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Byron And P(h)antisocracy

Byron's Don Juan satirizes fluently and abundantly, often through the art of reversal. The titular Don Juan is no longer seducer, but seducee; Wordsworth the unhired elitist "season[s]" his poems "with democracy." The poem was celebrated as a liberal masterpiece in its time, and it was reviled. It caused offense in its time, and it still does. Richard Cronin astutely sees it as a poem that "claims the right to give and to take offence, but it is also a poem … that extends that same right to its readers.
Hiking to Bibémus

Hiking to Bibémus

The path that leads to the Carrières de Bibémus starts just past the Lycée Paul Cézanne. I took my first hike to the areas east of the Bibémus plateau on January 31, a month ago today: a bruising 15-miler that reminded me that I belong off the couch and on the trail. I had been living in France for just over a month by then. My partner moved here to take up a postdoctoral research position in Aix-en-Provence; I needed a change of scenery from Mountain View, California, so I moved on Christmas Day to France.
A Wandering in Prague

A Wandering in Prague

Traveled to Prague on a double-decker bus from Nuremberg. Lots of Germans headed there for the weekend. Beers and bros and Bohemian countryside. Praha hlavní nádraží (Photograph by the author) Took a subway to north of the Vltava and walked in blistering sun to Sir Toby’s Hostel, located in a slightly less visited district. Triple-decker bunks; took the top so I could sit up … but paid for it with the hottest seat in the house.

A Wandering in Prague

Planted August 8, 2014
Pruned August 28, 2023

A Wandering in Prague

Traveled to Prague on a double-decker bus from Nuremberg. Lots of Germans headed there for the weekend. Beers and bros and Bohemian countryside.

View of the Prague subwawy

Praha hlavní nádraží (Photograph by the author)

Took a subway to north of the Vltava and walked in blistering sun to Sir Toby’s Hostel, located in a slightly less visited district. Triple-decker bunks; took the top so I could sit up … but paid for it with the hottest seat in the house.

View of Sir Toby's basement

Basement kitchen and bar of Sir Toby's Hostel, Holešovice district (Photograph by the author)

Took evening walk to the park on Letná Hill, with a sweeping view of Prague looking toward the south. Locals, each seeming to have a dog, congregate here. Very peaceful place.

View of Letna Hill

Letná Hill (Photograph by the author)

Later went out again and wandered through the embassies and back streets until I came to the Charles Bridge. Did not replicate a traditon some friends of mine and I had back in 2000 when we were first here. Place was soaked with tourists like myself.

On the Charles Bridge

On the Charles Bridge (Photograph by the author)