Puttering in the Study

The Shadow King: The Bizarre Afterlife of King Tut's Mummy by Jo Marchant

I downloaded this book on our recent trip and really enjoyed it.  It follows the interesting story of King Tut's mummy from before its discovery (going through the origins of Egyptology) through the very interesting (and hotly disputed) story of its treatment since its discovery.  It also includes a detailed recounting of recent attempts to use DNA to identify its possible relatives in the recovered mummy community (the author thinks it highly unlikely that a number of previously unidentified mummies just happen to have been identified as his closest relatives.  The story includes up to the minute (almost) information on the recent events in Egypt and their effect on the story.  I had no idea how lucky we were to get a chance to see the museum in Cairo in late 2011 - looks like that opportunity won't come again for a while.

 

 

Strolling Through Istanbul - Hilary Sumner Boyd & John Freely

On paper this book is dry and doesn't do much.  But I discovered in late June, when you're actually on the ground and walking the streets in Istanbul using Rick Steves' book, this book comes alive, providing a huge about of historical detail for the sites you're walking past.

The book is a classic going back around 40 years, updated by Freely, and provides an important historical context for what you are seeing.  I really was glad I still had it on the Kindle and could refer back to it because it told me a lot I would otherwise have missed.

Ricke Steves' Istanbul

Thank God the Rick Steves books now come in Kindle format.  I downloaded the Istanbul and Athens books and could carry them around on my Kindle while we were out walking.  Navigationg the maps which have to be zoomed into and scrolled around is not easy, but it beats having to carry books or an iPad.

Great book - gave us several good walking tours and specifically gave us some guidance to see some older parts of the Grand Bazaar so I could see what it originally looked like.

Istanbul: The Imperial City - John Freely

On the way to Istanbul in June I worked my way through this Freely history of the city, which provided a useful short history of the place.  It ended up being pretty much a history of the two empires, and not so much a detailed history of the city, but was a still a good read.

The Riddle of the Labyrinth; The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code - Margalit Fox

This book tells the very interesting story of how the Bronze Age Cretan script Linear B was decoded.  The conventional story is that the decoding was by Michael Ventris, but this book focuses attention on another scholar, Alice Kober, who it makes clear did the necessary groundwork (despite numerous obstacles) that made Ventris' final accomplishment possible.  She did not receive her share of the credit primarily because she died of cancer shortly before he made the final connections, and thus she did not get there first.  

It's an interesting story, beginning with the archaeologist who discovered Knossos (the palace complex) on Crete, and extending through the deciphering of Linear B, and with it a much clearer understanding of who the "Minoans" really were.

A Day in the Life of My To Do List

I felt like posting today about my to do list.  I keep my list pretty well organized in Remember the Milk (RTM) and as I spent some time yesterday working the study desk, today was pretty well organized.

After spending time scrubbing today's "to do" list last night I got it down from the high 50's to 39.  Then first thing this am knocked out four while exercising ("exercise" plus read Feedler and the Dallas and New York papers).

Unfortunately, once I got to the office I added two more posts I need to do on EDTexweblog, so back up to 37, but I did work three, so back down to 34 as lunch approached.  Knocked off one big one after lunch, and by the time I left for the day had taken care of six more, so as of end of the work day had 27 to go.

That's when I go through and move all the ones I didn't get to today at the office (17) to tomorrow's list (which already had 28 as a result of last night's scrubbing).  Three of the ten remaining are daily to-do's that I didn't get to, so I delete them (they'll recur tomorrow).  I then decide there are three more I am not getting to tonight, and one I'll do on Saturday, so as I climb into the truck to head home, I have only three, and there's a good chance I'll get them done on the way home or at home.

So I started the day with 39, and my list for tomorrow already has 47.  How is it I don't have a serious drinking problem?