5/31: writing

...most of a conference abstract at one sitting.

5/30: observing

...the first anniversary of a dear friend's passing.  Her daughter, my mother, and I made dumplings according to her recipe to mark the occasion.

5/29: reading

...under the willow tree in the afternoon.

5/28: watching

...a small-town parade.

5/27: augmenting

...the dandelion cordial to include thyme and mint.  It's really (really) good.

5/26: helping

...a friend with yard-work.

5/25: picking

...dandelions for cordial.

5/24: walking

...down to Lake St. Francis and being surprised by the dark blue/purple speedwell and the pink apple tree blossoms.

5/23: playing

...four rounds of a new card game with friends.

5/22: learning

...about ancient Latin and Greek centos.

5/21: making

...toum and thinking of my brother and a restaurant in his neighborhood where I first tasted it.

5/20: working

...on a sweet electronics project (a tilt lamp that looks like a jar of fireflies) with Chris.

5/19: thinking

...about a long-time friend who got married today, and being excited to see some photos from the wedding on Facebook this evening.

To mark the occasion, here's one of my recent photos of the wedding cake topper bride.  She took to the trees!

5/18: last necessary report

...for the academic year, done this afternoon before quiet writing.  Other school-related work remains, but this was the last thing due on a definite day.

5/17: Holy Sonnets

I've often felt bad that I'd not read all of Donne's Holy Sonnets, so over the past few days I've worked through them, 1 or 2 at a time so that they wouldn't become a blur and I wouldn't become impatient. Here are some phrases I particularly liked:
"That I might in this holy discontent / Mourn with some fruit"
"I am a little world made cunningly / Of elements, and an angelic sprite"
"instantly unjoint"
"the round earth's imagined corners"
"a heavenly Lethean flood"

5/16: reading

...a former student's statement of purpose for graduate school and making suggestions.  It's been quite some time since she graduated, so reading her narrative of herself was like re-meeting her and feeling anew how great a person she is.

5/15: altered Odysseys

A few days more than a year ago I set up the Altered Odysseys website (here) and posted about it (here).  Today I added some erasures made by a student who did an independent study on the Odyssey with me this past spring.  The number of contributors has more than doubled in a year--though still modest (10 contributors and 38 pieces overall), it's real.

5/14: all the PDFs

This morning I formatted the rest of the PDFs for Heron Tree's special series on visual poetry.  I usually do the PDFs one at a time, about 2 weeks before a poem is set to go up, but it felt really good to get them all done upfront.

5/13: finishing

...reading a novel before 10 a.m.  That's summer for you.

5/12: time to breathe

There's work from the school year to finish, and there's summer work of many sorts to do.  But today was a day for pausing and relaxing and remembering what it's like to pause and relax.

Among other good things:  I made honeysuckle syrup, read some of Donne's Holy Sonnets, went for the first summer outing in my kayak, and listened to Julius Eastman while working on my photos.

5/11: the bases

Today, without planning it, I touched all four of my "bases":

Work:  Emails about academic appeals; follow-ups with students about their grades.

House or self:  A radiology appointment.

Contact with the outside world:  Writing more Postcrossing postcards as well as a thank-you note to a friend.

Exercise:  A walk at the track.

And bonuses:  quiet writing at home in the afternoon; Shirley Temples with Chris before dinner; subscribing to frieze magazine because Artforum might not be enough; taking some turns in a collaborative erasure project with a friend.

5/10: no alarm

...necessary because I finished my grading and grade-entering last night.  There was still an afternoon of work (and, alas, stress), but my morning included some time on the porch in the amazing-smelling spring during which I addressed envelopes for Postcrossing.

5/9: before bed

...filing my grades for the semester, so I don't have to do it in the morning.

5/8: not in the hole

Usually at the end of the spring semester I use the phrase "in the grading hole" to describe my situation, but this year--somehow--I'm in pretty good shape.  I still have plenty of grading to do tomorrow, but I haven't felt majorly behind or pressed by piles of ungraded work.

5/7: after dinner

...Chris took me to see some spider lilies.

5/6: a quiet afternoon

...in my campus office, putting together the Greek exam.  Though I try not to work there on weekends, being there today helped me focus.

5/5: an outing

...to Sausman Falls.  We'd not been there before, but Chris read about it online and we decided to head there this afternoon.

5/4: a peony

...left for me outside my office door by a friend.

 

5/3: less wild Simon

As Chris and I were sitting down to play a card game after dinner Simon jumped up and flopped down next to me.  He's still not getting along with the other cats as well as we'd like, but he's learning how to be calm and he seems to like not being on his own.

5/2: conversations

...with three students about their ideas for the final test in Myth tomorrow.  It was great to hear what they were thinking.

5/1: trying out

...a new card game with Chris as a break between school and some evening work.