12/30: taking
...a little get-away trip to Prestonrose Farm and Brewing Co. and then an overnight at the lodge on Mount Magazine. I had the indoor pool to myself; it had been a long time since I had been swimming and I'm really happy I thought to pack my swim stuff.
12/29: baking
...a loaf-cake with dark chocolate, cinnamon, cardamom, and beets, using some of the candy-cane beets my sister sent us for Christmas.
12/28: outside and inside
I enjoyed my afternoon walk on the ridge, but--more importantly--I saw on Facebook that a friend of mine who recently suffered repeated heart attacks went for his own walk this afternoon too. That is good news indeed!
And some positive movement on the Feline Front: all the boy cats were with us on the bed watching TV this evening, and Chris decided to get Tilde so that we'd all be together. She wasn't thrilled to see that Simon was curled up next to me (and it made her not want to crawl into my lap), but she stayed with us for almost an hour without losing her patience.
And some positive movement on the Feline Front: all the boy cats were with us on the bed watching TV this evening, and Chris decided to get Tilde so that we'd all be together. She wasn't thrilled to see that Simon was curled up next to me (and it made her not want to crawl into my lap), but she stayed with us for almost an hour without losing her patience.
12/26: twice
In the wake of November's romaine/e-coli scare, we had fallen out of the habit of making salads with our meals at home, but now we're back on track with the greens. I was happy to have salad with lunch and dinner today.
12/25: celebrating
...the holiday in our own way: reading, watching a movie, pamphlet-making, cooking, walking. And this year we're also celebrating the fact that Simon the Cat lives inside with us now. Last year we were feeding him outside, coaxing him to come up to us and get used to us (a long process), and worrying about how he was faring in the cold and wet weather.
12/24: a handful of goodness
Cleaning up a bit (more to do, but glad to get some done).
Thinking through a new pamphlet idea (which may come to fruition tomorrow).
Making chocolate pistachio truffles with Chris (the pistachios being his excellent idea).
Reading two very different books in conversation with Dracula (Terry Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum and Chase Berggrun's RED).
Deciding to go down to the dock on the seemingly unlikely chance that the sunset would be colorful (and it was).
Thinking through a new pamphlet idea (which may come to fruition tomorrow).
Making chocolate pistachio truffles with Chris (the pistachios being his excellent idea).
Reading two very different books in conversation with Dracula (Terry Pratchett's Carpe Jugulum and Chase Berggrun's RED).
Deciding to go down to the dock on the seemingly unlikely chance that the sunset would be colorful (and it was).
12/23: trying
...a new recipe, for lentil-pomegranate-walnut stew. And it made a perfect dinner. (You can find it here.)
12/22: filing
...my report as an external reader of a dissertation. I'm glad I did it, but I'm also glad it's done.
12/21: simultaneously seeing
...a colorful sunset and a full moonrise while driving home with Chris (after some hours of art-seeing at Crystal Bridges, another good thing).
12/20: coming across
...this sentence written by Lyn Heijinian: "Form is not a fixture but an activity." Jessica Baran quoted it in a review of a Ruth Asawa retrospective.
12/19: getting out
...of a bad mood (caused by a silly work email) by walking at the track this afternoon. I was starting a new audiobook so my mind couldn't wander back to the annoyance too much without losing my bearings in the story.
12/17: almost empty
...my correspondence basket, that is. I got more than 50 pieces of mail ready to post tomorrow.
12/15: sipping summer
I drank the last of the honeysuckle simple syrup in some seltzer this evening.
12/13: working through
...some new committee business via email. It's an unfortunate time for new business to arise (since exam period ended yesterday and people are scattering), but everyone on the committee was clear and prompt with their emails and we got done what we needed to. I don't take it for granted anymore when things work smoothly!
12/12: experiencing anew
...how fun it is when students schedule their Latin pronunciation quizzes as the last thing they have to do before they're done with finals. By that point they're relieved that all the big tests are in the past and they're ready to chat, decompress, and launch themselves into their holiday when they're done.
12/11: receiving
...good news about my poetry collaboration: the first of the pieces from it was accepted for publication.
...a book for people who like diagramming sentences. That's me.
...a book for people who like diagramming sentences. That's me.
12/10: taking advantage
...of the good weather and an unexpectedly free-for-both-of-us stretch of the afternoon to go flying above the fields near our house.
12/9: back to Pratchett
I finished Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series in January (post here), and though Tiffany doesn't show up in any of the other Discworld novels (that I know of), some of the other characters in the series do. So today I started listening to Equal Rites, which includes a young Eskarina Smith and a younger (though not necessarily young) Granny Weatherwax. It's already proving to be a good decision to return to this world for a bit.
12/8: walking
...at the public track for the second day in a row. I decided to go this morning since the weather is supposed to turn nasty later. And I'm glad I did. My audiobook (Elizabeth Gilbert's Signature of All Things), kept me company, but even while listening I kept another track of my brain running and crystallized a kernel of an idea for a sabbatical project. (I don't have to put in the proposal for months, but I like knowing what I'm thinking myself toward.)
12/7: launching
...a student into a project in London, looking at illuminated manuscripts of the Divine Liturgy of John Chrysostom at the British Library. The project has been a year in the making--designing it, writing a proposal to get it funded, doing a variety of preparatory work. Today we had our last meeting before she gets on a plane on Monday. I appreciated the chance/excuse to spend time with the Divine Liturgy's Greek myself over the past few months (the adjectives are amazing!), and I'm excited to hear how her project goes.
12/6: putting together
...the last Greek test without rush or worry. It feels good to do quiet, deliberate work.
12/5: an email
...from a student, thanking me for a note and photo I sent her as a thank-you for help she had given me. So nice to feel the flow of good will back and forth.
12/4: amidst
It was a day of feeling pressed and stretched, physically and emotionally--sadly desperate for someone who is so lucky. But amidst it all:
It's the birthday of a dear, dear friend whom I've known for over 40 years. I didn't get to celebrate with her back in Pennsylvania, but my mother invited her over for dinner and cards and left a message for me afterwards, saying it all went well.
And I made a new pamphlet, content and form, start to finish.
It's the birthday of a dear, dear friend whom I've known for over 40 years. I didn't get to celebrate with her back in Pennsylvania, but my mother invited her over for dinner and cards and left a message for me afterwards, saying it all went well.
And I made a new pamphlet, content and form, start to finish.
12/3: printing out
...a dissertation I'm an external reader for. The turn-around time is quick, but I'm looking forward to the task.
