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.
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