My thesis? I'm looking at cookbooks and housekeeping manuals from the 16th and 17th century to see if and how they had an impact on women's literacy. As women became more literate, they published more of these books so I want to see the impact on literacy and, ultimately, on culture. Though the time period might change, given the availability of early modern cookbooks.

Oooooo.

My paper on Shakespeare is looking at the plays that came immediately after the last minute save from an attempt on the King's life (called the Gunpowder Plot) including Macbeth and seeing the effect that the Plot had on the language of Jacobean theater with an eye toward what makes Macbeth different... it's a combo of history and lit analysis, with work on 2 plays that are rarely read in addition to Macbeth.

OOOOO! May I read? Would you be okay with that?

I love the Four Four! YAY PR. And YAY that next week is (SUPPOSUBLY) finally the week of the BIG SHOCKER.

And honestly, Calli? They'll be used to that, and will look more favorably on an up-front explanation than they would at you showing them work that really shouldn't be shared. It's a sucky position to be in (I'm another with the same issues), but it won't be a deal-breaker.

I'd explain that your professional writing is covered by confidentiality agreements, offer to take any sort of writing test they'd like to administer, and have some of your academic writing on-hand.

Yep, that's pretty much the route I'm taking. I have plenty of composition class stuff, and I might be able to dig up an ancient short story. That's about it.

I'm in the same situation -- I've been a tech writer for eight years, and I don't have anything I can take with me.

Yeah, I get the impression that this isn't uncommon. [ETA: and behold the cross-post with Brenda to prove it.] And I'm hoping that, if they've been interviewing other folks in the biz, they'll see "Sorry. Confidential, dude," as a sign of ethics rather than me just being recalcitrant.

I had a new employer ask if I had any documents from my old job they could use after they hired me. I think I blurted out the whole confidentiality agreement thing before it occurred to me there might be a smoother way to put it.

I ended up rewriting something for the purpose, which was annoying, but less illegal.

Gloomcookie! The seats have ears! And bows! And look at this:

The one-off special will be displayed at the Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo's Nihonbashi district from July 25th - 31st 2006. From the 25th to the 29th at 10:20 AM local time, interested buyers can register for the opportunity to buy the car. At 10:30 on the 29th, one name will be pulled and that person will be allowed to buy the car for ¥2,100,000 -- 200,000 of which goes to Japan's UNICEF. (For our American readers, that purchase price translates to a little over $18,200 USD.)

Dude, we could SO get that car! How much could it cost, really, to ship it from Japan and then switch off ever six months? TOTALLY worth it!

Bwahahahahahahaha! I'd love to see you driving around NY in the pink HK mobile. So awesome!

So.... anyone want to take the results of the two meetings I had this morning and incorporate them into my document? Basically re-writing the whole thing? Because I sure don't want to.

I am mad tired for no good reason. I mean, I realize I've stayed up too late every night this week, but not for any good reason. BAH.

Kat - you look so strong!

I have had such a hard time with fitness proffessionals - they want me to lose weight -after I have told them my goal is to get strong. "Well, you should lose weight" . D'oh. I know me - I actually gain muscle pretty fast .In a month - I might only lose 4 lbs - but I'll shrink 5 inches off my middle. The scale is a bad way of measureing things for me. But , right now the scale is saying get off your ass and move more. weight has crept up and so has blood sugar...

Juliana, yes! of course you may read the Shakespeare paper. Should have been done on Monday but i'm still plodding along. I'm a little avoidy on finishing it. Also, have you read Will in the World? Will of the World? The Stephen Greenblatt book? It's amazing. Very thought provoking.

David, I'll have to read up on Nu Shu. Very cool.

Nilly, I'm looking specifically at England, because then I won't have to translate docs.

On weightloss: I found the thing that worked for me was weighing myself every day. Well that, and I had a fat farm visit for the first 12+ weeks, every day where I was weighed in and they reviewed what I ate the day before from my food journal. It kept me honest. Now I weigh myself every day and I can sort of predict and take comfort in what's going on.

For example, the bourbon I drank last night and the dim sum I had and the slice of tiramisu won't show on today's weigh in (which shows I lost a pound from yesterday) but I'll probably see it tomorrow. If I don't see it, then I should just keep a bourbon and dim sum diet.