preparing for the heat

Today is predicted to be the last day of the wonderful, unseasonably cool weather we've been having here in Princeton this past week.

So yesterday, in mental anticipation of the heat, as well as preparation for my meeting today with Professor Garber (who suggested I read this book), I've been reading Bernier's Travels in the Mogul Empire (i.e., modern-day India et al.). Bernier was born and died in France, but adventurously traveled to Egypt, and from there to the Mogul Empire, from 1656 to 1668. He made his living as a physician and as a tutor to members of the king's court.

Bernier, who was a student of Gassendi's, and also clearly knew his Lucretius, would have appreciated the thought that my reading about his travel troubles cheers me up. Suave mari magno... At some point, on a two-month trek with the king's retinue to Kashmir, he had a horrible full-body heat rash. I can sympathise, since the week of respite has made my Princeton-acquired heat rash almost go away--but it will be back soon, and probably as soon as tomorrow.

The book has a lot of great moments, but I think my favorite part of the travel tale is his military advice, which can be briefly summarized as: don't get off your elephant till the battle is truly over!

"Had Dara considered the consequences of quitting the back of his elephant on which he had displayed so much valour, and served as a rallying-point to the army, he would have become master of the Empire.... The troops having missed their prince, a rumour quickly spread that he was killed, and the army betrayed; an universal panic seized them.... In a few minutes the army seemed disbanded, and (strange and sudden reverse!) the conqueror became the vanquished. Aureng-Zebe remained during a quarter of an hour steadily on his elephant, and was rewarded with the crown of Hindustan: Dara left his own elephant a few minutes too soon, and was hurled from the pinnacle of glory, to be numbered among the most miserable of Princes:--so short-sighted is man, and so mighty are the consequences which sometimes flow from the most trivial incident." (54)

More seriously, Bernier's book shows how seventeenth-century travel was as much for investigating potential trade partners, gathering military intelligence, and finding areas for colonization and settlement as it was for the excitement of exploration and `tourism'. But the serious business is buried in an opulent narrative of silks, gold, exotic fruits, beautiful women, court intrigue, and, best of all, elephants--so I recommend it, if you're looking for some good summertime reading.

CTLX

Got back last night from the Connecticut Lindy Exchange. Leo, Sharon, and I left Princeton on Friday afternoon to drive up to the New Haven area. It was an extremely long, hot drive, since there was heavy traffic and bright sunshine (and the air conditioner in Leo's car doesn't work). Although Mapquest said it would take about 2.5 hours, it ended up being more like 4.5 hours.

We drove straight to the Friday night dance, which was held at a truly bizarre reception hall that looked like a cross between a hunting lodge, a Swiss chalet, and the Winchester Mystery House. It featured about four different styles of chandeliers, and a dance floor in the shape of a T. When we left that dance, it was raining heavily--the kind of rain it's really hard to drive in.

Fortunately we did make it to the late-night venue (1 am to 5 am), which was at the eclectic Iron Chef Restaurant in Essex, a bar&grill-cum-sushi-cum-Chinese restaurant that was featuring a reggae band that night. Once the reggae band left around 1 am, the CTLX organizers set up two dance floors on the two different levels of the restaurant, and there was sushi and dancing till around 5 am (we left shortly after 5). A very nice couple in the area hosted five of us dancers, exhausted and sweaty and toting our sleeping bags.

On Saturday there was an afternoon dance (held at a local dance studio), an evening dance (held at the local JCC), and a late-night dance (held at a church in Naugatuck). Of the day's venues I think I most enjoyed the dance studio, simply because it had a nice floor and air conditioning. (The late-night dance was probably around 90 indoors, and very humid!) But the best music of the weekend was provided by the Paul Tillotson Love Trio at the JCC--they were truly fantastic, and I hope I get to dance to their music again someday.

On Sunday afternoon, the last day of the exchange, there was a dance outdoors at Yale University, just in front of the Beinecke rare-book library that I've always wanted to visit (unfortunately closed Sundays). It was very hot, but there was a nice cool breeze and there were places to dance in the shade--it was probably the nicest outdoor dance I've ever been to. Then we stopped by a CTLX barbeque before heading back to Princeton.

All in all, it was very interesting dancing in all these different places with people I'd never met before, but I don't think I would want to do it again. It was kind of like the dance equivalent of a wine tasting. The point is to try out the different styles of lindy dancers out there, savor the variety, and appreciate the best there is. But if you don't have a very refined palate (i.e. you don't actually know that much lindy hop, like me) or if you have low tolerance levels (i.e. you get really tired and grumpy by 2 am, also like me), it's not the greatest experience in the world.

Perhaps the best thing about the weekend was that it made me very happy to be back in Princeton, with a community of really nice people to dance with who I know and like very much. There's a Jersey Jumpers dance this Friday, so hopefully I will have recovered from my lindy overdose by then.

birdwatching

So I have spent lots of time this week tripping over cracks in the sidewalk while I stare up at the trees hoping to see a flash of white.

No luck there, sadly, but the pile of seed I put out near my window has attracted a very handsome visitor. The visitor is very flighty though, so I haven't been able to take my own photos. Found a few nice webpages from Cornell and an online store about Cardinals, in case you're curious too.

flown the coop

I had a really bad day yesterday.

If any of you live in Princeton and encounter a little white parakeet that doesn't answer to the name of Kedim, tell her I said hello.

She escaped out the window last night. My only consolation is that she must have a full set of flight feathers and well-developed wing muscles, since the last I saw of her she was winging her way over the roofs of North Court and toward Cleveland Tower.