Breaking

Next week is Thanksgiving break; after that, there's one more week of classes and then finals.

I haven't decided yet what I'm going to make for next week's dinners. I do plan to make some brown bread (a molasses-infused bread that, in my family, came in a fat cylinder and was served hot, with plenty of butter) and a cheesecake. I'm thinking, perhaps, of something traditional, involving ham and yams and - for some reason they seem appropriate - green beans. Or I may do something completely different. Only a day or two to make up my mind...

I'll be staying in Illinois again this holiday season; Gracie's eye trouble has flared up again (my fault), and there are a few other things I have to take care of. (For one, I'll be teaching our *other* history of math class next semester, as well as my usual one. This one covers the period from antiquity to Descartes - the other runs from Descartes to the present - and I haven't been satisfied with how I've handled it in the past. I'm going to try to model it more closely on the other class, taking into account the slightly different audience.)

A Yorkshire Gag

There is a thing that Gracie does - has done, for the ten-plus years she's lived with me - that is, frankly, kind of scary. It happens most often when she's excited, and it sounds like she's choking. It stops after a while, but it disturbs me a lot. I've mentioned at Hawthorne Animal Hospital, but they've pretty much shrugged it off.

Now, I have stumbled on the explanation, in, of all places, the linguistics blog Language Log. (Scroll down to the second video.) It's a breed-specific thing, the "pharyngeal gag reflex"; all Yorkies do it, and it's nothing to worry about.

I am relieved.