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*sigh* I missed a talk at the library here, "Sorceresses and Suffragettes: Women, Power, and Politics in L. Frank Baum’s Land of Oz”, because I was working in the archives. I was looking forward to seeing that. I think I've found some good resources here at least.

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I was feeling really great when I was at Argonne National Lab on Saturday for their open house event. I spent about six hours walking around and photographing things and I really felt different. It was subtle, sure, but I could really tell that my legs were stronger (thanks to lots of regular cycling) and I tired less quickly (possibly thanks to some weight loss). It was much easier than I was used to to bend, squat, crouch, and kneel for photos. So I did a lot of it.

By the end of the day back at danaeris' place, my right knee, the one that had been giving me trouble on the bike, was significantly painful. It was only when I walked on it, but I was limping seriously and having some trouble getting around. On the advice of *both* my girlfriends, and much to my frustration, I decided not to bike to school today, and I probably won't do it tomorrow either. It's better today, but whatever damage I did is letting me know in no uncertain terms that it's not healed yet. There's mild pain and discomfort when I walk, the occasional popping of a tendon or something, and muscle twitches happening whenever I sit still for a while.

It's more than a little frustrating. I was really getting into a rhythm. It felt good, I was getting in better shape, and I was enjoying the outdoors for an hour and a half a day. I guess I just have to hope that the body parts in question are going to quiet down if I give them some time off.

Sure would be nice to have health insurance.

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I ought to be going through a chapter from Margaret Trawick's "Notes on Love in a Tamil Family" one more time. I have another hour and fifteen minutes here before I go home. But I'm feeling kind of wiped. I don't think I can adequately parse a complex description of a conception of love that's very different from my own right now. I'd rather take a nap. But since I'm the only one at the lab, that won't happen. I do, at least, have my Statistics work and reading done. I've always known what the mode of a set of numbers is, but I actually do have a better understanding of what it's for now.

In the archives today, I found tabulated results from the presidential election of 1936. Votes were mostly for Roosevelt of the Democrats, followed by Landon of the Republicans and with Thomas of the Socialist party a distant third. That might be useful in charactering the politics of Kenosha at that point in time. I found booklets that I think were advertising for Kemper Hall, which was at that time an Episcopal finishing school for girls. They included curricula, rules for conduct, and other fun things. Just before I left, I found a report on dental health of children at the time, which was apparently pretty bad. I'm going to make some notes on that tomorrow.

I've also gone through a number of boxes and books that were not of much use to me. I thought a book of registry of ministers would be helpful in figuring out what churces were busy and active at the time, but the registries dated from the late 19th centurey through the '60s and were not in chronological order. Even if I was motivated enough, I wouldn't have the time to collate all of that data.

One of the most interesting things about the archives is seeing what's been saved, sometimes seemingly at random. At some point, I want to come back to a collection I read a summary of. It's not related to my current research, but it includes correspondance involving a local inventor and business man and his fourth wife. There was "hatemail" sent to her about him before the marriage, including some detailing his "alleged sexual predelictions".