Betsy Devine: Funny ha-ha and/or funny peculiar

I was born just a couple of months before she died. My godmother and namesake, Elizabeth Jordan–a tiny woman, well-known in her long-ago day for her writing and editing, for her ostrich-plume hats and theatrical gestures. (Rumor claims she inspired the outspoken Henrietta Stackpole in Portrait of a Lady.)

By late 1946, when I was born, Aunt Jean (as our family mysteriously called her) had long outlived many, many admirers–for example Mark Twain (1835 -1910), Henry James (once rumored to be her fiancé(!)), and Frances Hodgson Burnet (1849-1924).
But when was Aunt Jean born? That was a family mystery, my mother told me, a deepest secret. My mother’s first clue to the mystery came when she brought her new baby, recently christened Elizabeth Jordan Devine, down from Massachusetts (where my father, post-World-War-II was finishing up at Harvard Law School) to New York City, where “the aunts” lived on Gramercy Park.
Aunt Jean was in bed, very sick, when we arrived–I was slid into the bed with her. She looked at me with great pleasure and whispered–though my mother heard–”Who would have imagined that this little baby is 83 years old?”
Even then, as so often before, my Aunt Jean was exaggerating. Because she herself was a mere 81 years old, having been born on May 19, 1865.

Well, maybe not totally Polish, but now I’m *in* Polish, and so is Frank (who was half-Polish to start with) in a new translation of our book Longing for the Harmonies. More on my newly discovered Polish attributes: Betsy Devine Z wykształcenia jest informatykiem, studia ukończyła w Princeton. Regularnie prowadzi w Internecie blog „Funny Ha-Ha or Funny Peculiar” poświęcony różnym zagadnieniom z pogranicza nauki, polityki i humoru. Od 1973 roku jest żoną Franka Wilczka.

Thanks–I think! What a handsome cover design–I hope we get one of these. Thanks to Ewa L. Łokas and Bogumił Bieniok [sic] for this translation and to the busy bots of Technorati for letting me know the book is now out on the Internet.

Jim Clash of The Adventurers" with Frank and Betsy

Originally uploaded by betsythedevine.

…and even more so when hanging out with Jim Clash for his Forbes TV show The Adventurers.

Another adventurer (the one who took this photo) was Kevin O’Brien, whose adventures involve exploring caves and the waters therein. Watch out for Gollum, Kevin!

Before the show, I got to geek out with cool TV studio toys, and afterward we went out to lunch at the Gotham. Now, if only Jim had told us about his own terrible South Pole adventure before I ordered that plate of petit fours…

View of a Foucault pendulum

Originally uploaded by betsythedevine.

Ahhh! The Centro Estudio Cientificos is well and truly launched, with a wonderful party, some short but poetic speeches, and the symbolic smashing of a Champagne bottle by Michelle Bachelet, who Is Chile’s new President.

There are more great photos of related events over at my Flickr pages. Now I have to run to a breakfast, a bus, a plane, and a three-day boat trip. More when we next land in Internet-capable places!

One of the launch events was snipping a ribbon to release a giant Foucault pendulum. You can see it in the lower right corner here. Foreground, two Nobel laureates. Background, 200 photographers.

Frank came home from MIT the other day puzzled. All of a sudden he’s getting many more requests for autographs than usual, and he couldn’t figure out why.

This morning, GoogleAlert probably told me why.

Frank’s response last month to a request from Poland to send autographed photos “for charity” got enthusiastic publicity on a website devoted to the business of fan mail. (The business of fan mail?)

Hello all, at first I’d like to ask You for adding me to the 10 $Allposters Gift Certificate, because the prize would be very helpful for the charity I’m collecting autographs for.
Thank You in advance, board of directors!
I got a digital camera from my brother, so now I’ll post maaaaaaaaaaany recent successes for my charity, stay tuned

Frank Wilczek - Nobel Prize Winner

Sent: 27 days ago

Rcvd: 10 days ago

Mr. Wilczek is awesome! He sent me many autographed photos, and a huge poster that is not on the photo.

Heh. “No good deed goes unpunished.”

Marijne, Floortje, Milan, Madelief, Karel, Jelmer, Wessel

Originally uploaded by ėtı.

What fun, a pregnancy-class reunion–and the Dutch word for that seems to be “pufclubreünie”!

What fun to stumble across other people’s wonderful photos on Flickr, Bubbleshare, Picasa, etc., etc.