Not fatter.
Consuming slightly more calories, though trying not to overdo it. Have had cheese once or twice almost every day; occasional butter on rice, potatoes and bread. Keeping exactly to the 28 units per week alcohol limit.
So tempting to just start scoffing again though.
Meta
Got in the habit of Saturday posting back in Operation Become Less Fat since that's my
weigh day. Seems a bit pointless now.
What I'm Reading
Finished
Art History:
A Critical Introduction to Its Methods.
College-level textbook, bit dry but quite informative, pretty short at about 250 pages.
It's very theoretical: has almost no information on techniques of dating or attributions. On form, it does mention Wolfflin's five oppositions, which I found interesting:
- Linear versus Painterly (strong outlines versus blurry mistiness)
- Plane versus Recession (is the composition in the x-y plane of the painting, or do things point at other things deeper in the z-axis)
- Closed versus Open (Tricky to describe. Is everything confined in a virtual box? Does the composition reflect the shape of the painting? Is the viewpoint firmly fixed in relation to the painting?)
- Multiplicity versus Unity (Not just how many different things there are, more like whether the shapes considered together make a strong form or not)
- Absolute versus Relative Clarity (Do the textures and shadings realistically depict the subject; or produce interesting atmospheres or shimmers)
But that's the exception. Mostly it deals with the various theoretical schools of art history, where art history means explaining why art evolved the way it did, rather than just describing what happened. Chapters go through Hegel, Connoisseurship, Formalism, Iconography-iconology, Marxism, Feminism, Psychoanalysis, Semiotics and Postcolonialism. Got the impression the authors were bored stupid up till Marxism and beyond. Can understand why, because the grandiose theories of the Absolute Idea and the Kunstwollen (artistic will to form) do appear to be essentially bollocks; whereas the less ambitious descriptions of passive female forms, patronized primitives and class tensions seem pretty accurate.
Overall, I found it an interesting and lucid introduction to a new field. Don't think anyone else I know would find it worth bothering with though.
Ireland
Helpful advice on
Wikitravel:
Respect is very important in everyday life. Even if you pass someone on the street only very closely, without actually touching the other person, it is common that both apologize for the inconvenience that might have been caused. The same happens in a supermarket or any other shop. You should also respect queues.I can see this is going to be a struggle for a Londoner.
Female gamers can use a voice changer to impersonate men
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