12/2: from nothing to something
It was a pamphlet-making afternoon. I didn't mean for it to be, but I was noodling around with an idea that I've had for awhile, and it came together. (It's not the pamphlet I started to imagine on 11/18 and wrote about here--that one still needs longer to bake after it reached am impasse over Thanksgiving break, but I also had a, hopefully, good idea about it this morning.)
11/29: putting together
...two change-of-pace activities for classes tomorrow (one for Latin, one for Greek). We're in the home stretch of the semester, and I think we'll all be glad to spend a little time tomorrow doing something different.
11/28: an unexpected hour
...without work to do this evening. It wasn't enough time to go to the walking track, so I read some articles and looked at pictures in the new Frieze.
11/27: a Tuesday without
...a Latin quiz. (Though weekly quizzes are good, I think the students and I are glad for a break.)
11/26: getting to read
...Beatrix Potter's "Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse" with my Greek class as part of our unit on Aesop.
11/25: getting over
...a disappointing book by finishing it in the morning and starting a new one in the afternoon.
11/24: kayaking
...in the afternoon. I'm glad this little holiday break didn't go by without my getting on the water.
11/21: many good things
An early doctor's appointment at which nothing bad happened.
Coffee and pastry with Chris before going through an exhibit at the Arts Center.
Simon and Pippin choosing to curl up with me.
A walk in the afternoon sunshine, and a second walk (down to the lake) closer to sunset.
Time trying out pamphlet ideas.
Unrushed time with Chris.
Coffee and pastry with Chris before going through an exhibit at the Arts Center.
Simon and Pippin choosing to curl up with me.
A walk in the afternoon sunshine, and a second walk (down to the lake) closer to sunset.
Time trying out pamphlet ideas.
Unrushed time with Chris.
11/20: watching
...the beginning Latin students fill out Scrabble-like grids using their vocabulary and forms. It was the most intent on quiet work (that's not a quiz) they've been all semester.
11/19: breakfast
An annual gift-to-self: a pastry nut-roll shipped to me from the part of Pennsylvania where I grew up. (I can't find any bakery in Arkansas that makes them.) The shipping costs almost as much as the nut-roll, but it's worth it. I'm already looking forward to having more tomorrow morning.
11/18: thinking
...about a new pamphlet, prompted by a review in Artforum that quoted Dorothea Rockburne: "Dancing taught me the way the body folds...and how folding produces emotion."
11/17: curling up
...with a novel. Vexed at feeling under the weather, but glad to have a word-world to visit.
11/16: light
It was grey, cold, and wet earlier in the week, so I especially appreciated the sunlight today. Here it is on the morning lake:
11/15: seeing through
...other people's eyes as I read my Greek students' assignments on the graphic novel Book of Revelation this evening. (Though I am enjoying Aesop, I am sorry to be letting Apocalypse go, and this was a final hurrah with it!)
11/14: student exclamations
...about the snow as we watched it coming down outside during our Latin class.
11/12: cancellation
This morning I found out that my early-morning-in-Little-Rock-doctor's-appointment tomorrow is cancelled. I'm glad--I had one of those today and one in a week is enough!
11/11: afternoon in the office
I've been trying not to go into my school office on the weekends, but today I thought I'd be more focused and efficient if I did. I enjoyed doing the dictionary work for my Aesop prep, and I got comments written and sent on some students' drafts.
It was also good that I decided to go because I noticed that my car needed gas: much better to have gotten it today than tomorrow morning, since I have to leave the house around 6:15 a.m. and am glad I don't have to push it up even earlier to accommodate a gas stop.
I gave myself the little treat of stopping at the dock on my drive home to take some pictures. Here's one:
It was also good that I decided to go because I noticed that my car needed gas: much better to have gotten it today than tomorrow morning, since I have to leave the house around 6:15 a.m. and am glad I don't have to push it up even earlier to accommodate a gas stop.
I gave myself the little treat of stopping at the dock on my drive home to take some pictures. Here's one:
11/9: receiving
...a postcard from a stranger wishing me "a fabulous life." A wish I was especially grateful for after a hectic day; it helped me reorient.
11/8: Sappho
I'm preparing materials for a dinner/reading tomorrow focused on Sappho's poetry. I appreciate having an excuse to spend time with her words.
11/7: enforcing a time-out
Work was crazy and I was feeling crazed by the time I got home. Chris suggested we go to the Indian restaurant for dinner, and though I had plenty of work still to do in the evening it was so good to take the time to pause and talk and regroup.
11/6: Aesop
Next week we'll starting translating Aesop's fables in my Greek class, and I enjoyed preparing some materials today, formatting passages and making vocabulary lists for the students.
11/5: hearing
...the Greek students' second round of thoughts about the narrative techniques of the Book of Revelation.
11/2: getting ready
...for another round of Greek manuscript reading with my class on Monday. I loved spending some of my lunchtime working through it.
11/1: this afternoon
A successful trial run of making vegetarian "caviar" with black lentils.
And some lovely autumn colors in the yard:
And some lovely autumn colors in the yard:
10/31: help
...from Chris and PrimeCare when I woke up with a bad, bad bout of vertigo. It's still with me, but the medicines are keeping me from feeling the worst of it now. I'm so grateful that Chris got me to the clinic and that the people there were so nice as they helped me in such a pitiful state.
10/30: showing
...my students pictures of Siberia and wishing I could see the Siberian rhododendrons and pasque flowers in person.
10/28: poetry
...in the afternoon: reading Heron Tree submissions and then making a word index for the manuscript a friend and I are working on.
10/27: pausing
...to hang out with Chris.
...to play a game of Words with Friends with a friend in Pennsylvania.
...to photograph a buckeye on the asters.
...to play a game of Words with Friends with a friend in Pennsylvania.
...to photograph a buckeye on the asters.
10/26: unexpected additions to my afternoon
At lunchtime a former (now graduated) student who's spending the weekend in town came by my office and we talked for almost an hour.
And just before I went to the library for some quiet writing, a friend & colleague asked me if I was going to go. When I said yes, she said she'd join me, and we wrote at nearby tables for an hour.
And just before I went to the library for some quiet writing, a friend & colleague asked me if I was going to go. When I said yes, she said she'd join me, and we wrote at nearby tables for an hour.
10/25: Latin & Greek
A guest lecture at a Little Rock high school where a former student teaches gave me the opportunity/excuse to look at the Greek of the Homeric Hymn to Demeter and notice some awesome things about the way its opening is constructed.
And in Latin today I noticed how some of the strategies used by Seneca in the messenger's speech in Phaedra are like the ones used by the author of Revelation/Apocalypse. With what words can one describe the indescribable?
