8/31: analyzing

...Hawthorne's "Paradise of Children" with my seminar students.

8/30: greek tales for tiny tots

I got a copy of Greek Tales for Tiny Tots through interlibrary loan and scanned it.  It was published in 1929, written by John Raymond Crawford and illustrated by Pauline Avery Crawford.  The cartoon drawings of the stories are often funny.  For instance, this one, in which Perseus and Andromeda have chocolates for breakfast:

8/29: commenting

...on some preliminary writing my students had done.  Their writing wasn't for a grade, and it won't be revised, so my comments could be differently pitched than usual, and that change felt good.

8/28: starting verbs

We moved from accents to basic verb forms in Greek class today--it's nice to be making meaning.

8/27: taking a break

...from the evening's work to go out on the deck and photograph the sunset. The flash of color and light didn't last long--I'm glad I was there for it.

8/26: making

...cinnamon rolls.

8/25: back to quiet writing

It was the first meeting of the Quiet Writing Community this semester, and it was so good to be writing in silent company again.

8/24: both kinds

We ate in the school cafeteria tonight, and for dessert there was strawberry cake and German sweet chocolate cake--I couldn't make up my mind.  So Chris said, "You get one, I'll get the other, and we'll split them."  So we did, and it was good.

8/23: sunrise

The start of school means the return of the alarm clock.  But at least I get to see the sunrise:

8/22: meeting

...two of my classes for the semester.

8/21: eclipse at home

Our school had an eclipse-viewing event, but Chris and I decided to watch from home.  We lay down in our driveway on towels and pillows, put on our special glasses, and watched for about 45 minutes (straddling the point of most coverage) before heading to campus for the rest of the afternoon.

8/20: chocolate biscuit cake

It was my first time making one, and we've been eating slices of it for days without getting the least bit tired of it:  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chocolate-biscuit-cake-364790.

8/19: cascade time

...at Woolly Hollow.

8/18: after a meeting

...at school we went to the art museum in Little Rock then to a microbrewery for dinner, and we were back home in time for me to kayak at sunset.

8/17: planning

...for my seminar.  I haven't pinned down all the details yet, but it feels good to have a clearer / firmer idea of how the course is going to go.

8/16: mostly smooth

I've been a bit nervous about heading back to work, but today's time in the office was okay.

8/15: abstract

...written!  And new thoughts formulated in the process.

8/14: an afternoon sighting

...of a coyote eating persimmons in the rain.

8/13: rain & air

A rare August day in Arkansas with rain and cool air.

8/12: busy morning, quiet afternoon & evening

This morning we got up early so we could pick up some medicine for the cats and run errands in town, but then we were at home for the rest of the day.  I made some collages in the afternoon and then watched Vera with Chris and the cats in the evening.

8/11: a walk alone

...on the beach in the morning.  And an unexpected life lesson was posted there:

8/10: sweet time spent

...with my sister and her spouse.

8/9: water at the beach

Oh I got to spend almost two hours floating on the incoming waves!

8/8: sky at the beach

We didn't have time to go in the water, but here's the sky as Chris, his father, and I stood on the boardwalk.

8/7: enjoying reading

...New Grub Street by George Gissing and some articles about museum history/theory.

8/6: a teeny tiny bunny

...hopping under our deck as I walked outside.  We've seen more rabbits than usual over the past year, but this was the tiniest rabbit I've seen here to date!

8/5: fresh figs in the morning

From Chris' fig trees!

And other good things in the day included receiving some really nice feedback about my Sisters pamphlet, finishing the revisions/expansions to my Beauty and the Beast paper, and getting to kayak for the third day in a row.

8/4: all three together

For a short time today all three cats were resting together on the same chair.  The two older cats sleep together all the time, but I didn't know if that would change when we introduced Phineas into the mix, and I didn't know if they'd cuddle up with Phineas himself.  Seeing them all together made me happy and made me realize how much Phineas has become part of our household in the past month.

Here they are (Em in the back, Tilde on the right, Phineas on the left):

8/3: an email

...inviting me to be part of a panel about Classics and children's media at a conference in the spring.

8/2: revising & expanding

...my Beauty and the Beast paper.  It's a matter of adding footnotes that connect what I'm saying to other scholars' work and mentioning a few things that there wasn't time to mention in the presentation.  When I get into this kind of work I enjoy it (but weirdly when I'm not doing it I forget how much I enjoy it).

8/1: reading some articles

...about the physicality of books, interacting with books, and book-binding.  They were on my summer reading list because some students who are doing a book-binding project with me wanted to read them so I thought I'd read them, too.  They were fun to work through, and I'll admit it was gratifying to see that a lot of what other people say resonates with the things I've done and thought in regard to book-making, book theory, and book history over the years.  It's reassuring to know that I'm not out in left field--or if I am, I'm not alone out there!