more blurbs for the lunatics' ball

I just received three wonderful blurbs from Jill Talbot: one short, one long, and third long one specifically for essayists. And an offer to do an interview later, which would be totally great.

Heard also that her ESSAY FORM(S) anthology/textbook won't be coming out with Columbia University Press, which is too bad, since it sounded like a great book. I hope she'll try to place it elsewhere.

What's the term for getting harassed online? More than harassed, really. When someone unleashes a torrent of vitriol. I blocked someone on Facebook who went after me for a post I did on the translators' takedown of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. Two vicious long posts in my comments and then another in my private Facebook DMs. I was really shaken for a day or two. But now I can look back and laugh at my new epithet: he called me a "virago"! 

The OED has a great essay on the history and connotations of "virago.," which "is used in two core senses, both referring to women. One meaning is usually positive and refers to a female warrior or a woman who otherwise displays admirable, manly qualities; the other meaning is derogatory, referring to a woman who is overbearing, violent, or bad-tempered." I see that Merriam-Webster also has two definitions for "virago": "a loud overbearing woman" (really it was a pretty mild post, albeit critical) or "a woman of great stature, strength, and courage." I'll take it.