Second Session Notes

I knew a day in advance that Pamela wouldn't be making it, as she had a seminar that she had to attend. Dan did not make it either, which is currently worrisome, as we've not heard from him. We've left messages on his mobile and via email.

Dan, if you are reading this and we have not been in contact, please do contact us and let us know that you are alive and well.

Julia Styles wanted to go to the sailors' dive, The Purple Cup. Professor St. John Pembroke and Damon Carlsson both thought that Damon should go. When Julia said that would both go, St. John suggested that she might attract a lot of attention in such a place.

Julia: Very well, we will arrive safely. You will ask questions, and I will attract attention.

In Pamela's absence, Alicia spent much of the session researching various topics. She dug up several articles on Acacia Lexington, the woman whose planned expedition to Antarctica had enraged Captain Starkweather, prompting him to blame all the misfortunes of the expedition on her, to move up the departure date of his own expedition, and to accept Julia Stiles as a member of the SME.

Looking over an article about how Starkweather rescued Lexington and brought her safely home, Julia noted its slant. The bare facts of the case, she pointed out, were that Acacia Lexington was on Starkweather's expedition. She was not by herself in Deadly Peril when Starkweather had rescued her. She was at no time in any worse danger than any other member of the expedition. Starkweather, in leading the expedition safely home, had merely done his job, no more. Now, it was certainly good to hear that Starkweather did competently lead the expedition back home, but this was hardly rescuing a damsel in distress! It was doing his job.

Julia did admit that Miss Lexington's apparent animal empathy and ability to call a baby giraffe to her was actually "a bit creepy".

The press asked Professor Pembroke about his service in the Great War. He was annoyed in an understated way.

Professor Pembroke: We shot them; they shot us. We shot them; they shot us. Then, we shot each other some more, and it got cold.

Press: So, you think your experiences in the Great War prepared you for Antarctica?

Pembroke: Only if I have to see someone's limbs get amputated.

Later:

Pembroke (dryly): Yes, we had a fabulous time on the Western Front.

Press: Mrs. Styles, how did your husband die? Was it on one of your expeditions?

Julia: No, as you would know if you had done your research. He died of a heart attack, shortly before we were to go on an expedition.

Press: A sort of second honeymoon?

Julia: No.

Headline: No Second Honeymoon for Famed Explorer!

Julia: I went on the expedition without him. It's what he would have wanted.

Headline: Her Husband Was Scarcely Cold, But She Carried On His Dream

Press: What do you think of your rival?

(Dave or Julian: You mean Captain Starkweather?)

Julia: I wish her all the best. After all, perhaps with four women going on expeditions on a regular basis, eventually the public will cease to be surprised taht women can take the rigors of such travel.

Later:

Julia: Yes, men are generally stronger than women, but there are things more important than strength: Intelligence, dexterity, skill, leadership, and, above all, courage. Women -- or, rather, people -- can accomplish nearly anything if they put their minds to it.

[Digression about the Philodoxians of Columbia University, who, Dave told us, had their bicentennial in 2002, and who concluded in the late 19th or early 20th centure that women were indeed capable of anything of which men were capble. They also put Alan Ginsburg on trial for being homosexual, and his defense was that he was not. I remember that a lot of Philodoxians died in a war, but not which one.]

Press: What do you think about the rivalry between Miss Lexington and your Captain Starkweather?

Julia: I think that, in general, it is a positive thing.

She went on to talk about how such rivalries could spur people to ever greater efforts and achievements, so long as it did not spur them to take foolish risks. It wasn't that risks were bad; taking risks for the sake of potential gain was fine. It was taking great risks for the sake of risk that was foolish.

Press: What is the difference between the two?

Julia: One you come home from!

Press: And, which do you think this is?

Julia: That remains to be seen. However, I am confident from what I have seen of Captain Starkweather that he is committed to the safety of his expedition and his crew.

(Josh: Translation: Oh God, am I not sure of that, but maybe the rest of us can Rein Him In!)

Julia: And, I am confident that his leadership will ensure that our expedition returns to share our discoveries with the rest of the world.

Later, on the Lexington / SME competing expeditions:

Julia: This is not a race!

(Julian: It's about Science! Really!)

Headline: Mrs. Stiles Urges Rivals to Play Nicely