More pretty, more shiny

. . . but this time not an article of clothing, but a journal article!

I made the trek to campus yesterday solely because I knew that my copies and offprints of a particular article would be there, and all I can say is: this is far and away the loveliest article I've published or ever expect to publish.

That's not to say that it's an important article, because it isn't. Nor is it in an important journal; I imagine that the only scholars who will ever cite it are excessively diligent graduate students, and me. But boy, does this journal have money: the editor consulted with me a million times on matters large and small; the typeface and layout are beautiful; and there are handsome illustrations and little decorative flourishes throughout. Even my offprints are presented in an unusually careful and attractive manner.

And you know, even though I use articles in a strictly utilitarian fashion when I'm researching ("Anything here that's important? No, no, no; that's been said before; that's bullshit; oh. . . this is pretty cool"), and even though this article isn't exactly a major contribution to scholarship, it's rather nice to see one's work all decked up and tricked out for a change.