of which… * * Description: Two felines, both alike in dignity, but not in size or color, in fair London where we lay our scene. The small grey asks the large orange: “So whatContinue reading “Big Cat, Little Cat!”
Adam’s Big Think #6: Wrong Tent
By Adam Katz For this month’s Big Think, the theme is “Things that go Bump in the Night.” Enjoy! It was a weekend camping trip with the Boy Scouts. Yes, I was a Boy Scout for a couple of years. The autumn leaves were fresh and crisp—mostly oak with some maple and ash and someContinue reading “Adam’s Big Think #6: Wrong Tent”
Speak Up, It’s Saturday
Adam (who created the Big Cat, Little Cat series,) is doing a little traveling right now, which means Erika gets to talk to you about our new schedule and start our new Saturday series. We’ve done a little renovating here in the Boiler Room, and so here’s a quick schedule update to help you findContinue reading “Speak Up, It’s Saturday”