Introduction
This is the seventeenth installment in the “From the Archives – Bits & Bobs” series. Volume I is here , Volume II is here , Volume III is here , Volume IV is here , Volume V is here , Volume VI is here , Volume VII is here , Volume XIII is here , Volume IX is here , Volume X is here , Volume XI is here , Volume XII is here , Volume XIII is here , Volume XIV is here , Volume XV is here , and Volume XVI is here . (The different volumes have nothing to do with one another, and can be read in numeri
I’m pretty sure I didn’t have any kids back when we were colleagues, but I have two daughters now, A— (age 5½) and L— (age 3½). Parenting has been both satisfying and exhausting. The girls always want me to “play Cassandra,” where I speak in this booming voice and pretend I’m an evil sea witch while acting out various scenarios they come up with. It’s really tedious, but they love it. Well, the other day I realized that playing Cassandra vaguely reminded me of some other wearying activity I’m routinely invo