6/28: trying
...a recipe for tofu "coddies," supposedly reminiscent of the codfish cakes that were a Friday dinner staple during my Catholic childhood. They weren't as wondrous as I remember actual codfish cakes being, but they were good, and nostalgia gave them a boost.
6/27: being surprised
...by a very dramatic interaction in a book I've read before. I can't believe I had forgotten the scene!
6/26: Odyssean images
One of my students had a scene from the Odyssey painted for me as a sabbatical present. The painting is now done, and he sent me a photo of it today. So kind and cool of him!
And I spent part of my Friday writing time with Manuela Adreani's spread of Odysseus and Leucothea. Though it's not how I picture of the woman-turned-goddess and what she adds to the Odyssey, there is much that's arresting about the image. (It made me gasp a little when I turned the page in the book and came upon it.)
6/25: perching on the electrical wires
Bluebirds. And the sun as it set turned their rust-colored throats a blazing red.
6/22: finishing
...a revising/editing/proof-reading project that has taken much longer than anticipated. Now I can move on to more interesting work!
6/21: working
...on writing a Latin paragraph for the incoming students' placement exercise. I used a scenario from a poem by Propertius: the narrator is on his way home from a party and is accosted by a troupe of Cupids who chastise him for spending the night away from his girlfriend.
6/20: re-reading
...a piece I had written in 2003 and realizing that the thinking holds up, though my writing is better now than it was then.
6/19: morning, afternoon, evening
Listening to Perelandra with Chris on our 3rd weekly road trip.
Zooming in to a Children's Literature professional meet-up.
Making the annual moon & June cake with Chris.
6/18: receiving
...a very nice email from an undergraduate at another school, asking about my Hedwig and the Angry Inch paper from years ago.
6/16: unexpectedly
...cooler than I thought it would be this evening. I needed to get out of the house and away from my worries, so I was grateful for a temperate walk, sightings of a new-to-me orange flower and a new-to-me spider, sweet-smelling air, fireflies, and an audiobook offering the relief of a sure, sheer narrative.
6/15: book-ending
...my work today with Trollope: I read some chapters of Can You Forgive Her? in the morning, and I wrote and revised some Trollope commentary this evening.
6/14: kindness
...with good humor from a mail-art friend. I wish my interactions with people were less fraught with worry on my end, and I'm very grateful when easy grace from others on their end makes me feel okay.
6/13: trying
...a new game of dominoes (called "Sniff") with Chris. And also trying a new recipe (walnut/tomato pesto) for dinner.
6/12: reading
...snippets from Absence of Clutter by Paul Stephens, which I just received today. Stephens quotes "The New Art of Making Books" by Ulises Carrión, so I went and read it (here)--which made me want to say "yes!" out loud a lot. (Though in other places I wouldn't go as far as Carrión does; there are still things I love about the "old art" of literature.)
6/11: my little boat
I power-washed my kayak this morning and took it out this evening. And I realized I've had it for 12 years now--that's a good thing.
6/10: coming across
...a tarantula during my evening walk. I've only seen one "in nature" five or six times. It's always exciting and I love the look of them.
6/9: receiving & sending
I got a great email from a friend today. Plus a postcard from another friend. Both helped me to feel like a person in the world who is connected to other (and wonderful) people in the world.
I also sent a (hopefully) final email about a situation at work that has been a grey cloud raining stress over my head since the end of April. I'm glad I sent it this evening rather than wait until the morning for another re-read and round of tinkering.
6/8: especially appreciating
...wild bergamot, mullein stalk blossoms, and black-eyed Susans on my walk this morning.
I'm also ending the day appreciating a colleague who generously shared her experiences with me (and listened to my own) this afternoon, as well as my sister, with whom I talked on the phone this evening.
6/7: talking with
...my friend & poetry collaborator. We hadn't spoken in months because we've each been busy with other things. But our schedules are less intense now and our chapbook has been accepted for publication, so it was time to decide what steps to take for our next projects.
6/5: outside, inside
We decided at breakfast to take a drive into central Arkansas and spend time at the outdoor range. It was a good decision.
When we got back, I realized that I had time for Friday afternoon writing in air-conditioned comfort (very welcome after a hot time outside). To keep myself from dwelling on unpleasant things in my writing, I wrote about some of the images in the adaptation of the Odyssey illustrated by Manuela Adreani (a book that arrived yesterday). That was also a good decision.
6/4: knowing what to try
Trouble at work continues (though the "at" is metaphorical since I'm working at a distance), and a fresh wave of trouble came this afternoon. Although I was shaken by it, I knew what techniques to try to rebalance myself: talking with Chris, taking a walk, brainstorming a concrete response, watching diverting TV shows with Chris, watching comforting TV shows on my own, starting a book that I know is going to have a good ending.
6/3: a good interruption
As I was getting some mail ready in my home office Chris called out that the light outside was interesting so that I could pause to take a look.
6/1: lightness
Some things made me feel lighter today: a morning walk listening to a new-to-me novel (The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield); a talk with my mother after that; mail readied for the post; registration for an online meet-up in a few weeks for children's literature researchers; a hair-cut (after 3 months!); a conversation with a friend in which we laid a plan to read Trollope together this summer.
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