Something with whales, wasn't it?

That was his Masters', at University of Edinburgh. His masters was in AI (artificial intelligence), and his thesis was about whale song.

Huh. My uncle used to teach in the AI department at Edinburgh. (He's retired now.)

the building that the AI department was housed in burned down, unfortunately. I think it was in 2003. We saw the aftereffects while we were there during the summer of that year.

I bet WS's compote would be delish with pork chops or any roast beast.

Hmm, we do in fact have some lovely pork steaks that we cooked up last night before bed. Not that we were hungry after the nice fish stir-fry I'd made for supper, but they needed to be cooked before it was too late. So, perhaps I'll get some more potatoes and rutabaga to mash up and go with this.

That's if I bother to set foot outside the house today.

So I've poured 3 portions of the compote into freezer bags for future use. That leaves about a cup of it for immediate use. Plus I started some laundry. Gosh I feel so virtuous.

Being virtuous is so exhausting, I think I'll take a nap.

Fay, what's an "academic daughter"?

Sorry, my bad - it's a St Andrews University phrase. The idea is that when you arrive as a wee fresher, you get 'adopted' by an Academic Mother and an Academic Father from the 3rd or 4th year. They take you under their wing and introduce you to their mates, act as a sort of mentor

Ah, I get it. We called them "Big sisters" (or brothers), which eliminates (in my mind) a lot of the creepy Oedipal/Electracal undertones.

"Big sisters" (or brothers)

I dunno, these designators in the greek system at my university were made of ick. A few frat guys took it seriously and were kind/helpful to their 'lil sises' but mostly, it was a system of putative slavery...usually involving sex.

My straight-laced, Job's Daughter roommate asked me to rush with her...I lasted a total of 10 minutes into the written application. She ended up a drugged out waistoid who didn't even recognize me the last time I saw her.

No offense to any happily Greek participants. At my school it was just sanctioned cruelty and debasement...to both sexes.

A few frat guys took it seriously and were kind/helpful to their 'lil sises' but mostly, it was a system of putative slavery...usually involving sex.

Wow. I wouldn't have thought doing it across gender lines was a great idea.

No offense to any happily Greek participants. At my school it was just sanctioned cruelty and debasement...to both sexes.

I'm quite firmly anti-Greek, based on being non-Greek at a school where about 60% of the student body was Greek, and where all the student organizations (except the newspaper) were run by Greeks. (Is it any shock I was on the staff of the paper?)

(Which is to say, I didn't mean fraternity/sorority "big sisters/brothers" -- I just meant the sort who are meant to help you acclimate to college, give advice, and perhaps buy you a beer but not date-rape you.)

Wow. I wouldn't have thought doing it across gender lines was a great idea.

I honestly don't recall same-sex support relationships being mentioned. I suppose there must have been, but I only recall the official/paid housemother taking that role.