And in Latin today I noticed how some of the strategies used by Seneca in the messenger's speech in Phaedra are like the ones used by the author of Revelation/Apocalypse. With what words can one describe the indescribable?
10/24: time and timing
When I was at the conference in North Carolina last week I changed my watch to reflect the time zone, and I didn't change it back. This morning I was a little shocked when I was leaving the house and my watch read 8:30 a.m.--I had wanted to be up and out earlier than that. Then I remembered about resetting my watch. The rediscovery of an hour made it possible for me to stop by the lake on the way to work and enjoy some autumn colors on the water.
After a meeting at work today I learned about some coincidental timing. Last spring a colleague and I ordered the same book (The Door by Magda Szabo) at the same time, thinking we might have a little book discussion group about it. We didn't--but this past weekend we both independently decided to start reading it, so it looks like the time for our book group has come.
After a meeting at work today I learned about some coincidental timing. Last spring a colleague and I ordered the same book (The Door by Magda Szabo) at the same time, thinking we might have a little book discussion group about it. We didn't--but this past weekend we both independently decided to start reading it, so it looks like the time for our book group has come.
10/23: morning company
Simon and Emma slept next to me in the early hours. Emma usually does, but Simon doesn't--and Emma moved a little from his normal spot to give Simon room. Emma is an amazingly generous cat with everyone in the family, both human and feline.
I ate my breakfast in my reading chair, and on a little table next to it I had propped up a postcard I had received yesterday. It was from an anonymous person (via sendsomething), and on the front it has a photo of peonies, and on the back the writer wrote "Thank you for existing." I should read it every morning.
While I ironed my clothes I listened to some of my Eva Ibbotson audiobook and something very unexpected happened! It's sweet to have a narrative thrill early in the day.
I ate my breakfast in my reading chair, and on a little table next to it I had propped up a postcard I had received yesterday. It was from an anonymous person (via sendsomething), and on the front it has a photo of peonies, and on the back the writer wrote "Thank you for existing." I should read it every morning.
While I ironed my clothes I listened to some of my Eva Ibbotson audiobook and something very unexpected happened! It's sweet to have a narrative thrill early in the day.
10/20: three things
Finding Latin on some stones in an old Moravian cemetery in Bethabara: beatus (blessed) was put on epitaphs for children who died unnamed.
Drinking kvass, something I had thought about trying to make myself. A little coffeeshop/bar/restauraunt we went to for dinner had some they had brewed!
Scooting on one of the Bird rental scooters in a parking lot with Chris.
Drinking kvass, something I had thought about trying to make myself. A little coffeeshop/bar/restauraunt we went to for dinner had some they had brewed!
Scooting on one of the Bird rental scooters in a parking lot with Chris.
10/19: taking time out
...from conference-going to grade Latin homeworks. Chris and I worked across from one another in at a pub in Winston-Salem that served its own beer.
10/18: done
My presentation and workshop are over! I'm not sure doing it was the wisest thing to do, and it's been a bit of a roller-coaster ever since I decided in late May to put in the abstract, but all told I'm glad I did it. No regrets.
10/15: the good kind of busy
...with students and class prep and a few more tinkerings with my presentation, plus a phone conversation with a friend. (And the first whole day in more than a week that I've managed to go without cold medicine.)
10/14: finding
...a book I knew I had but couldn't find yesterday in the chaotic piles of my home office. And then opening it up to a perfect page to use as an example in my presentation on Thursday.
10/13: more finishing
The PowerPoint I'll use during my workshop is now done, and I made some smoothening adjustments to yesterday's notes.
And a friend and I put final touches on some revisions to a project we started last November: we have a complete manuscript, and though I don't know what we'll do with it next, the process of getting this far has been really good.
And a friend and I put final touches on some revisions to a project we started last November: we have a complete manuscript, and though I don't know what we'll do with it next, the process of getting this far has been really good.
10/12: finishing
...a full draft of my workshop notes for next week's conference, in spite of my all-too-present cold and while still giving myself a some time to rest and (hopefully) get better.
10/11: a handful of things
Being okay with silence as a friend and I worked quietly on art projects alongside one another.
Getting all the grading and draft-commenting for one of my classes done.
Having a nice dinner and conversation with Chris at an Indian restaurant.
Thinking about the big spirit of someone from my hometown who recently passed away.
Feeling autumn in the air.
Getting all the grading and draft-commenting for one of my classes done.
Having a nice dinner and conversation with Chris at an Indian restaurant.
Thinking about the big spirit of someone from my hometown who recently passed away.
Feeling autumn in the air.
10/10: rereading
...Greek manuscript pages, on my own and with the students, who really seemed to enjoy it.
10/9: a good last (work) activity
...for the night: transcribing a passage from Apocalypse as presented in a 13th-14th c. Greek manuscript, in preparation for tomorrow's class.
10/8: cataloging
...the stylistic techniques of the Book of Apocalypse with my students. I really like the list we came up with!
10/5: not-fish on Friday
We don't eat meat or fish, but we like trying out the various fake meats that we can now get in the grocery. And this semester we've fallen into the habit of having faux fish and chips with malt vinegar and tartar sauce as our Friday night dinner. It reminds me of Friday fish lunches at my Catholic elementary school.
10/4: for the seventh time
...this semester I've gotten one of the lucky "disco" trays at the cafeteria.
10/3: trying out
...a cento workshop with some different activities to encourage experimentation and collaboration.
10/2: quiet times
In the morning, I paused to admire a spider web:
In the afternoon, I set a timer at the start of the senior seminar so we could all write quietly about our ideas for 10 minutes.
In the evening, I read before falling asleep.
In the afternoon, I set a timer at the start of the senior seminar so we could all write quietly about our ideas for 10 minutes.
In the evening, I read before falling asleep.
10/1: the pile-up
...of similes in the book of Apocalypse. I love the compounding, deferring, revealing-by-not-exactly-revealing similes afresh every time I read passages from the book in Greek.
9/29: glowing
After I finished kayaking I joined Chris and our neighbor at the dock, where they had built a fire and were hanging out. As we talked it got darker and darker. At one point Chris walked away from the fire circle to look at something in the grass and then called us over: he had seen an insect glowing green and wanted to check it out. None of us had ever seen a bug like it before. It was an actual glowworm!
9/28: two seasons
...in the air at once during my evening walk: the spring smell of honeysuckle and the autumn scent of fallen leaves.
9/27: a good meeting
...with my committee colleagues today. A very welcome 50 minutes of bureaucratic sanity.
9/26: other people's art
This morning I was reading a poem that a friend of mine had recently gotten published--and--boom--there I was in the poem, unexpectedly, mentioned twice.
And this afternoon a student stopped by my office to drop off a copy of print she made. I am so happy to have it!
And this afternoon a student stopped by my office to drop off a copy of print she made. I am so happy to have it!
9/24: finishing
...a draft of a bureaucratic document that ended up not being too hard or time consuming after all.
9/23: Tilde and Simon
...coming onto the bed. Emma and Phineas sleep with us all the time. Tilde used to (in the days before Simon), but now that Simon's here both of them stay aloof from one another and stay away from our bed. At separate times today, though, they came onto the bed and slept and cuddled with us, and that made me happy. The real victory will be when they both consent to be on the bed at the same time!
9/22: gin
It was a bit of a rough day arthritis pain-wise. At dinner time I decided to try drinking some gin, which often helps. And it did. I'm not sure why it works--other kinds of alcohol and spirits don't--but I'm grateful for the relief. (And having the gin mixed with seltzer water and some of the mint-and-basil syrup I made this summer was lovely even without the medicinal effect.)
9/21: writing of all sorts
Some days the words don't come easily; other days I manage sentence after sentence. Today I produced a fair amount of bureaucratic prose for work, went to the library in the late afternoon for a quiet writing session, and tinkered with a Homeric cento using Wilson's new translation of the Odyssey. And now I get to write here, happily marking the 10th anniversary of this blog!
9/20: the OED
In the Odyssean cento I worked on last night I used the word grain in a potentially odd way, and today I worried about it. So I decided to consult the Oxford English Dictionary's entry on grain--and hurrah. I didn't know that grain used to be used to refer to dye, especially red dyes. That makes my use of it in the cento even better and not odd at all.
Though I still have my 2-volume compact OED (which my father got for me back in the 1980s by joining a book club so he'd receive it as a welcome gift), I love using the online OED nowadays. I'm so grateful that my school has a subscription to it.
Though I still have my 2-volume compact OED (which my father got for me back in the 1980s by joining a book club so he'd receive it as a welcome gift), I love using the online OED nowadays. I'm so grateful that my school has a subscription to it.
9/19: Odyssean centos
I'm preparing to do a cento workshop (using Homer's Odyssey as the source text) at school in early October and then at a professional conference later in the month. This summer I worked on a Homeric cento using Chapman's famous translation, and last night and today I've made two little ones using Lattimore's text. When I teach the Odyssey I use Fagles' translation because of its high readability for students, but Lattimore's version has a more Homeric texture so it's been interesting to use for this project.
9/18: getting to think
...about Seneca's Phaedra. I'm so glad I chose it as the Latin text for this year's senior Classics majors. It seems like a good fit for them, and it feels like a good fit for me these days, too.
9/17: ending the day
...by reading more of The Priory in bed. It was a day of weirdness that had me keyed up, but the novel helped me unwind.
9/16: feeling better
...today, though with some lingering wooziness. I managed to catch up on a few things (grading homework assignments, doing some Heron Tree stuff, sweeping the floors), read an older New York Times Book Review that I had never gotten to, get farther in my Dorothy Whipple novel, talk to a friend, and watch some TV with Chris. All of that was good.
9/15: starting to read
...another novel by Dorothy Whipple (The Priory this time), and the first page was so good. I feel like I'm in the hands of an expert guide.
9/13: two of us
I stopped at the pier on my way home from work this afternoon, and while I was there taking pictures another woman stopped. Before she left she told me she felt like she just had to stop and photograph the water and clouds, and she seemed glad that I felt the same urge too.
9/12: early
I thought I'd be handing in my five-year evaluation dossier around 4, but I had it ready to submit by 1:30, and I was glad to get it out of my hands that much sooner.
9/11: being grateful
...for the nice vegetarian selections at the school cafeteria, for the wonderful people who work in dining services, and for the getting a "disco tray" (a gold glittery tray that's supposed to be good luck when it happens to come your way) for the fourth time this semester already.
9/10: coyotes
...yipping and howling in what sounds like a frenzy. I know I'd be scared if I saw them up close when they're being so vocal, but it's still pretty thrilling to listen to them in the night when I know I'm safely separate from them yet still close enough to feel like they're my neighbors (because they are).
9/9: yoga
When I told my doctor this summer that my arthritis pain medication wasn't working all the time, she gave me samples of a scarier medicine that I decided not to take once I read about its side effects. I decided to recommit to doing yoga instead, and I think it's helped. Now that school is in session it's harder to fit in, but I did some both mornings this weekend and it felt good.
9/7: a lucky break
As the rain started coming down hard on my drive to work this morning I realized that I had forgotten my umbrella--but then it paused, just as I pulled into the parking lot on campus.
9/6: forgetting
...some of my work at school. Not enough of a problem that I needed to go back and get it, but enough of an excuse to go walking at the track for the third night in a row.
9/5: pausing
...in the morning at the pier to take some pictures (for the first time this school year):
...and in the evening on the deck to see the stars. It made me think of James Joyce's "heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit," a phrase I have loved for decades.
...and in the evening on the deck to see the stars. It made me think of James Joyce's "heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit," a phrase I have loved for decades.
9/4: lots of words!
I was lucky today in getting to spend time with different kinds of texts:
The English Teacher by Lily King, an unsettling but somehow compelling novel;
Phaedra by Seneca, which I'm translating with the senior Latin students;
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, which I just started listening to while walking and was kind of charmed by;
and
The Gospel of Mark, which my students did a narrative analysis of.
9/3: unexpected lunch out
Our electricity went off in the middle of the night and wasn't scheduled to be restored until the late afternoon. So we went out into town for a lunch of pizza and beer!
9/1: an okay start
...to the writing of my "self-evaluation" letter. There's plenty more to go, but I'm glad to be well into it now; the pre-thinking of it was beginning to stress me out unduly.
8/31: receiving
...a Postcrossing postcard with a black-and-white photo of an art deco Good Luck gas station. I need good luck this weekend, as I start writing my five-year self-evaluation letter for work.
8/30: enjoying thinking
...about Seneca's Phaedra, about a collaborative erasure project, about Latin class tomorrow.
8/29: better news
...about my Toyota. When we took it to the dealer last week for a recall fix the mechanics there recommended a bunch of extra and pricey repairs, including one to fix a "major" and "severe" oil leak (even though we haven't noticed losing oil and there are no oil drops on my parking spot). We had the car checked out today by our regular garage, and they said there was no leak. I hope they're right!
8/28: getting clearer
...in my mind about some assignments for the senior capstone seminar, and getting more concrete in assembling the materials.
8/27: tired but...
I am feeling wrung out at the end of this day. But even in the tiredness I'm grateful for office hour meetings with students, time spent with Chris at dinner, snatches of a novel-for-pleasure, and a chance to think about Senecan tragedy and the Phaedra.
8/26: Annie
A dear friend of my family passed away today. She did a lot of theatre with my parents over the years, and with me and my siblings, too, once we were old enough to join in. She ate countless meals at our kitchen table, came to so many cast parties, and saw us grow from toddlers to teenagers. We considered her our aunt, even though we weren't "officially" related. She was an actor of consummate craft and great charisma. Off the stage she made my father laugh like no one else could, and she made a way in the world like only she could. I am grateful that she was part of my childhood and is still part of who I am.
8/25: mixing
...chores and rest. Chores with Chris included cleaning and reorganizing the pantry shelves and going grocery shopping. Rest included going back to sleep after I woke up early, finishing reading one novel, and starting another one.
8/24: on the water
The afternoon had practical hurdles (car trouble & plumbing issues), but after dinner I went kayaking for a little bit and then I drove to the pier to watch the moon on the water. This is a pixelated photo of the moonlight:
8/22: making myself go
...to the walking track, even though I was in a funk. Walking didn't magically make things better, but it helped some, and at least it meant that I couldn't get frustrated with myself for not going.
8/21: kayaking
...unexpectedly after dinner. The weather was nice and I had no absolutely pressingly had-to-be-done-tonight work. I enjoyed the air and the light and the lake full with rain. And, in a break from usual practice, I didn't take any photographs of the water while paddling; it felt good to break from habit.
8/20: big & little
At one point today I was surprised by how calm it was for the day before classes begin---but then it got more flustering (sigh) in a number of ways. Still, at the end of the day I can say that I enjoyed the close detail work of putting macrons on long vowels in Latin words for tomorrow's translation passage and that I was glad for the sight of the moon and the planets in the ecliptic after I left the walking track this evening.
8/19: the comfort of a calm day
...which included things like the New York Times Book Review, a conversation with a friend, yoga, making 1-inch x 1-inch collages, course prep that didn't feel entirely like work, Anne with an E, chocolate tofu mousse, and a foot massage machine that Chris bought for me. School starts for real this week (not just start-up meetings), so I am grateful for this day of unflurried and unworried activity.
8/18: inside & outside
Chris and I worked inside this afternoon, clearing, sorting, organizing, and cleaning our big storage closet.
After dinner I took my kayak out on the lake for a bit, enjoying what might be the last paddling before classes begin.
After dinner I took my kayak out on the lake for a bit, enjoying what might be the last paddling before classes begin.
8/16: re-homing
...a big Classical atlas. I'm clearing out my office and giving away books that I don't use. I had inherited the atlas, and because it's crazy-expensive I've been keeping it around even though I don't need it for my work. This afternoon I thought of a former student who is now a professor who might really want it and use it. He said he'd love to have it, and that makes me so happy.
8/15: getting the school year underway
...by giving the incoming students their Latin placement exercise. Some other Classics faculty joined me to introduce themselves and talk about the Classics program, and it felt good and real and positive.
8/14: starting
...the Anne with an E series on Netflix. It made Chris laugh out loud in places, and it made me remember watching the 1980s PBS Anne of Green Gables series with my brother.
8/13: having
...lunch at a restaurant with Chris as a get-away between morning and afternoon meetings.
8/12: finishing
...reading a novel first thing in the morning, before even getting out of bed. It seemed like a good way to begin the last day of summer break.
8/11: something alone & something together
Alone: Choosing my last book of summer reading carefully, and making what I think (so far) is a good choice. It's Because of the Lockwoods by Dorothy Whipple, a Persephone book.
Together: Cleaning and reorganizing the refrigerator with Chris.
Together: Cleaning and reorganizing the refrigerator with Chris.
8/10: Chris' find
This afternoon Chris went to an antique store that was closing and he came home with a watch from 1904. I think that its light green clock hands look like a snake! Here it is on the inside and outside.
8/7: art & beer & conversation
Exhibits at the Arkansas Arts Center followed by beer and food at the Blue Canoe Brewing Co. with ongoing conversation with Chris about Jane Austen. A good way to spend an afternoon.
A close-up of the Art Center's Redon:
A close-up of the Art Center's Redon:
8/4: visiting
...the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Highlights: paintings by Jennifer Packer, a Mark Rothko canvas, a Romare Bearden quilt, the Buckminster Fuller Fly's Eye Dome (below), and a concert of minimalist music that included Eve Beglarian's "Until it Blazes."
8/3: pain medicine
...working just in time to make it possible to enjoy a long drive with Chris as we listened to News of the World by Paulette Jiles.
8/1: acting normally
...is hard for me, and perhaps harder over the summer since I spend so much time on my own, mostly socializing with Chris and the cats. Today in the grocery story I had some awkward moments, but this evening I managed to have a smooth exchange with a man who was looking for his lost dog. I am so sorry about his dog and will help to spread the word; still, I was glad to meet such a nice person and have a conversation with him.
7/29: SSL & https done
Blogger takes care of security certificates and automatically directing people to the https version of this blog (thankfully!), but that's not the case on some other sites I manage (alas). Getting SSL certificates for them turned out to be easy, but switching everything on them over to https was less easy. I knew it wouldn't be a matter of just clicking a few buttons, so (embarrassingly and shamefully) I've been putting it off for a year, but it (really really) needed to be done. So Chris agreed to help me, and we did it together this evening. The updated sites seem to be working fine now (fingers crossed and whew).
7/28: Trollope commentary
A friend and I are done with our commentary on the uses of Classics in An Old Man's Love by Anthony Trollope. We had read and discussed the novel last summer and started writing commentary over the winter holiday break--and now it's finally all written, edited, and published.
7/27: twice
After an off-kilter morning and some lingering jaggedy-ness in the afternoon I went out in the evening to kayak under the full moon. It was good and cleared my mind. And then when I pulled into the dock Chris and one of our neighbors were there--so we three went back out on the water in our neighbor's pontoon boat to enjoy the moon some more.
From my kayak:
From the boat:
From my kayak:
From the boat:
7/26: sipping
...a drink on the porch amidst occasional hints of a night breeze: tequila, lime juice, basil/mint syrup (which I made), and seltzer water. When we first moved to Conway, a senior colleague in my department used to invite us over for dinner frequently--and he made great cocktails. (In fact, he's the only person I know of whom I could say "he made great cocktails!") For a bunch of reasons those dinners stopped happening, but my drink tonight makes me remember them fondly.
7/24: knowing what to do (and then doing it)
I got a weird email today--not bad, but odd, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I knew that if I went kayaking it would be on my mind the whole time, so I decided to go to the walking track instead, with the idea that listening to my audiobook would distract me and help me let it go. And it worked.
7/23: a beautiful view of Siberia
...received on a postcard in the mail today. Mountains and a field of flowers from Dasha.
7/22: a handful of good things
Yoga in the morning--almost every day this week.
A conversation with a friend about a collaborative project.
Using the public library and hearing part of a one-woman accordion concert while there.
Meeting up with a former student, her spouse, her son, and her stepson.
Getting out on the lake at sunset time. Most Sunday evenings I have to do Heron Tree posting, but we're on a publishing hiatus so I was able to be on the water. And I saw a heron in a tree.
A conversation with a friend about a collaborative project.
Using the public library and hearing part of a one-woman accordion concert while there.
Meeting up with a former student, her spouse, her son, and her stepson.
Getting out on the lake at sunset time. Most Sunday evenings I have to do Heron Tree posting, but we're on a publishing hiatus so I was able to be on the water. And I saw a heron in a tree.
7/20: spending a little time
...with the Imagining Language anthology: reading bits of Christopher Smart and Gerard Manley Hopkins and seeing an ideogram project done by Michael Winkler.
7/19: pausing
...while making dinner to admire an onion slice. (The photograph doesn't do it justice.)
7/18: out
...on the glowing water. I thought it would be too rainy to kayak, but by sunset the stormy weather had moved on.
7/17: putting up
...a little shelf with Chris. It's in the laundry room and it's the new home for the Schleich animal figurines. I'm glad we'll be able to see them there each morning when we iron.
7/16: revising
...my thoughts about Zachary Mason's Metamorphica a little bit. I read The Lost Books of the Odyssey with a student this past semester and really enjoyed the experience, so I was cautiously looking forward to the publication of Metamorphica this summer. "Cautiously" because I worried that the book would be more of a perfunctory reprise (applying the same touch to Ovid) rather than something fresh. And mostly I am disappointed (as a reader) and frustrated (as a researcher of classical reception). But I found a few of the longer stories in the last half of the book more interesting. I'm glad for them and for the chance to change my mind (but still wishing that ZM had held off on publishing the book until all the stories were equally strong).
7/15: finishing, then...
This afternoon I put together the collection of the poems in Heron Tree's Visual Poetry in Black & White series (you can see it by clicking here). I enjoyed working on this series a lot.
Because I did my Heron Tree work in the afternoon I was able to head out to Woolly Hollow after dinner. It had been too long since I'd been there.
Light on the creek:
Pines at the start of the trail:
Because I did my Heron Tree work in the afternoon I was able to head out to Woolly Hollow after dinner. It had been too long since I'd been there.
Light on the creek:
Pines at the start of the trail:
7/13: Tilde
...sleeping on my armchair. It used to be one of her places of choice, but she's circumscribed her movement around the house a lot because she likes to insulate herself against Simon. Her branching back into this old area of hers is a hopeful sign.
7/12: emailing
...two friends who had emailed me this week. As email has gotten to be more and more a "work thing," I write personal, friendly emails less and less. That overall trend isn't going to change, but I'm glad I got these two emails written and sent.
7/10: reading variously & receiving variously
For sheer pleasure, for research, and for my "book club" with Chris. It's a good day that not only includes reading but even has different kinds of reading in it.
I also got four emails--one from a friend, one from a colleague, one from a former student, and one from a former-student-now-friend--each wonderful to receive in its own way.
I also got four emails--one from a friend, one from a colleague, one from a former student, and one from a former-student-now-friend--each wonderful to receive in its own way.
7/9: righting myself
...after a nightmare. I had a hard time going back to sleep and then was off-kilter all morning and into the afternoon. But I concentrated on some tasks and things got better in time for me to truly enjoy kayaking after dinner without even a remnant of the bad dream and its wake.
And as an extra sweet thing: one of our neighbors' boys was out on the lake in a speedboat with a friend, and when he turned the wheel over to his friend he said something like, "Watch out for that kayak up there," meaning me. The boat was far enough away that I'm pretty sure he didn't think I could hear him. And though I don't mind boats coming close (I like the waves), I really appreciated his thoughtfulness.
And as an extra sweet thing: one of our neighbors' boys was out on the lake in a speedboat with a friend, and when he turned the wheel over to his friend he said something like, "Watch out for that kayak up there," meaning me. The boat was far enough away that I'm pretty sure he didn't think I could hear him. And though I don't mind boats coming close (I like the waves), I really appreciated his thoughtfulness.
7/8: finishing
...the publication of the individual poems in the Visual Poetry in Black & White series at Heron Tree. I enjoyed working on this project, and I like how each of the poems in the series inhabits the page differently, shows something else about how the look of a poem can communicate.
7/7: wind on the water
...while kayaking. It made it a fun challenge going out, and I appreciated the extra push helping me back.
7/6: thinking about manuscripts
Today I wrote up some advice about reading Latin & Greek manuscripts for some of my students--it's been something I've been meaning to do, and I'm glad it's now done.
I also found an online digitization of a manuscript (in Greek) of Aesop's fables now at the New York Public Library. I may use it in my Greek class this fall.
I also found an online digitization of a manuscript (in Greek) of Aesop's fables now at the New York Public Library. I may use it in my Greek class this fall.
7/5: in a day
While I was kayaking last night I had part of an idea for a new pamphlet. This morning I got working on it, and this afternoon I finalized the formatting and content. I'm grateful to the now-defunct "24 hour zine thing" for giving me a push and confidence back in 2009. I'd made a few booklets before that, but I think the "zine thing" made me feel like there are other people out there doing their own similar things and even if we didn't know one another we were still somehow a community.
7/4: getting out
...onto the water. I haven't been kayaking much in the past ten days because of heat advisories and storm warnings, but I managed to head out this evening. And I'm glad I did; I was getting a little stir-crazy at home, and the walking track was closed for the 4th of July holiday. This green of the reflected trees near the shore-line makes it look cooler than it was, but it was still a really pleasant way to spend the last hour and a half of light in the day.
7/2: making a list
...the night before of things I wanted to get done in the day, and then getting most of them done before lunch.
7/1: appreciating Phineas
It's coming up on a year since we brought Phineas home. He's definitely cat-sized rather than kitten-sized now, but there's still a kittenish spirit about him. And I love that he loves to cuddle as we're watching TV.
6/30: starting
...to read There There by Tommy Orange. Chris and I decided to read and talk about it as our own book-club-of-two.
6/29: receiving
...nice feedback about some of the recent swaps I sent out. It had been awhile since I'd participated in swap-bot, and it's been good to do some exchanges this summer.
...news that an abstract I wrote while visiting my mother earlier this month has gotten accepted for presentation.
...news that an abstract I wrote while visiting my mother earlier this month has gotten accepted for presentation.
6/28: learning
...how to do some cool things with type in Photoshop Elements. Possibilities for more "typewriter" art.
6/27: watching
...movies with Chris because we were both feeling ill.
...and then the moon on the water from the bridge.
...and then the moon on the water from the bridge.
6/26: seeing
...all the plates in the Typewriter Art anthology and wanting to try more experiments myself.
6/25: being grateful
...for the new shower-head Chris bought for my shower. I would have just bought a basic one at the store, but Chris did research and, yep, it's a nice way to start the day.
6/24: being comforted
...by Tilde in the middle of the night and by Emma mid-morning. These cats know when their care will make all the difference, and I am so grateful.
6/23: kayaking
...two nights in a row. My arthritis kept me company both times (alas), but I would have ached whether I had been on the water or not, so at least I got to enjoy the lake and light.
6/21: 4 things
Collaging a little circular sun using bits of yellow and gold paper in honor of the solstice.
Making one-inch x one-inch mini-collages with a former student when we got together for lunch and a chat.
Doing my annual kayak-washing in the evening, since it was too windy to take the kayak out on the lake.
Writing about my experiences with audiobooks for a letter swap.
Making one-inch x one-inch mini-collages with a former student when we got together for lunch and a chat.
Doing my annual kayak-washing in the evening, since it was too windy to take the kayak out on the lake.
Writing about my experiences with audiobooks for a letter swap.
6/20: starting
...a new audiobook while walking: Patrick Ness' Knife of Never Letting Go. It starts with this quotation from George Eliot's Middlemarch: "If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence."
6/18: paging
...through anthologies of concrete poetry. Our library had not one but two! (And it looks like I'm the only person who's ever checked out one of them, purchased in 1971. As if it's been waiting for me all this time.)
6/17: making
...a lovely brunch with Chris. We had thought of going into town for a fancy brunch at a new-ish restaurant, but then Chris remembered that it was Father's Day: we realized the restaurant would likely be packed, so we stayed home. And we probably had a better brunch than the one we would have paid more for: we had poached eggs with pepper and za'atar on garlicky ciabatta baguette slices plus mimosas with fresh orange juice, sparkling wine, and a mint-basil simple syrup I made last night.
6/16: letting myself
...read for pleasure pleasure pleasure (even though it made me feel a little guilty / self-indulgent).
6/15: writing & running
Writing during my Friday afternoon slot and following myself into a topic that kept me engaged for the full hour.
Then running errands with Chris. Though they were errands, we were together for them.
Then running errands with Chris. Though they were errands, we were together for them.
6/14: being grateful
...for a good phone conversation today and the kindness of the person I was talking with.
6/11: printing out
...a full draft of a long project I've been working on with a friend. We've been working electronically so this was the first time I saw (and held) the words on paper.
6/10: working through
...some general technical issues with the Heron Tree site and some specific challenges with this week's poem.
6/6: smiling
...at an unexpected visit from a friend. He knew I was leaving in the early afternoon and stopped by for a quick farewell.
6/5: enjoying
...my last full day in Loretto. It included a long walk in the morning to my favorite spots and an evening playing cards with friends while enjoying my mother's hospitality.
6/1: visiting
...with a long-time family friend over lunch with her and my mother. She's a yoga and meditation instructor, and she seemed to really like hearing about my doing Greek penmanship meditations with my students. I felt validated and am also grateful for her suggestions about how to make them work better in the future.
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.
5/24: walking
...down to Lake St. Francis and being surprised by the dark blue/purple speedwell and the pink apple tree blossoms.
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!
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.
5/12: 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.
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.
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.
5/8: 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.
5/6: 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.
5/3: 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.
4/30: a new recipe
Last night a TV show I was watching mentioned mujadara, so I looked it up and it sounded like something we'd like. This evening when I came home from work I made it according to this recipe (click), and it was great.
4/29: better
A pinched nerve, general exhaustion, anxiety, and low spirits were very much shaping my mood on Saturday. The nerve trouble is still around today, but the edge of the other things has been softened somewhat. I graded and talked with my mother in the morning; went out to lunch with Chris then grocered; made some 1 x 1 collages on the porch while drinking tea; did some Heron Tree editor work with Chris; took a walk; photographed an errant iris (an escapee from a neighbor's yard); heard whippoorwills and coyotes.
4/27: library labyrinth
I was in the library for Quiet Writing today and noticed that there was blue tape on the carpet on the second floor marking the path of a meditation labyrinth through the stacks. I walked it, and it was wonderful. It was also nice to be able to tell one of the librarians on my way out how brilliant I thought it was; she told me that some of their student workers thought of the idea and worked it out. What a fantastic way to end a difficult week.
4/26: thinking
...about Ovid's story of Ceyx and Alcyone in relation to Homer's Odyssey. I don't usually include Ceyx and Alcyone in my Myth class, but I added it this semester and am glad I did.
4/25: returns
Finding the new and not-so-inexpensive flash drive I thought I had lost. And even when I thought I had lost it I didn't get as frustrated with myself as I might have.
Pulling out my little pop-up studio and photographing some figurines, something I haven't done in awhile.
Pulling out my little pop-up studio and photographing some figurines, something I haven't done in awhile.
4/23: gathering
...all the possible questions for the Myth test that I had jotted down or recorded as voice memos for myself over the past ten days and realizing that, though they came to me in fits and starts, they made a complete test once corralled. Having the test set relatively easily also made coming up with alternative questions for a make-up test smoother and less stressful.
4/22: many things
Buying my plane ticket to go to Pennsylvania in May.
Resuming a collaboration after a week-long pause.
Having a quick bookbinding session with two students and another professor.
Making good hot sandwiches with Chris for dinner.
Finishing The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason.
Sitting with Phineas aggressively cuddled into my arms.
Resuming a collaboration after a week-long pause.
Having a quick bookbinding session with two students and another professor.
Making good hot sandwiches with Chris for dinner.
Finishing The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason.
Sitting with Phineas aggressively cuddled into my arms.
4/20: stopping
...at the pier and bridge on the way to work. I haven't been doing it much lately, but I'm glad I did today.
4/18: gathering
...myself after a sleepless night. And rallying enough in the evening to get some grading done.
I'm also grateful that my sister understood my postponing a phone call we had planned and sent a sweet text message instead.
I'm also grateful that my sister understood my postponing a phone call we had planned and sent a sweet text message instead.
4/15: two stops
...before leaving Albuquerque this morning: Rebel Donuts and the San José Cemetery.
4/12: morning, afternoon, evening
Morning: seeing a former student, now a graduate student, give a conference paper. The paper was very good and so was her presenting style!
Afternoon: high winds in the desert while visiting a pueblo site in Bernalillo and walking along the cottonwood-lined Rio Grande.
Evening: me with my mind, preparing slides for a presentation tomorrow. I've never left presentation preparation to the last minute before, but at least I had a leisurely evening to put things together.
Afternoon: high winds in the desert while visiting a pueblo site in Bernalillo and walking along the cottonwood-lined Rio Grande.
Evening: me with my mind, preparing slides for a presentation tomorrow. I've never left presentation preparation to the last minute before, but at least I had a leisurely evening to put things together.
4/10: sharing
I brought little ice creams for my Myth class, and I had a few left over at the end of the afternoon. As I was putting them in the building refrigerator one of the administrators (and one whom I really like) was coming in to buy a snack from the vending machine. I offered him an ice cream instead. He seemed so tickled to be offered one, and I was so pleased that he said yes.
4/9: bluebells
...a bouquet of them, left by a friend outside my office door! I have fond memories of seeing them growing on the monastery grounds next to my childhood home. My mother would be especially happy when they appeared each year.
4/8: reading with Tilde
Still feeling under the weather this morning, I started reading a new novel and Tilde the Cat kept me company.
4/7: morning
I woke up less sick than I was when I went to bed, and I indulged myself with a warm cinnamon roll at the hotel's breakfast. Those were good things. Also good: judging some high school students' Latin recitation pieces at a state language festival this morning. I don't love competitions in general, but it was sweet to meet the students and hear them. I brought my miniature Pegasuses along so I could give one to each student when they finished, and that felt really nice.
4/6: driving
I learned to drive later in life than most people who drive, and I've never naturalized it as an activity. But the upside of that is that I'm always delighted when I manage a trip into less familiar territory on my own--in this case, a jaunt up to Searcy.
4/5: Euripides' Ion
It's been many years since I taught this particular play, and I'm glad I rotated it back in for this semester at least. I had fun this morning preparing my class notes for the afternoon and working out my thoughts about the play's meditations on identity and language.
4/4: leading a group discussion
...on Terry Pratchett's Wintersmith, and getting to hear other people's thoughts, impressions, enthusiasms.
4/2: easy drive
...to North Little Rock in the evening, so I could spend the night in a hotel near the medical center for an early morning appointment.
3/29: dinner at home
...with Chris, after his being out of town for almost a week. We had gnocchi made by him and salad made by me. And we cozily watched TV with two of the cats (Tilde and Simon) while we ate.
3/28: relatively uncrowded
...in the grocery store this evening. My shopping went more quickly and quietly than I anticipated.
3/27: a play & Pegasuses
We talked about Aeschylus' Agamemnon in Myth today. I haven't included it in the syllabus for a number of years (since I love using Prometheus Bound for our Aeschylean text), but I'm glad I opted for a switch this semester. The conversation was good, and we ended with some creative brainstorming about adaptations.
On a whim at the last moment, as I was heading out of my office for class, I decided to bring along my box of miniature Pegasuses, in case anyone wanted one (or two or three). I told them that no one was obligated to take one, but a lot of people did, and just offering them loosened up the class. Plus it was nice to be able to offer them a goody on a day when we were working with a tricky text.
On a whim at the last moment, as I was heading out of my office for class, I decided to bring along my box of miniature Pegasuses, in case anyone wanted one (or two or three). I told them that no one was obligated to take one, but a lot of people did, and just offering them loosened up the class. Plus it was nice to be able to offer them a goody on a day when we were working with a tricky text.
3/26: Ino
In Gareth Hinds' graphic novel version of the Odyssey Ino is portrayed as a mermaid, and I had fun today thinking about how that makes her like The Little Mermaid.
3/24: writing and thinking
I worked on a conference paper this afternoon. Speakers are limited to 15 minutes, so there isn't much time to set out a complicated idea. And I had already written an abstract with the skeleton of my argument, so I had thought that the paper-writing would be mostly a matter of fleshing out that skeleton. On the one hand, that's good because it's pretty straightforward; on the other hand, it's less fun because it's great to work out a new idea while writing. Though my paper's structure is still largely following the abstract, I managed to come up with some new connections while working today, and that was welcome.
3/23: fortunate moments
I opened the front door to take out the garbage and saw a bluebird and a goldfinch in the redbud trees.
And later in the day I spotted this lacewing on a narcissus while I had my camera in hand.
And later in the day I spotted this lacewing on a narcissus while I had my camera in hand.
3/22: a chart & a note
A chart: to help keep track of each students' points while grading the Myth test. The questions on the test have many parts--some factual, some more interpretive--and the chart is helping me to be super-consistent and to signal more clearly in which parts of a question points were lost.
A note: from one of my father's former colleagues. She wanted to thank me because my mother had taken her to an opera that I had given her tickets for. I had been psyched when my mother told me who her guest was, and the thank-you note was so unexpected and appreciated--very welcome at the end of a day of grading!
A note: from one of my father's former colleagues. She wanted to thank me because my mother had taken her to an opera that I had given her tickets for. I had been psyched when my mother told me who her guest was, and the thank-you note was so unexpected and appreciated--very welcome at the end of a day of grading!
3/19: inside & outside
Indoors today: drilling and sewing 100 pamphlets, doing some business email (more quickly/effectively than I was anticipating), and watching the new season of Mozart in the Jungle with Chris (and the cats).
Outdoors today: seeing the blooming wild plum trees, running errands with Chris, and stopping at the panaderia to get pastries and cookies.
Outdoors today: seeing the blooming wild plum trees, running errands with Chris, and stopping at the panaderia to get pastries and cookies.
3/18: formatting and printing
...a pamphlet of poems, one by each of our visiting Heron Tree editors. My original binding design didn't work out, and the new format took a lot of trial-and-error with margins, spacing, and feeding the paper through the printer in particular ways. But I'll be set to do the sewing tomorrow, and I'm glad I reached that point before calling it a night.
3/17: before breakfast
Seeing the water-drops on the redbud and heading out to take a few photos first thing.
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