10/31: looking forward

...to going to bed and instead of watching something reading a book for pleasure.

10/30: someone I didn't know

...stopped me in the cafeteria this evening to tell me that she really enjoyed my recent lunch presentation about different pages, what they give to us, what they ask of us, and what they suggest about the act(s) of reading.

10/29: not letting

...some gender-inflected yuck sent my way get me too down.

Instead:  I went to the creek with Chris in the afternoon, sat on the porch with the cats at tea-time, and worked on a variety of things (including a final tweak on yesterday's pamphlet design and some preliminaries for another new pamphlet) this evening.

10/28: a prototype

Yesterday during Quiet Writing Community I had an idea for a pamphlet.  I woke up thinking about it and went through a bunch of mental revisions of the idea.  Then I did some tinkering on paper, and with minimal hassle had a prototype in hand in a couple of hours.

10/27: an unexpected electra

A community theatre here mounted on a hill-billy/horror-themed production of Sophocles' Electra, and a friend of mine and I went to see it--a good way to end the work-week.

10/26: sleeping over

I had an early morning doctor's appointment in Little Rock, and I decided to drive down and stay in a hotel last night so that I could have the first appointment of the day and wouldn't have to worry about getting caught in traffic.  It was such a good thing to do:  as I was driving home after my appointment I saw that the traffic in the opposite direction was backed up, and I'm glad that I didn't risk being part of that, fretting about whether I'd make it to my appointment on time.

10/25: enjoying inscriptions

We've transitioned from the Vulgate to inscriptions in the intermediate Latin class.  Today we talked about the Vindolanda tablet with the birthday invitation on it (here), and they seemed to like learning about it.  In general I've been loving seeing how much work tenses and cases do in condensed epigraphical formats, especially epitaphs.

10/24: turning around

I drove by the bridge on my way to school this morning, deciding not to stop.  But then I changed my mind, turned around, and spent 10 minutes looking at the light on the water.

10/23: gretel

I know she's not real, but I'm glad she exists in story.  I know she's not real, but I don't think she gets the credit she deserves.

10/22: a rainy day

...made the cats cozy inside and growing things happy outside.

10/21: back to rights

My home office had gotten disorganized over the past two weeks:  books, papers, and projects piled up, and we had been using the futon as an extra bed since we were taking turns being too ill to sleep in our bedroom without disturbing the other.  The room needs a thorough work-over at some point, but today I least tidied it up so that it's a workable space that feels clear.

10/20: after midnight, before noon

I went to bed after midnight and Tilde the Cat was happy to see me get into bed.  She crawled onto me and slept on me in a sweet way she hasn't before.

One benefit of having worked late last night was having time this morning--to stop at the pier and take photos on the way to work, to re-do a Greek worksheet without worry once I realized I had made the whole darn thing using the wrong homework sentences, to do a last-minute scan of an interesting page I wanted to add to my lunch-time presentation, and to practice the presentation.

One of this morning's pictures:

10/19: working late

...on a presentation and enjoying it.

10/18: finding/making meaning

Tonight Chris had the last meeting with his group of boys on probation, and I came to do an altered text activity with them.  We thought it would be a fitting way to conclude:  create meaning in/through/with what you're given.

10/17: erasing again

Last year I started an erasure project but stopped working on it before it was done.  Today I picked up where I left off.

10/16: even better

I'm still not fully well (and was a bit loopy in my classes today), but when I woke up this morning I was immediately relieved to sense how much better I was.

10/15: better

I caught a cold on our little get-away to Mt. Magazine.  My sinuses were rebelling Friday evening and Saturday, but today I'm a bit better--let's hope that trend continues and I wake up well (or at least well-er) tomorrow.

10/14: electronic delivery

Sending my sister her birthday present via email so that it reaches her on her birthday.  Somehow that feels good, more like what it was when we were growing up and so of course celebrating one another's birthdays in person.

10/13: the morning view

...on Mt. Magazine:

10/12: listening

...to Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Chris on a little road trip.

10/11: our new quilt

...is so nice to fall to sleep (and wake up) under.

10/10: dinner outside

...on the cafeteria balcony with a former student who graduated a few years ago and came to town to visit during her med school fall break.

10/9: having my phone

I went to the grocery store without my wallet, which I didn't realize until I was checking out.  But the cashier let me call Chris on my cell phone, and he gave me my credit card information.  I'm not always resigned to carrying my phone with me everywhere, but having it today saved an unfortunate situation.

10/8: a good sunday

Typical weekend things, good nonetheless:

The New York Times Book Review and coffee on the porch with the cats and Chris.

Morning kayaking.

Fried rice for lunch.

Working on photos.

Getting Heron Tree tasks done without stress.

Sweeping the house while listening to more of A Hat Full of Sky.

10/7: walking & listening

It had been too long since I'd gone to the indoor track, and I had it all to myself tonight.  It had also been too long since I'd listened to some of A Hat Full of Sky, and it made me smile so much as I walked.

10/6: texts & emails

...from a dear friend from high school.

10/5: two-thirds

I'm two-thirds through with commenting on a second round of papers.  That still puts me behind where I should be, but I've caught up some this week, and I'll finish on Saturday.

10/4: making notebooks

...with the small group of boys on probation that Chris works with each week.  This week I came to the meeting and everyone made a notebook using a Japanese stab-binding leaf pattern.  They were really nice and did a great job.  I've done this workshop with different audiences over the years, and these boys saw the underlying logic the quickest.

10/3: rain

We had a rainer-than-usual summer, but for the past month:  nothing.  Today it rained, and though I had an umbrella in my bag I didn't get it out to use for the walk from my office building to the car.  Then Chris and I ate dinner on the porch so that we and the cats could enjoy the change in weather.

10/2: a new ingredient

I made vegetarian egg-lemon soup for dinner yesterday, and I knew we'd have the left-overs for dinner today.  I wanted to add some more protein, so while the soup was reheating I chopped and sauteed some fake-chicken pieces to mix in.  It was a great addition, and I think it will become a regular ingredient when I make this soup!

10/1: me in the air, lines on the ground

Chris took us flying over the neighboring fields today: